Why you Cannot do a "Wheel Alignment" on the 6R polo

[brad]

Hi Brad, any idea if I could run into problems in future as I'm running a toe in of 0.09 on both sides. Reason being that if I run anything lesser, the steering feels "loose" and the car drifts left.
Have tried shifting the subframe, the left now has more caster compared to the right but the camber on the right is more than the left, could that be the reason for my Polo pulling left?

Thanks

Ideally you want equal camber or a fraction more -ve on the left.

Toe of 0.09 what? and is that total or per side?

[route]

Ideally you want equal camber or a fraction more -ve on the left.

Toe of 0.09 what? and is that total or per side?

0.09 degrees toe in per side. the left camber is 1.18, right is 1.48. Apparently the available "free play" in the subframe is not enough to even out the camber.

[brad]

I'm really crap at doing toe in degrees/minutes but I believe on a 15" wheel 1' is 0.1mm so you are running 0.2mm toe-in. (maybe???). That's probably OK if that's how you like it.

If you've run out of subframe play then it is what it is.

[bluey]

I thought standard toe kept right hand wheel straight and left hand one toed in for RWD (front wheels always loaded by some drag esp braking). This to allow for average road camber which would see most cars gently drift left on a cambered road.

I thought generally, FWD were neutral to toed out (mix of pull from drive and drag from braking). The specification on the first page of the thread says toe +10' +/-10' = a range from neutral to 20minutes toe out.

[brad]

I thought standard toe kept right hand wheel straight and left hand one toed in for RWD (front wheels always loaded by some drag esp braking). This to allow for average road camber which would see most cars gently drift left on a cambered road.

I thought generally, FWD were neutral to toed out (mix of pull from drive and drag from braking). The specification on the first page of the thread says toe +10' +/-10' = a range from neutral to 20minutes toe out.

yes, but if the customer doesn't like the steering feel & the tyres are wearing OK then you do what you have to.

[Umai Naa!!]

Can we get the title of this thread changed?

11 pages of wheel alignment advice and techniques seems to contradict it.

[route]

my steering feels heavier doing a right turn compared to left, why is that so? The caster difference on both sides is within tolerance.

[rana_kirti]

my steering feels heavier doing a right turn compared to left, why is that so? The caster difference on both sides is within tolerance.

Hi,

Have you felt this turning right side harder from the beginning or recently after some months of use or post some tyre or other mods ?

my polo used to pull left when I bought new.... but the steering used to feel identical turning both sides.

I got the subframe aligned. After that the left pulling was resolved but I used to feel the steering was a bit harder to turn to the right side specially towards the last end of the right side.

I visited the workshop to sort it and it was resolved 80% I feel but not fully.

I ve noticed that when I keep all 4 tyres at 29psi then the right turning is a bit harder but when I keep them at 30psi then the right turning is 90% identical to left.

If you visit the workshop to rectify this same situation you are feeling then do let me know the remedy.

Thanks.

[route]

Hi,

Have you felt this turning right side harder from the beginning or recently after some months of use or post some tyre or other mods ?

my polo used to pull left when I bought new.... but the steering used to feel identical turning both sides.

I got the subframe aligned. After that the left pulling was resolved but I used to feel the steering was a bit harder to turn to the right side specially towards the last end of the right side.

I visited the workshop to sort it and it was resolved 80% I feel but not fully.

I ve noticed that when I keep all 4 tyres at 29psi then the right turning is a bit harder but when I keep them at 30psi then the right turning is 90% identical to left.

If you visit the workshop to rectify this same situation you are feeling then do let me know the remedy.

Thanks.

Hey mate,

Thank you for the reply. Do you have your alignment details?
Yes, my polo used to pull left badly until i got my subframe pulled to the left to try and even out the camber. it still pulls left now but that is only on left cambered roads and drives perfectly straight on normal roads. I suspect the alignment machine is not really accurate as it says i have more camber on the left than on the right, but looking straight at my car, i can see that the right definately has more camber than the left. i'm running my RE002 215/40/17 tyres at 34 psi cold.

What did the workshop do to sort out 80% of the problem? I've not gone to the workshop yet, just thought somebody might have an idea on what is going on. Could it be due to the fact that the subframe is too much on the left?

Thanks.

[Sydneykid]

Drift to the left due to road camber is usually corrected with additional caster on the left front (LF), around 0.25 degrees more on the LF compared to the RF usually is sufficient. Have any of you guys tried a Whiteline W53189 kit? They provide around 0.75 degrees of caster correction via eccentric crush tubes in the inner rear lower front control arm bush.

The drift to the left is often related to excessive set back of the LF resulting in reduced wheel base on the LHS. That's commonly caused by hitting pot holes, gutters and road verges etc which happens more on the left than the right. It doesn't have to be one big hit, lots of little impacts over time can have the same effect. It's easy to check, just measure centre of wheel front to rear (with the steering straight ahead) on the LHS and compare it with the same measurement on the RHS.


The advantage of a kit like a W53189 is that it can be adjusted to correct both a caster deficiency and excessive set back as they are commonly related.


Cheers
Gary