alignment questions

[Jim Dupree]

Tess,
How did the wheel weights come out?
Less negative camber should not cause the problem you describe it may not
turn in as well or handle as much cornering force as it did be fore but it
should be consistent. Excessive toe out can cause the symptoms you describe
especially if the road surface is irregular. Toe out can make a car turn in
quicker. Excessive toe out can make a car very darty and sensitive to
changes in road surface.
I would suggest you have them change the toe setting a little and see if it
feels better.
Depending on what part of the car to the brunt of the impact when you went
off track you could have bent several things including the chassis but you
would need to have some one measure things accurately to find out for sure.
I have on a couple of car loosened the sub frame and shifted to one side or
the other to help even out the camber side to side. You would want to try to
move your sub frame to the right but it may not have any room to move.
Good luck
Jim
1984 4kq
1985 4kq
1985 5kt


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tessie McMillan" <tessmc at drizzle.com>
To: <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 8:21 PM
Subject: alignment questions


> I just got my 80Q back from the local sports-tuner shop, where it had a
> corner balance and alignment. This car had a track accident a few months
> ago (sorry to bore you all; I'm still on this topic!) that broke some
> front suspension pieces.
>
> I had requested they dial in as much negative camber as possible
> (especially in the front). Someone different did the alignment this time.
> He said the car simply would not take the negative camber it had in the
> past. The most the RF would take was -1.3 (previously it was -1.8), and
> because of that he set the LF at -1.5 (previously -1.7). Because I wanted
> negative camber, he added positive toe, saying this would give the tire
> negative camber in turns. About 0.02L and 0.04R (previously -0.03 and -
> 0.something I can't remember).
>
> Driving the car home, MY GOSH! left turns scared the bejeezus out of me.
> The turn was unpredictable and herky-jerky -- that is, it didn't want to
> turn, and then it would turn farther than I wanted, then the process would
> be repeated. I'm used to setting my wheel and then accelerating to find
> my curve ... and by gum if I didn't find myself in the wrong lane doing
> this. I totally lost confidence. Right turns weren't quite so bad, but
> still the car was hard to turn.
>
> Two questions: what happens to make the suspension unable to accept more
> negative camber? Do pieces get bent? Does the adjustment involve threads
> that become crushed or ruined? I don't understand that part of the
> process.
>
> If I ask them to bring back my negative toe, is there anything wrong with
> this request? Previously, the steering was quick and precise. I guess I
> don't understand why he dialed in so much positive toe.
>
> I am trying to balance between excess tire wear on the outside front right
> tire (due to heavy cornering), and responsive steering.
>
> If you have any comments or suggestions for me, I'd appreciate it!
>
> Tess
> in Bellevue, WA USA
>
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