Street Touring Hatchback (STH) discussion/setup

[odessa.filez]

thanks. I'm at zero rear toe and have left it alone. Hopefully that's a good strategy for daily tire wear.

I'm -2 rear camber vs roughly -5 up front thanks to STH illegal setup. Even with this and a heavy rear spring bias, a little more rotation might be good for parking lots.

front toe is easy to change and make repeatable thanks to the tie rods. In the back, is there a similar alternative approach aftermarket that does not rely on eccentric bolts and stays STH legal?

How does raising / lowering rear ride height affect toe and camber?

Sorry for all the questions but I suspect this is a great thread with knowledgeable folks. thanks again

 

[GTIfan99]

Ok, I need your brain power.

Got car aligned 3 weeks ago right before an event.

Front -2.4 camber, 7.7 castor, .15 toe out.
Rear -1.5 camber, .15 toe out.

Car was good, but wanted more toe out in the rear, so took it to get aligned today for Saturday's event.

Got it on the rack and the front alignment was spot on from last alignment, but the rear was screwed up.

Left rear toe was .29 right was .15 and right rear camber was -2.4 and left was -1.5.

This is the second time this has happened. I'm thinking bolts are worn out? Any ideas other than that? Is this normal to have them move that much?

 

[JackRabbitSLIM]

I might be remembering wrong but I thought you were the one who had toe in instead of toe out earlier in the season. Did you go to the same alignment place again?

 

[GTIfan99]

I might be remembering wrong but I thought you were the one who had toe in instead of toe out earlier in the season. Did you go to the same alignment place again?

I did. The kid who mixed up toe in and out isn't the one that normally does my alignments. I only let the one guy do them anymore and tip him well, so he does whatever I ask. I have the printout and also verified with strings that it is in fact toe out, so I think I'm good there, at least now.

I also had a huge shift in rear alignment after I got that mixed up alignment fixed and did an event. I'm wondering if the bolts are worn out after 7 or 8 alignments over 2 years?

 

[JackRabbitSLIM]

I still suspect that alignment rack is messed up. If it's actually checked with strings, okay. But don't trust it unless you do it yourself. I've had my car aligned on a rack and they say it's great, but the alignment is totally messed up plenty of times.

Get some toe plates and a camber gauge.

Replace all the bolts. Almost everything on GTI is a one time use bolt. Get it re-aligned, check it yourself, mark all the bolts. Check it again after an event.

When you are checking in your garage, it won't be perfect so your measured values won't be 100% the same as the alignment sheet. Toe should be pretty darn close but camber can be all over the place even when you zero the gauge. Just make sure you are checking it the same way with the car placed the same each time. You're looking for consistency, not the perfect number.

 

[theDoktor]

Never saw those toe plates before- very slick! They'd work great with the string alignment jig I just made & used. I've got one of the original Smart Camber tools for camber checks.
These simple tools can work extremely well. I used them to catch out a body shop that improperly repaired some accident damage. Needed a plumb bob, some blue painters tape & a fine sharpie to supplement my other tools, but they didn't challenge my results- they just went ahead & fixed their screw-up.

 

[q74]

The offset camber bolts do wear out, its worth giving it a try

 

[Mini7]

I have a lightly used Smart Camber gauge for sale.

Thread 'FS: Smart Camber Gauge'
https://golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/fs-smart-camber-gauge.378333/

 

[Mini7]

I went back and checked my notes.

Before my Fall DE Season
Rear Camber: LR -2.0 RR -2.03
Toe In: LR 0.1 RR 0.1

After 2-DE’s
Rear: -1.82°/-2.05°
Rear Toe: -0.1Toe Out / 0.1Toe In

I do make use of the curbs at VIR……

Once my Swift Springs get here, I will be installing Verkline lockout washers in the two inner eccentric locations. Will use my toe links to adjust to and the adjustable camber arm.

 

[GTIfan99]

I went back and checked my notes.

Before my Fall DE Season
Rear Camber: LR -2.0 RR -2.03
Toe In: LR 0.1 RR 0.1

After 2-DE’s
Rear: -1.82°/-2.05°
Rear Toe: -0.1Toe Out / 0.1Toe In

I do make use of the curbs at VIR……

Once my Swift Springs get here, I will be installing Verkline lockout washers in the two inner eccentric locations. Will use my toe links to adjust to and the adjustable camber arm.

That's still pretty minimal drift compared to what I'm seeing.

 

[Mini7]

Agree

 

[xXDavidCXx]

I would just replace the nut, the bolt for adjusting rear camber can be used many times.

 

[q74]

I went back and checked my notes.

Before my Fall DE Season
Rear Camber: LR -2.0 RR -2.03
Toe In: LR 0.1 RR 0.1

After 2-DE’s
Rear: -1.82°/-2.05°
Rear Toe: -0.1Toe Out / 0.1Toe In

I do make use of the curbs at VIR……

Once my Swift Springs get here, I will be installing Verkline lockout washers in the two inner eccentric locations. Will use my toe links to adjust to and the adjustable camber arm.

What are these verkline lockout washers you speak of? Something that came with their toe arms?

 

[Mini7]

Verkline lock-out washers. You will need to email them as these are not listed on there website.

I got a set of the zeros and 5’s when I ordered their adjustable rear camber arm. You need two per eccentric bolt.
Im using the 5’s on the inner Rear LCA pickup and I have a set of 3’s for the inner camber mount. This will give me a little more wiggle room to the right rear for the fuel filler tube.

 

[GTIfan99]

I'm here today to admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong about tire pressures.

Today I fought the car understeering in tighter sections, car was loose in faster sections first 5 runs. That was with 36 front, 39 rear, slowly lowering the rear till I was 36 front 37 rear. Car was more stable in higher speed sections, but still understeering in tight sections.

I thought back to this thread, went 38 front 38 rear.

Understeer gone, car more stable in high speed stability much more neutral and 1 second faster


Moral of the story, these cars need more front pressure.

Finished 2nd to the WRX I've been chasing last year. 3rd event, him 2, me 1. If I'd had the pressures figured out, I think I could hand had something for him.

Also, I knew the RT660 ran wide, but holy hell they're wide. My 255 RE71Rs on a 8.5 rim have almost no bulge at the sidewalls. The other guy with a Rabbit like mine in STH has RT660s in 255 on 9in rims. Massive bulge. It's crazy how wide they are. He had some rub on the left rear on the fender. With his setup you can really see how the left rear is offset 5mm. Crazy VW engineers. 255 RT660s are closer to 275.

I don't feel too bad, the WRX and other Rabbit Edition are full prep minus any seat changes. I'm pretty mildly prepped and down on hp to both of them.

Next steps for this year, solve the wandering rear alignment issue, plugs,, front pads and focus on driving. With wife not working, no money to do much else.

Noticed the Z26 front pads are 75% gone. Expected more wear out of them, but they've worked we'll and were $80.