Steering and Camber settings??? HELP

Does anyone know what the factory steering and camber settings should be for my 83 GTI.

Need the tracking setting and most garages don't have the settings for the car!!!!

Getting it done at lunch time so please help!!!!

Thanks

Tim.

don;t know what they are but i've never had a problem getting a mk1 set up, most 4 wheel alinement centres are computerised and have all the settings in a database on the machine itself.

They're in the Haynes manual, but from memory something like 1? of toe in and 0? of camber is standard.

I run around 1-2? of negative camber, and from memory about parallel on the tracking, and the handling is fine.

HTH

Rich

Had the tracking set at lunch time to parallel and the autodata book said 0 to 1deg negative for the camber.

Just have to find a garage that'll set camber for me now!! Is there a cheap tool / gauge out there for setting camber?

It's easy enough to do by eye - you don't need to be as careful with it as with tracking.

With the car on level ground, loosen off the camber adjusting bolt on the suspension strut on one side, and set it so that the wheel looks about right from a distance (i.e. slightly pointing in at the top). Lock it off and make a note of where one of the points of the bolt goes (e.g. the point of the bolt where the eccentric washer is smallest points towards the caliper, or whatever).

Then loosen the bolt on the other side and copy the position of the point of the bolt over. Tighten up, give it a quick visual inspection from the same distance, and you're done.

HTH

Rich

if you want to do that a little more accurate without buying a camber gauge, you can follow most of the above but use a spirit level ( i use one that just fits on the rim of a 14'' wheel ) to check each side, adjusting as you go

For all the people out there who have a problem with camber and tracking. You have to take on board that for Golfs with their design of suspension, the track setting is dependent on a correct camber setting. The camber setting is therefore the important angle to get right and then and ONLY THEN set the tracking. It is invariably the camber angle that changes due to various driving circumstances such as going up a kerb or even reversing up your drive the same way every night, and any change in the camber angle with modify the track setting. Anyone who then sets the tracking without first setting the correct camber angle is actually compounding the error.
The correct angle for the camber on most early Golfs is 20minutes negative but you should always check with VW the correct setting for your vehicle. You do not do this setting with a spirit level and eye. More on this a bit later.

Thanks mach 2, i've had the camber reset to 0 deg on each strut and then re-corrected the tracking after (although I still have the original fixed tie rod on the passenger side). The car drives great now but I may re adjust the camber to the 20mins neg when i have a bit more time.

Out of interest what should the tracking be set to? I assume parallel is good?

The variation allowed on camber is + or - 10minutes on each side with a max difference between sides of 20 minutes. Test the vehicle at approx 40-50 mph and no more on a winding road to get the true feel as to whether your have under or oversteer or both depending on left or right bend. Recheck the angles after test only on a smooth level surface. It is essential for this check that the suspension is settled down to its correct position so go forward and reverse several times on the smooth surface before the recheck. Resetting of the angles usually involves removal of the wheel unless you have a lift. This action wil change the position of the suspension and that is why you need the correct tool in order to compensate for the change in postion of the suspension and so re-adjust correctly. Road test again and continue this process until you have the camber angles correct and then and only then adjust the track
The general setting for the track on most is 0 deg but again you must check with VW or your handbook for the correct for your vehicle. Road test again completely as above and check the track setting
You can now see that this whole operation is not something you can play at and is very time-consuming to get right. My man who gave me all this information takes 3 hours