Lowering And Wheel Alignment Issues?

[T6180]

@BognorMotors Oli, as your someone with a Hunters that does this kind of thing everyday, what's your thoughts?

 

[T6ARF]

How can I politely explain that the rear Toe can be adjusted then, does the mechanic have to override the settings. The guy basically said the computer says no!

As you’re in the midlands, I’d definitely recommend going to Tyre Medics in Hinckley, Leicestershire. As @T6180 says, the technician will look at the screen whilst adjusting to get it as spot on as they can for you (at least in the green). They’ve done a good few Transporters now and know all about the ‘no load’ setting.

 

[BognorMotors]

That rear tow can be adjusted perfectly. If they need any pointers get them to ring us.
And as has been said the camber needs the adjustable bushes to get it 100%.

 

[LT2019]

Thanks again guys, this forum is bloody brilliant!

I'll take it back in the first instance, as a backup I'll go to Hinckley, due to go out that way in a few weeks anyway.

 

[PeterB54]

Can anyone recommend a place in North East to get 4 wheel alignment carried out?
I phoned a local firm I have used for other stuff but as the van is a LWB it is too big for their lift.

 

[Fivetones]

This is for a Cali Ocean. Has anyone seen sliding door clearance issues with too much Toe In too?

Just got my van back after Solows, powerflex bushes, H&R ARB, and the toe is 0.25 deg each side. It was set up as Full Load.

Also I can adjust camber on the rear, what is the ideal setting for a low van? Currently around -2.15 deg each side.

 

[racerke600]

This is for a Cali Ocean. Has anyone seen sliding door clearance issues with too much Toe In too?

Just got my van back after Solows, powerflex bushes, H&R ARB, and the toe is 0.25 deg each side. It was set up as Full Load.

Also I can adjust camber on the rear, what is the ideal setting for a low van? Currently around -2.15 deg each side.

i have an ocean lowered with kw coil overs. dropped a fair amout, but not slammed.

you shouldn't measure it as Full Load, just select K4K California and normal weight.


toe settings front
L 0°08'
R 0°04'
toe settings rear
L 0°12'
R 0°07'

camber front
L -0°45'
R -0°50'

camber rear
L -1°57'
R -1°41'

I don't have adjustable bushes, they aren't allowed in Belgium. But I would like to install them and hope they don't notice.
It would allow me to adjust the rear, since my sliding door just catches the tyre when fully opened.

OR I'm gonna invest in an extended hinge/sliding mechanism. That allows the door to sit approx 8/10mm more outwards.

 

[huw169]

This is for a Cali Ocean. Has anyone seen sliding door clearance issues with too much Toe In too?

Just got my van back after Solows, powerflex bushes, H&R ARB, and the toe is 0.25 deg each side. It was set up as Full Load.

Also I can adjust camber on the rear, what is the ideal setting for a low van? Currently around -2.15 deg each side.

You are going to wear the crap out of those tyres. Take it straight back to the alignment place loaded as you would normally drive it and get them to set it for ‘No load’.
Then never go back there again!

 

[Fivetones]

@huw169 - I know, I've read the whole thread. It was booked in before I posted.

@racerke600 - I didn't know you could get extended hinges. I'll get the geometry set up properly then I'll see what clearance I have.

 

[Jamesno376]

Hi, I originally read this thread a few years ago when I lowered my LWB Kombi 6.1 T32 40mm with Eibach springs and put 20 inch wheels on with GoodYear F1 265/40 20 all information I got from this website!
2 years later and approx 16k miles all tyres are mid way worn, 4mm (I drive like miss Daisy) all over except all 4 of them have eaten themselves on the very inside to carcass.
Was hunter aligned to no load.
IMG_3398 is how they left after 1st adjustment at no load when first lowered and wheels on.
IMG_3399 is how they arrived after 16k miles & having 4 new tyres.
The guy fitting tyres told me that car tyres never last on vans and always wear on the inside when lowered, there isn’t any way around it and the 16k was good going. He advised they use half load setting on their Caddy so we used that on mine ( I can see just tolerances change)
IMG_3400 is how it left after new tyres at weekend.
I have a few questions!
Is it normal when the tyres wear to only wear on inside for lowered van with big wheels/car tyres (load rated and running 40psi) after Hunter set to no load?
If I go back and get them to adjust rear toe to 0.05 then it will be very similar to setting before which didn’t seem that great or is that as good as it gets with my set up?
Cheers!

 

[jayc001]

In my experience which is 70k on a lowered T5.1 and T6 no it's not normal to scrub inner edge if its well aligned.

I had my lowered 50mm T5.1 set to half load due to advice from garage and I did over 30k on set of Falken 255 45 18 and they still had a good few thousand left in the when sold. Currently I have 18k into a set of Accellera 255 40 20 on a 70mm lowered t6 and these have about 5mm so should easily hit 30k. This was set no load as advised by different garage (same chain, STS).

 

[fezza68]

Just to throw a curve ball on this im on solows at 5mm from full height. Had it done on a hunter on no load setting and was ok on already used tyres but i thought worn quite quickly. Fresh set of tyres fitted and again on a hunter with the recommend of normal setting by the fitter at awesome gti and I've not noticed any wear or scrub on any tyres and im around 16k on goodyear eagles.

