Hello all.  Question is as the subject line: Adjust right-hand (driver's side) track rod only?  Why?. That's what Haynes tells me by the way.  That's my main question but also got other thoughts.   So then if steering spokes are not level - take the steering wheel off to correct the situation.  

 

Other related stuff:

 

To get through an mot re-test I've just had driver's side front wishbone/ball-joint and wheel bearing done.  Passed MOT re-test but not had chance to take for wheel alignment to be done.  Car drives straight but only while steering wheel is off-centre clockwise.

 

The only thing I'm worried about and think that could have altered my tracking is the fitting of the ball-joint to the wishbone end (cos nothing else much could have changed or been touched).  The ball-joint has three bolts which attach it to the wishbone and the three holes on the wishbone are elongated a little, so I've read.  The position of the bolts (and so ball-joint) is normally set at the factory but with new parts Haynes says just to put the bolts central in the slots as it seems that's the best you can do.  I'm hoping that this will not have altered camber in any way because it's not something garages want to admit can be done on this car.  I can only hope the garage I took it to marked out the position of the swivel hub to strut bolts before they took the swivel hub off to replace the wheel bearing so camber won't be affected.  However I'm thinking those three ball-joint bolts could affect camber also??

 

Car goes in on Saturday morning to have wheel alignment done.  Probably worrying too much as usual.

 

Any thoughts welcome esp. regarding the right-hand track rod only thing?

 

id guess it has altered the camber

 

its hard to find a garage that will its adjustable and are willing to alter it ...expect alot of nah bruv its all fixed on them, id suggest you find a place that has hunter equipment 

 

the fixed end thing is something vw has done for ages , just how they are , no bother if you know that 

Cheers steveo.  The place I'm taking it to has the Hunter equipment so we will see.  The Haynes manual suggests it is adjustable on the left but just don't touch it!!!

The Dealer manual states to set the left track rod to 360.5 +/_ 1mm from the end of the inner joint to the centre line of the outer ball joint, then adjust the right track rod to obtain the correct toe in

Thanks nige - excellent info as always!  Think we'd have to take the track rod out and bellows off to get a decent measurement.  I think we're just gonna have to assume it's correct as nothing on that side of the car has been touched.  Any work was done on the right hand side so that's where we should be able to make the corrections.

 

When I say 'We', I mean the garage I'm taking it to!!

TBH I would make sure the wheel is straight and adjust both sides to get the correct toe-in

I'm pretty sure that's what any garage will want to do anyway and as said it seems I've got even less chance for them to address anything to do with camber that a new lower ball-joint may have changed.  Oh well - such is life.  Thanks all the same guys!

Hey nige - just thought.  You're the man when it comes to accessing the workshop manuals.  As a matter of interest does it say anything about where to set a new ball-joint in the wishbone - with regards to the elongated slots??  You'd think midway of course or do they use that slack to set up initial camber and toe??

 

Installing
 ‒ Fit ball joint in wheel bearing housing.

 

‒ → Screw on new self-locking nut, and counter-hold with hexagon key (5 mm AF).
      1 -     Hexagon key (5 mm AF), shortened approx. 10 mm.
      2 -     Ring spanner insert or slotted ring spanner insert => Fig. 40-1323
      3 -     V.A.G 1331
 ‒ Secure ball joint to wishbone (bolts on old marks).

 

The other thing to check is the ball joint can be fitted incorrectly they are fitted in different directions for 13" or 14" wheels fitting it the wrong way around will alter the castor angle

The Camber angle is adjusted by the two pinch bolts on the bottom of the suspension strut where it bolts onto the bearing hub unit
 

Many thanks nige!

 

Yes only thing is this is new ball joint to new wishbone.  I've got the old wishbone back so will try and get the old ball joint out just for the sake of it.  Looks like one of the nuts has been rounded over already.  Can see that the three bolt positions could affect both camber and toe.

 

Yes I saw that about the ball-joint - fitting it different directions for 13" and 14" wheels somewhere.  Can't say I understood it quite properly.  Only thing I could see to make a difference would be fitting the offside one to the nearside and vice versa - that would have to be it?