Mk3 Golf - Ball Joint and Tie Rod Modification

[nastylilweed]

Hey Everyone.

I am looking for a way to get rid of the bump steer or tracking issues related to lowering the MK3 Golfs.

Basically I don't want to use extenders because it isn't an ideal scenario.

I am looking at getting some replacement extended ball joints machined up (50mm or so longer) to replace the original ball joints to bring the LCA back to a more horizontal position. Obviously this means the Tie Rods will also have to be flipped which is fairly commonly done and doesn't require a huge amount of work.

This should bring the components back to a relatively horizontal position and stop the bump steer issues. Has anyone ever done this before? And is there a reason that people don't do this regularly? It appears to be a fairly straight forward modification...

Opinions / Issues with this idea?

[ffoff]

You planning on tracking your car?

[nastylilweed]

Nope, it's just a daily. I have heard some pretty horrendous stories about wheel track though and figured I should be prepared...

I get the feeling you're about to tell me it really isn't that bad...

[shooitt]

Bump-steer was never really an issue for me when my Vento was lowered, it's more noticeable now with the stock shocks back in lol

[KI11Z]

I'm getting crazy bump steer with the new wheels and height :/.....

[Ben J]

I never noticed bump steer much driving completely slammed in my car, maybe the vr6 gear is less affected? Doesn't really help your situation though I suppose.

If you havent already lowered the car and all I'd just leave it as is for a while and you can feel for yourself if you think its worth all the trouble

[Jarred]

I wouldn't stress too much.

Sure it's on my list of things to do (very big list though), but I don't find it to be a major issue for me, even at my height (my car is proper slammed)

[rayray086]

There shouldn't be much bump steer with the standard ball joints with standard tie-rods - the factory had them sitting at the same angle. It's only when you add extended ball joints without flipping the tie-rod, or flip the tie-rod without adding extended ball joints that you introduce a lot of bump steer. Just get an alignment done after you lower your Mk3.

You only really need ball joint extenders/flipped tie-rods if you to even out the geometry as you mentioned, but this is only really helpful if you track the car (push it to its limits). I've done this on my 8L only because my subframe gets in the way of getting it lower when there's more angle on the tie-rods and control arms.