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

[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

[route]

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

Hi Gary,

Yes i do have the whiteline castor kit installed and that helped a little by giving more caster on the left to counter the left of negative camber on the left but the steering just doesn't feel right. It feels "heavier" turning to the right as compared to turning left.

[Sydneykid]

Hi Gary,
Yes i do have the whiteline castor kit installed and that helped a little by giving more caster on the left to counter the left of negative camber on the left but the steering just doesn't feel right. It feels "heavier" turning to the right as compared to turning left.

"Heavier" is really a subjective measure, hard to pin down. It could be a number things. If it has a lot more caster on the LF then it will feel slightly heavier turning to the right. I don't think you would pick 0.25 degrees more caster on the LF (than the RF), maybe 0.5 might be enough to feel. Do you know the numbers?

Cheers
Gary

[Umai Naa!!]

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.

I can't imagine your tyres would last too long at 29/30psi.

Perhaps increase them to 34psi, for improved feedback and wear.

[route]

According to the alignment report.
Camber R - 0.32
Camber L - 1.28

Caster R - 5.14
Caster L - 4.58

I then did another alignment using a different machine and it shows

Camber R - - 1.30
Camber L - - 1.18

Caster R - 5.54
Caster L - 5.42

[rana_kirti]

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.

That's the last alignment report. I think they did some kind of steering wheel sensor alignment which was off by half inch. Its been a few months.

Do let me know if you visit the workshop and can rectify this....

I can't imagine your tyres would last too long at 29/30psi.

Perhaps increase them to 34psi, for improved feedback and wear.

I find anything above 30psi too jumpy and bouncy on our roads in india.

[trive2]

Title needs to be changed, adjusting the toe is a wheel alignment...

[rana_kirti]

Hi Gary,

Yes i do have the whiteline castor kit installed and that helped a little by giving more caster on the left to counter the left of negative camber on the left but the steering just doesn't feel right. It feels "heavier" turning to the right as compared to turning left.

Hi route,

Did you figure out a solution for above ?

Thanks.

[route]

Hi route,

Did you figure out a solution for above ?

Thanks.

sadly - no. after many alignment attempts, my steering still wants to move itself to the left all the time.
thinking of selling it by the end of the year.

[rana_kirti]

sorry to hear that.... was this at vw workshop or alignment shops outside ??

Did you trying aligning the subframe ?

[brad]

http://whiteline.com.au/product_detail4.php?part_number=W53189