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?

[MiiLos]

hmm if it was indeed a pothole it would have been a fairly bad one to knock your camber that much and you would definitely remember it.

i still remember hitting a horrible pothole while going round a bend. was so loud when it happened that i stopped the car and got out thinking someone threw something at me. as i got out a cyclist pulled up next to me and asked had someone just thrown a rock at the car as even he had heard it! after looking around i realised it was indeed a pothole and it took a chunk out of my rear wheel + tyre (225/40/18 wheels/tyres). had the alignment checked out and that was affected significantly also.

ill speak to a mate of mine tomorrow that is experienced with wheel camber/toe and get back to you with anything that may help

[magbane]

Hmmm, that's a good question Corey. Will have to find out if it is something that's bent (control arm, etc), i wasn't told exactly what's causing it, urgh... back to the suspension place i go.

And thanks again Miilos, i hope he has some suggestions.

[MiiLos]

hey mate, no probs. had a chat to my mate;

basically, what you really want is to run slighlty negative camber as it will never be 0 otherwise your alignment will always be out as it has to have some adjustability. preferable camber for front is -0.5 deg. and for rear -1 deg. 1 degree camber wont kill your tires, 'toe' will ('toe' meaning your wheels being pulled in/out and not rotating straight - this will wear the insides/outsides of your tires).

some options are adjustable camber arms, but this depends how much adjustablitiy the toe arms have. in saying that you might need both camber and toe arms - i'm not too familiar with the MK6 suspension setup yet.

i've PM'd you a list of reccomened wheel alignment places from my mate - one of them should be able to help you. hope that helps & good luck!

[magbane]

Thanks Miilos, got your PM will visit the place in Flemington soon as it's the closest to me.
I'll keep all informed of my progress for future info if any one else had similar probs.

Cheers all!

[Guy_H]

If you shock a corner hard enough, the subframe can walk on its mounts (has elongated holes for adjustment) - certainly I would be starting there if the car has never been pranged.