Rear beam toe and camber

Hi all, I have recently modded a rear beam to fit wider wheels to my car. I chopped 20mm per side off the beam and since I modified it I've noticed that the wheels are toeing in at the front. I just wondered if anyone know's if these beams naturally toe in at the front or if something may have moved when I welded the beam up? I took a pic from above(see below) of the wheels before I did the modification and it does seem to be toeing in already. It could also be an optical illusion with the shape of the car. I just don't want to be scrubbing tyres off all the time.Thanks in advance.

Andy.



 

I found this photo on my PC, Citi on the left is running 12.5mm stub axle spacers and it looks like there is a bit of toe-in on both. I'll see if I can grab a pic from the same perspective as yours today for comparison.

On a side note - tell me more about the axle modification - I was contemplating it a while back to get 11J BBS's (10J fronts) to fit on the back of a Citi Golf, I've got it running on a track Mk1 at the moment but with flared fenders that I want to tone down a bit.

I suggest before you do any driving, you should get a check done for four wheel alignment, especially as you've made such a fundamental change.
Here are some links which I hope can clarify the topic for you.
http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/what-is-the-difference-between-tracking-and-four-wheel-alignment/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ZZ_U_Fl1Y
My apologies if this is all familiar to you anyway, but you've done such a fantastic job with this resto, I think the sooner you get this checked the better, in case you find you have to go back and undo good work.  This usually means using an expert with the right equipment.  Hope this helps.

As promised, with unmolested axle on my GT:

Torker Thanks for your reply, looking at your last pic, I don't think I've got anything to worry about, it looks just the same as mine. I think it's just something I've noticed because I did the modification. It's my first attempt at doing this type of mod so probably just looking for problems lol

As for how I did it, heres a few pics, check my resto thread out for a bit more detail. Basically, I made a jig, chopped 20 mm off each side and plated it, you'll get the jist of it












P.S I love that mk1 with the flared fenders, looks great!!


Brynboru  Thanks for those links, I didn't know about 4 wheel alignment so there's something good to know!  I'll be sure to get it checked properly before it hits the road. Thanks

Andy.

Could it just be an optical illusion with the rear of the car tapering giving the look that the wheels are toe in?

I think it's a bit of both Jules, they do toe in a bit but it looks exaggerated with the taper of the car.

Nice mod though I like the idea behind it , some impressive handiwork going on with your resto. 

As above, good chance it's optical illusion, when I replaced my beam during the resto it looked the same, not only that but it stuck out 10mm more one side than the other, I only really noticed that with 7.5" Rm's on the back which brought it to my attention, was convinced it had been hit but apparently a lot of rear beams aren't truly central, anyway back to the toe in, mine laser aligned ok and have had no tyre scrub after loads of miles, handy fab work by the way, looks a good job.

Simon

I think your fabrication will be spot on mate! My rear wheels "toe-in" slightly. As Simon has said above, I only noticed when I fitted wider wheels. I've done about 1500 miles on them and there is no abnormal tyre wear to report.