looking for camber adjustment?

So I have recently replaced my inner outer tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings, control arms and bushings, as well as the spindles. I took my car in for an alignment due to all of the part changes, and they were able to aline the toe but could not get the front right camber to come into spec, the front left is fine and both the rears are perfect. I know that there is very little adjustment in fact the only adjustment you have is the 3 bolts in the ball joint and that is very limited at best. So what could throw my front right camber out by -1.8 degrees? and how can I get it back into spec?

You adjust TOTAL camber (equalize) by shifting the subframe. If it is still that far out, something is bent. Usually a strut.

Would replacing the strut bearing correct the problem that is the only thing I could think of.

If the strut is bent, it is bent. The strut bearing won't have any impact on that. That is just a tiny little needle bearing in the mount.

Take it to a shop that is familiar with the MK IV suspension. Just my 2¢...

A bit surprised the shop did not recommend a fix.

I have only owned the car for about 2 1/2 years, I had a used car report done up and no accidents were ever claimed, that doesn't mean that there have never been any. So to my knowledge and visual inspection of the struts there doesn't show any signs of anything bent, definitely the top strut mount area has no paint cracking or chipping that would indicate that the top is out of alignment. The one recommendation the shop had was to take it to a body shop to see if the body is in alignment. So the only options I have so far is 1) take it to a body to see if the frame is out and correct if it is. 2) replace the right strut and bearing in hopes that it will fix it. 3) possibly open up the ball joint holes to allow for more adjustment and I cringe just thinking about it. or 4) live with it and replace my tires ever 2 years or less.

All that work and no struts? Or were they recently done?

There's the upper bearing mentioned above but maybe the upper strut mount is bad. Isn't it rubber?

What were the actual camber measurements for the front?

the struts looked pretty new but i don't know if the rubbers or bearings were replaced. it would have been done before i bought the car.

BobnOH said:

A bit surprised the shop did not recommend a fix.

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If it's listed as non-adjustable they might not be aware of that.

If the strut bearing was loose they should have caught it.
I don't know how much that slight play on the top would effect the caster or camber.
How old are the struts?

Go back and read oilhammer's post (#2). If the shop didn't know that camber can be equalized by shifting the subframe, you can probably assume that they didn't try.

oilhammer said:

You adjust TOTAL camber (equalize) by shifting the subframe. If it is still that far out, something is bent. Usually a strut.

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.....

Having rebuilt the front end on my car 1 1/2 years ago, the shop couldn't get the driver's side in spec. Is there a write up or a tech bulletin explaining the process of shifting the sub frame?

Loosen the bolts (four, I believe) and shift it in the correct direction. It'll change camber on both sides, to opposite effect, obviously. Lots of alignment shops don't want to do this procedure. If yours doesn't, find one that will.

Yep, four bolts and a prybar is all it takes. Usually what I do it print my alignment readings, then move the car off the alignment rack, then lift it on a two-post so it is unloaded and the subframe can move around easily. Then I shift it to the direction I need to, but just snug the bolts down enough it will not move, then drive it back on the alignment rack and recheck. If I nailed it correctly, I finish tightening the bolts down. If it still needs some movement, I can loosen the bolts again while on the alignment rack and do it there, since I left them somewhat loose before.

This procedure is in most alignment machines' software, they may even have a video for it (ours does, Hunter). So if a shop does not want to do it, or does not know that it may need to be done, they are simply not using their tools correctly.

The same applies to the REAR beam, and that should be corrected first.

Thank you oilhammer i will have to try that.

oilhammer said:

Yep, four bolts and a prybar is all it takes. Usually what I do it print my alignment readings, then move the car off the alignment rack, then lift it on a two-post so it is unloaded and the subframe can move around easily. Then I shift it to the direction I need to, but just snug the bolts down enough it will not move, then drive it back on the alignment rack and recheck. If I nailed it correctly, I finish tightening the bolts down. If it still needs some movement, I can loosen the bolts again while on the alignment rack and do it there, since I left them somewhat loose before.

This procedure is in most alignment machines' software, they may even have a video for it (ours does, Hunter). So if a shop does not want to do it, or does not know that it may need to be done, they are simply not using their tools correctly.

The same applies to the REAR beam, and that should be corrected first.

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I just encountered this issue after taking my '04 Jetta TDI in for alignment (after doing FR wheel bearing and tie rod end). The toe was way off, which I knew, but he told me I may have a bent left strut due to the FL camber at -1.7, while RF was -0.6. If I understand correctly, shifting the subframe will only average these out, still leaving me with too much negative camber on both sides, right? The struts seem ok, with about 80k kms, but show a lot of rust, so I will replace them.

He gave me the print outs from his machine, and didn't charge me much ($35), so I feel he was fair, and seemed to know his stuff, although he didn't mention shifting the subframe, maybe because it wouldn't help?

The rear is out of spec also, can it be adjusted? If so, I want to make sure he does this when I go back, as I want to get this right before buying new tires.
LR toe: -0.45 (range is -0.33 to 0.33)
Thrust angle is -0.36 (range is -0.33 to 0.33)

Thanks

You are correct in that shifting the front subframe will still net in too much negative camber in front. Chances are you have a bent strut on that one side.

If the total toe in the rear is negative, then you likely have a bent beam.

oilhammer said:

You are correct in that shifting the front subframe will still net in too much negative camber in front. Chances are you have a bent strut on that one side.
If the total toe in the rear is negative, then you likely have a bent beam.

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Thanks, I discovered that the front right spring has the bottom coil broken off, so it sits a bit lower. Could this explain the problem, or is it just another sign that the suspension has hit some big potholes?

Are the Monroe strut + spring kits ok quality, or should I get OEM springs and struts (I can get OEM from the US for about the same price if I wait a while for family delivery...)

I have seen bent steering knuckles also. I'm not sure how you would check one other than just replacing it or comparing it to a known good one.

Thanks, I've got some strut kits on order. I decided to go with Monroe kits with springs & mounts, since I have a broken spring. Hope I don't regret it... I usually try to go with Bilstein or Sachs. The ones on the car are Blauparts house brand, which are KYB private label I believe, and I haven't been impressed with them, especially with the amount of rust after ~100k kms - looks like they could rust through at any time.