 

[The Bear78]

Just to throw a curve ball on this im on solows at 5mm from full height. Had it done on a hunter on no load setting and was ok on already used tyres but i thought worn quite quickly. Fresh set of tyres fitted and again on a hunter with the recommend of normal setting by the fitter at awesome gti and I've not noticed any wear or scrub on any tyres and im around 16k on goodyear eagles.

Just to add my own experience which is similar to your last alignment @fezza68
I had Solows (at full height) on my T32 LWB for just over 18 months and must have covered ~ 15k. It was Hunter aligned by @BognorMotors and even though the rear camber was excessive without the adjustable bushes fitted the tyre wear was completely even across all four tyres. There were certainly no edges scrubbed either.

 

[ellyp81]

As you’re in the midlands, I’d definitely recommend going to Tyre Medics in Hinckley, Leicestershire. As @T6180 says, the technician will look at the screen whilst adjusting to get it as spot on as they can for you (at least in the green). They’ve done a good few Transporters now and know all about the ‘no load’ setting.

Hi

I had mine on the hunter today at my nearest Kwik Fit. The lads we really good and helpful. I've recently had the van lowered on Solow Lows and on the lowest setting. They did the alignment on full load as they could find the VW code (usually a sticker in the vehicle apparently)
I was suffering when turning lift, felt like the drivers wheel was dragging. Seems a bit better now but still a bit there

Should they of used a different setting? If i remember there was around 3-4 settings, then half load and full load

I've got a month to go back as often as i need to tweak it

Thanks

 

[ellyp81]

Glad you guys got it sorted out. Hopefully that gives you many more miles out of your rears going forward. I also felt like my van carried a bit more momentum after I had mine done, but wasn't sure if it was placebo either haha.

Always no load. Half load or full load Settings assume that the van will be unloaded at some point. Because of this it over compensates the toe in. Unless you plan to “off load” whatever is in the van after the alignment is done you should always use no load.

To all of those struggling with alignment issues hopefully this helps. These two print outs are from when I first lowered my van and had the alignment done on the automatic setting, and then when I took it back and asked them to override the system and do the alignment on the "no load" setting.

You can see that when I lowered the van the toe in at the rear was a huge 0'56. The automatic alignment setting reduced this to 0'32 which was an improvement, however, you will also see it is still a lot more than the front which was at 0'12.

After taking it back and getting it done again with "no load", you can see the rear toe in comes down to 0'18 which is significantly closer to the front 0'12. The 0'18 is also well within standard spec so tyre wear is well within what you would normally expect. Explaining all of this to a tyre fitter can be a bit of a job, as they are ultimately the professionals, so hopefully the below pics help.

View attachment 42703

View attachment 42704

Just seen this after reading backwards through the thread. Will this eliminate the wheel drag from the drivers wheel i feel when turning left. Thanks for the info

 

[moomin-j]

Yesterday, had Hunter done on "No Load", as Buster is lowered on -50mm H&R springs, with standard dampers.
New tyres are being fitted when they land at Costco shortly.

Thoughts anyone on the print out?

 

[CRS Performance]

From that print out I would guess that the van is lower than 50 mm. Some settings camber and castor are out of spec but only slightly , these are not adjustable of course without special adjustable bushes designed to give more adjustment on camber and castor , measure the wheel arch gaps for me let’s see if it is too low or maybe you have worn control arm bushes

 

[Lee540]

Had mine done yesterday, it was set to half load.

Got home, posted here and then was directed to this thread.



Went back this morning before work, spoke the them and asked for "no load". At first they were reluctant and disagreed with me but when I asked politely to see the different values on the Hunter system with the different parameters of half load vs no load, they agreed to realign and didnt charge me.

New print out.



I'm lowered about 70mm on Twin Monotube Projekt coilovers, with 19" wheels. Steering feels the same but I hope the change prolongs tyre life a bit more.

 

[Insert Coin]

I’ve been all over Poole and Bournemouth, even went as far as Southampton to a specialist (yeah right) and I’ve come to the conclusion that nobody down this way has a f***ing clue how to use a Hunter or how to setup adjustable polybushes.

I don’t have the time to go to Bognor and get it done properly, but driving at 12:10 is really pissing me off and no doubt ruining another set of tyres

 

[moomin-j]

From that print out I would guess that the van is lower than 50 mm. Some settings camber and castor are out of spec but only slightly , these are not adjustable of course without special adjustable bushes designed to give more adjustment on camber and castor , measure the wheel arch gaps for me let’s see if it is too low or maybe you have worn control arm bushes

@CRS Performance

Cheers Steve - your input / comments are really appreciated.
I'm currently sat on -40mm H&R springs fitted by the original converter with standard issue Vw dampers.
At the time it was the best combination I could afford during the van purchase & money pit conversion
All 4.5 years young, at approx 22,000 miles
I'll measure arch gaps as soon as I can, but that will probably be this weekend.

Visually, it definitely sits back end heavy:




Don't know if you can remember me, but I'm the T6 driver who has already bought off you H&R arbs, drilled Nutexa discs / pads (front & rear) & have new powder coated 340mm flavour calipers/carriers for the front & the same coloured calipers/carriers for the rears.
Now I've nearly saved up some more GBP's, I'll be calling on your fitting skills early next year to install all, along with whatever flavour new springs & new dampers to suit.
Hopefully your Hunter will be up & working in your new place then, for you to breath your technical expertise (spanners & big hammer) on my Bus?
If the control arm bushes need changing, can these be done at that time or is it best to run over to you to do now?