Rear Wheel Toe Adjustment

[airbox]

I had the tracking done yesterday and I am sure they have done it wrong. they used one of these laser things that shine between the front wheels and also shine down to the back. The guy adjusted the front wheels so that the toe in/out was zero. the lasers pointing to the back were at +5 and +2 ( not sure what the units are ). He then adjusted the front tie rods so that the lasers pointing to the back both read +3. By doing this he put the front toe to +1.5 on one side and -0.5 on the other. He said this was the best he could do. So to my mind the front wheels are now both pointing slightly to the right and to maintain a straight line the steering has to be turned slightly to the left. I think I will go back tomorrow and tell him to redo the tie rods at the front so that they are parallel again, ie zero toe in/out. At least then it should steer in a straight line with the steering wheel pointing straight. I think the back wheels must be out of parallel but I can't see any way to adjust them ( series1 RS4 ).Please help!!!!

[_Ryan_]

hey mate where are you located? lots of us can reccommend good places!!!

i personally would be going back and saying put it how it was when you drove in and give you your money back... i just go too one of three rather decent places here in melb(all over the place too) and tell them to align it how they would a street gtr, bit of neg alround, max +ive castor, think a little toe in on the rear. been a while.

[airbox]

have just found sydneykid's thread on steering etc. will get them to adjust the rear toe in/out to zero too. Is it just a case of undoing the nut on the rear tie rods and turning the eccentric adjuster to obtain the correct toe in/out and then retightening up the nut?

As for the rear camber, I have just fitted Tein superwagons and lowered the front mainly so that the car is on a more even keel but you can see that the rear has negative camber. How do you measure it? Should the hole in the washer of the rear camber eccentric adjuster be pointing directly at the diff or should the hole be at the top pointing towards the centre of the car, sort of 10 o'clock position? What about front camber? How is that measured and adjusted?

And finally castor, how is that measured and adjusted?

If the place I am taking it to, just a local tyre and exhaust place are unable to set the camber and castor, then should I just get them to set the front and rear toe in/out to zero and then try and find somewhere else sometime to do the rest?

The steering I thought was a bit vague when I got the car but I have got used to it I suppose. Would increasing to a more positive castor help with this? Is it something that I can do at home or is special measuring stuff needed? And the same with the camber too?

Cheers,

Dave.

[_Ryan_]

Castor- Positive is how far forward from the axle centre line the wheel is being pulled(so closer to the front of the guard), Negative is the reverse.

Camber- Is the angle of the wheel, eg, top of the wheel tilted towards the vehicle is negative camber, top away from the vehicle is negative camber

Toe- is the wheel being pointed in or out(towards/away) from the middle of the car(best explanation i can give without waving my hands around )

for rear camber- i am guessing 9'o'clock on the left and 3 on the right?

castor will increase steering feel, other than that you can get a valve changed in your power steering but we will leave that for another time i run ~5deg +ve castor, which is the max on the adjustable bushes i have.

Where are you located?

[airbox]

cheers. I went back to the tyre fitters and he put the laser things on the back wheels and sure enough the were unequal. When he saw that the adjustment was the eccentric nut he said he wouldn,t do it because blah blah blah. Said he would only do it if it was proper track rod ends like the front. He said you needed proper suspension specialist. He then said that I would never get the tracking correct because it is lowered. I think he could be talking bollocks. I shall now have to try and find someone who will do it.

I am in the UK mate!!

[KiwiRS4T]

cheers. I went back to the tyre fitters and he put the laser things on the back wheels and sure enough the were unequal. When he saw that the adjustment was the eccentric nut he said he wouldn,t do it because blah blah blah. Said he would only do it if it was proper track rod ends like the front. He said you needed proper suspension specialist. He then said that I would never get the tracking correct because it is lowered. I think he could be talking bollocks. I shall now have to try and find someone who will do it.

I am in the UK mate!!

He's talking bollocks. Have a look in your phone book and look for a proper suspension shop - possibly a race supension specialist. if oyur Stagea is lowered 30 mm or so you can still get proper alignment with the right parts (and I'm not taking repalcement arms) but if you've dropped it to the ground you could have problems!

[_Ryan_]

alrighty, there is a UK GTR-ownersclub(GTROC???) forum, ask who they reccomend for alignments in your area...

cheers

[airbox]

cheers for that!! I've got it all sorted now on a proper machine with the software for the stagea. Rear toe was well out which meant the front was out. Rear camber we adjusted to the least we could on the standard adjustment, it is still too negative by half a degree at 1.75 but I am happy with that. Front camber was spot on which is odd because I lowered the front a bit more than the back. Castor was spot on. Well pleased!!!

[_Ryan_]

the front and rear suspension design's are different, hence the neg camber increase only on the rear when lowering...