A4 rear suspension bushings

I am having a problem with rear alignment on my NB, Align shop says that it is out of spec and can't be adjusted (true), and that it needs to be replaced. The car has suffered no insult to cause the rear to get tweaked, and the last alignment it was within spec (same shop, same machine).

The question is, could it be bad bushings? if failed, could they be far enough out of shape to cause rear align to go out os spec? I'd rather replace a set of bushings than a whole rear beam. Any suspension geometry experts out there?

Mark

Not an expert here, but what are the numbers for the rear the shop gave you? You can use some shims that few sell on vortex, but you need to know how much off you are first, because those shims may not be enough or may be much more. Then you may do some custom made shims, but it will be $$$. Is it only one side or both sides? And what is the problem - toe, camber?

dont forget that you have a 2" lift on there too...

that could have aggrivated the bushings a tad.

from what I hear, the rear mount bushings arent cheap as they are fluid filled.

Wait, you have the rear lifted by 2"? ..... Then sure your spex will be off. It is in the design of the rear suspension to have the spex camber and toe when is aorund stock level height. Once you lower or lift, you go little bit off. If I am not wrong with the geometry, you should have now more toe-out now....

Thanks for the responses, Peter and Aaron. Yes ther is a 2" lift ont he car, but the alignment was checked and within spec AFTER the kit was installed, last year. Now, I have it aligned again, and the specs are off. So, what changes there were happened after the last alignment, and as you will see, the major issue is excessive toe out. As you surmised, Peter, the toe out is excessive, and there is a little camber issue as well. I wonder if new hard bushings will help sopme, or do I needd to find some shims for the spindles? This is causing excessive tire wear (feathering) on the inside of the rears....


Sorry for the format, but the specs are listed below...



Rear : Left

Actual Before Specified Range

Camber: -1.6° -1.6° -1.6° to -1.3°
Toe: -0.11° -0.13° 0.13° to 0.29°




Rear : Right

Actual Before Specified Range

Camber: -1.5° -1.5° -1.6° to 1.3°
Toe: -0.25° -0.27° 0.13° to 0.29°





Rear Overall:

Actual Before Specified Range

Cross Camber: -0.2° -0.2° -0.5° to 0.5°
Total Toe: -0.36° -0.40° 0.25° to 0.58°
Thrust Angle: 0.07° 0.07° -0.33° to 0.33°

mg.... If I am not wrong, you can get those shims that people use to get more rear camber and "rotate" them 90 degree (or around there, had to be experimented as to get the best compromise) so you can fix the toe issue and depending on the rotation you can fix some of the camber issue too. Let me know if you have hard time to find them and I can try to help you to look for a set....

Here:

From Bildon MS http://www.bildon.com under A4 Chassis...
Alignment Shims
Hard steel shim fits under your rear axle to adjust camber or toe. Available in .5° camber adjustments from .5° to 2° and toe adjustments from -0.066°, 0.0°, .066° .2°, .4° to .53°

$69.00 each + Shipping

Click to expand...

This was a copy-paste from an old topic ..... not sure if they still have those things. But I guess a call to them will do.

Well, that sounds just like what I need, Peter! I diin't see that in their catalog, and had to leave a message at the phone number on their site. We'll see...

Mark.

Toe out in the rear? That ain't right. It has to do with the ride height. Most suspensions will increase toe-in and negative camber under load. Since your car is raised, the toe out makes sense. Toe out in the rear is not the safe thing to have (unless you like to march through corners in a left-right-left-right fashion). Also, your tires will wear out in the inside pretty quick. I'd try the shims and if you are still in a bind, you can bend the rear axle (only racers do stuff like that).

Toe out, "Danger Warning Will Robinson". As someone else said rear toe out will get you in trouble in a heart beat.
At low speed you should be OK, let the speeds go up, or have an emergency lane change in the wet, and it’s all over.

Toe out in the rear? That ain't right. It has to do with the ride height. Most suspensions will increase toe-in and negative camber under load. Since your car is raised, the toe out makes sense. Toe out in the rear is not the safe thing to have (unless you like to march through corners in a left-right-left-right fashion). Also, your tires will wear out in the inside pretty quick. I'd try the shims and if you are still in a bind, you can bend the rear axle (only racers do stuff like that).

Click to expand...

I understand that. THe last thing I need is for the rear end to be steering agressively on it's own, rather than tracking. The unusual part is that at a level ride height, the car is still within the deflection range of a stocker, albeit near one limit. I ma trying to raise the company, but so far to no avail. The shims seem like a perfect fit. Much more precise than some torch work.

Toe out, "Danger Warning Will Robinson". As someone else said rear toe out will get you in trouble in a heart beat.
At low speed you should be OK, let the speeds go up, or have an emergency lane change in the wet, and it’s all over.

Click to expand...

We used to play with these things in our old SoloII AutoX days. It is easy to get twitch pretty fast. I must say that in driving the car, I have noticed only the slightest influence of the toe difference. I guess with more deviation it would become more of an issue. The driving feel isn't what is making me want to correct it, it is the mere fact that it it is off that bothers me. Anyway, there are two other factors that seem odd in this mix: first, that the alignment done after the installation of the kit showed no deviation from stock range, it only showed uop 6 months later; and second, that no one else with one of these kits has reported a similar issue. Makes me wonder if somehow after my installation that something happened to my rear beam. I sure don't want to buy a new one!