Golf MkIII VR6 Suspension/Tyre Wear Q - Help!

[roosevelt]

Having had a sports (lowered) suspension kit fitted, I thought I done the sensible thing and had all wheels balanced, tracking checked and 4 wheel alignment done.
However, I have been advised that I have excessive wear on the inner shoulder of each rear tyre. Is this due to the camber angle (vertical angle of wheel in relation to the horizontal) being increased as the suspension is now lower?? Is this normally checked in a 4 wheel alignment? How do you find out what the camber angle should be, presume it will be same as standard setting - if so what is it??

[dern]

By all means get the camber checked but you may well find that you simply have play in the bushes and the balljoint of the wishbone causing the wheels to splay out at speed and wear in inner shoulder.

[roop]

I can't remember the geometry on the rear of the Golf, but I don't seem to remember the wheel camber changing much in relation to the travel of the suspension - It probably does a bit. I had a Mk3 GTI and had a 4-wheel 'Beissbarth' alignment on it at AmD. At 60,000 miles, the suspension bushes were pretty much shot and the guys struggled to get it to sit within the manufacturer's tolerances. I sold the car shortly after so didn't get the bushes done, but this could be the case with yours, worth a look I'd say. The front end of a Mk3 is very adjustable so if it's the same for the rear, you might be OK. Give AmD a call and see what they say.

Cheers,

Roop

PS : No affiliation with AmD, they just sorted my car fast and for the right money - it drove like new when I took it out of their place.

Edited to say : DOH Dern beat me to it by a minute...!

>> Edited by roop on Tuesday 6th December 12:44

[iguana]

Don't think there is any adjustment on rear of Mk3- none on a Mk2 anyway, if ya wanna adjust rear camber you need to fit aftermarket camber plate wedges.

So its pretty much narrowed down to worn axle bushes or a bent stub axle really I reckon.

>> Edited by iguana on Tuesday 6th December 18:45

[zcacogp]

iguana said:

Don't think there is any adjustment on rear of Mk3- none on a Mk2 anyway, if ya wanna adjust rear camber you need to fit aftermarket camber plate wedges. So its pretty much narrowed down to worn axle bushes or a bent stub axle really I reckon. >> Edited by iguana on Tuesday 6th December 18:45

Mk2 and 3 are pretty much the same as far as rear-axle design goes. And the camber isn't affected by lowering the car.

I'll go with Iguana's guess.


Oli.