Need advise / help in fixing negative camber issue

[magbane]

HELP!

My MK6 GTI has a negative camber issue on the front right side (-1.19 degrees) . Can anyone advise me on the best way to fix this.

Not getting much help from wheel and suspension places at the moment. Has anyone else had experience with this kind of issue?

[Corey_R]

Have you been to your dealer?

I've heard some horror stories from VW R32 owners (in real life, not on forums) of them having all sorts of camber issues after going to tyre and suspension places, and the only way they got them fixed was to go back to their dealer. Whilst not all dealers have their own equipment to do the work, they usually have a local shop that has worked on enough of them to be familiar with how the cars are meant to be setup and adjusted.

So that'd be my first suggestion.

[magbane]

Yeah been to the dealer, that's how i found out about the issue.
Long story short, went to the dealer for it's service, was advised to have a wheel alignment done as some evidence if wheel feathering, took it to a place they recommended, a Bridgestone Tyre centre and they are the ones that discovered the issue.

Was told the MK6 has no front camber adjustment so only option is either camber bolt (which on one makes of the MK6 yet), frame bending (which no one seems to do anymore cause they're not allowed to by law unless it's for smash repair purposes, which costs an arm and or a leg) or finally camber kits / plates / mounts which there are a few but no one can advise which one i should go for as they have no experience with them.

Done some research on the internets and found K-MAC, K-Sport and H2Sport make camber plates for the MK6 but can't find any testimonials as if they are any good, except K-Mac, they seem to have a bad review to do with excessive banging crashing noises after install.

So it I thought I'd put my issue out here to see if anyone has any experience with a similar problem. In the mean time my poor GTI is making noise, chewing up my tyres and not driving completely in a straight line

[MiiLos]

sorry to hear that mate, did you change to aftermarket wheels? if so to what size and make?

[magbane]

Nope, no after market wheels, running the 18inch Detroits that come as an option.

[MiiLos]

Hmm have you any idea what you might have done to cause the problem? hit/mount a kerb or go through a bad pothole..?

Tyrepower offered camber kits for the rear wheels to me when I upgraded my suspension on my MK5. Perhaps have a chat to them as they might have some experience on this type of problem.

[mr gee]

shouldn't this be a warranty issue?

[MiiLos]

hmm i think it should be too if its no real fault of the driver. i.e. if magbane can show that he hasnt done anything obvious to cause the problem in the first place than the dealer should fix it.

[magbane]

VW is saying it's not warranty issue and are saying that it was most probably caused by me driving over a bad pothole, which i may or may not have done.

Mind you have have claimed a few other issues under warranty that they have fixed very quickly, including; replacement of both front and rear exterior door trims which were creaking and making lots of noise, both front fog lamps as water somehow had gotten into them, drivers seat height adjuster as it was creaking and driver and passenger side seat belt height adjuster because, you guessed it, was making clicking ticking noises when you drove.

I still love this car, love the way it drives and handles but i guess build finish needs some work, mind you never had any issues with my Polo GTI from the day i got it to the day i sold it, only problem was people kept bumping into the back of it for some reason, maybe trying to get a closer look at it. Kinda miss that baby was so much fun.

Thanks Miilos, i might give tyre power a call to see if they can help.

[Corey_R]

Wow, you haven't had much luck have you

Ok... so back to the camber issue on your front right. If there is no "adjustability" of the camber in stock form, for you to now have negative camber, does this mean that something in your right front is bent? Like a control arm or suspension mount or something? Maybe that part needs to be replaced?