New Struts and Alignment

I installed new struts that I purchased from TDIParts. Worked good. I when today to get an alignment. The guy told me I needed a chamber kit. What is that I ask. It was new bolts like a cam lobe to replace the bottom bolts in the strut. Anyway Four bolts $40 and Labor $40 and $50 Alignment. He said it was a 2.5hr job. I said that is how long it took to install the new strut. I said stop the BS and just align the car, 98 Jetta. He said he could not get it to meet spec without the chamber kit. So, I left once he got the car off the rack. I when to another shop, and they aligned it no problem for $30.
I do not disagree that the new bolt would make it easier to align and maybe stay in alignment, but I was not going to spent $80 to find out. Has anyone used this type bolt before and what is your expeience?

The book for many alignment machines says to use the eccentric bolts. Stupid Techs! All they have to do is look and see that our struts are slotted for adjustment. I had to point that out to my last tech, then I got a perfect alignment.

Thats odd, I had to do the same thing as Paramedic, had to tell the shop how to adjust the camber, they just told me it was out of spec and not adjustable!! You really don't need a camber kit, and if you did put one in I don't even know how it would work?
Ray

http://www.geocities.com/chuckw96/passat_trans/camber.htm

1- I know that this is not believed but you can do the camber your self. In the older VW Bentleys they even tell you this. I have done at least 4 cars (VWs). In fact I checked my procedure against others Vdubs an it baselines, I usually read -.5deg camber.


2- Most guys here don't do there home work before they do struts, get a camber strut gauge, take a relative measurement before you start, then when done put it back like it was. ie set gauge for 0 before you start, then put it back to 0 when done.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&item=200041270562

I bougth mine from harbor freight for 9.99,

IN the 70's I worked as a front end alignment mechanic on a Hunter alignment rack. The car was driven onto ramps over a pit. There were two plates on either side of the ramps that you drove onto. The plates allowed the wheels to find their resting spot with no side loads etc on them. They were just basically two plates of steel with grease between them. After drove on the rack, you centered the steering wheel and put a magnetic gauge on the wheel hub. The gauge was just a high quality bubble guage and you read the camber just like you do on this guage. Not high tech, but worked.
Ray

There's a VAG special tool that uses a forward and a reverse thread L-bracket with an adjustable collar in the middle, it goes in between the fender well and the strut and makes camber adjustment real easy and precise. The only problem was that every once in a while some dummy would crank on it without having the strut bolts loose and would bend the tool making it hard to use... The cam bolts do work well in certain cases and can be added to most VW applications but aren't needed obviously.

Thanks JGG, I was thinking it was like the eccentrics on my Ford, that gave you adjustment on the vehicle where there was none from the factory.
Silly me.
Ray

some tech use the how to on the new hunter machines and if the how to says one thing thats what they recomend. so I would say most new young tech unless trained the correct way and informing themselves about the differen cars its to hard to keep up.