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Hi guys

The other day I was chatting to the guy who put the kit on my polo, about lowering my car. I was planning on doing it myself either at home or at a friend's garage, but he said not to because the fronts have adjustable camber and they need full alignment afterwards otherwise they'll be all over the shop.

Now he used to work for SEAT and has experience of modified cars so I'm inclined to believe him, but is anyone here able to definitively confirm or refute this information?

Regards

Jon

No camber adjustment definately just tracking. however the guy who fitted mine who i do trust fully said i don't even need tracking done as you don't touch the track rod ends or something, so i've not had it done and not had any problems, plus the car drives in a straight line perfectly now which it didn't do when it was on the standard suspension set up, which makes me very happy indeed!!

V800DUB wrote:No camber adjustment definately just tracking. however the guy who fitted mine who i do trust fully said i don't even need tracking done as you don't touch the track rod ends or something, so i've not had it done and not had any problems, plus the car drives in a straight line perfectly now which it didn't do when it was on the standard suspension set up, which makes me very happy indeed!!

I don't think so - the lower cross member has clearance holes so it can be moved sideways to centre the front "axle" to the rear fixed axle. Also, where the lower swivels are fixed to the TCA the holes are also clearance to allow for camber and probably caster adjustment/correction.

There is absolutely NO camber adjustment on a 9n polo

Only the front tracking can be adjusted. The rear wheels have no adjustment either

This is straight form the mouth of a good friend of mine who works at skoda (previsouly at vw) and also from the mouth of the man who set up my tracking after i fitted my coilovers myself (with help from a couple of friends )

I'm confused - I'm sure the term "camber adjustment" is applied in different situations. Maybe there's a difference between the adjustable camber that comes when the top mounts can be adjusted, but I'm pretty sure there is enough movement in the bottom connection to allow some adjustment of camber on the front of a 9N polo.

maybe when they say it's "Not adjustable" what they mean is it's not designed to be adjusted from the setup from factory - I seem to remember an old polo of mine being adjusted when my springs were changed and watching it happen!

Theres no room for movement at the base of the strut.

The strut itself slots into a hole about 2" of which is totally surrounded with no possible camber adjusting movement at all.

On mk4/5's this is how the camber is adjusted but it is a totally different setup to a mk6/7

that's true and I remember from when I fitted my coilovers, there's no movement in the clamp at all but I wondered if there were other bolts that had movement? I don't know either way, but there seems to be a conflict in the post.

pidge87 wrote:Theres no room for movement at the base of the strut.

The strut itself slots into a hole about 2" of which is totally surrounded with no possible camber adjusting movement at all.

On mk4/5's this is how the camber is adjusted but it is a totally different setup to a mk6/7

I'm sorry but I still do not agree, this hole that the strut slots drops into is indeed totally surrounded as you put it, but so what - its the lower swivel's mounting point on the TCA that can be moved, as can the lower crossmember - the fixing bolts pass through over sized holes to allow this adjustment. Just stop for a moment and think what will happen due to cheap Skoda chassis design if there is a factory chassis jigging eror - the car would need to be scrapped. Also, as for the mk4/5's - well my daughter has a late 2001 Ibiza - ie mk4/5 Polo chassis, and the Seat people said "no camber adjustment possible" - "just repair chassis or replace suspension components" - I pointed out to the Senior tec that the strut lower clamping bolts are called camber adjustment bolts - he shut up and carried out a full four wheel re-alignment and sorted the camber problem - but would not admit he was wrong. When I picked the car up I asked what work had been done "camber adjusted on both sides and now within spec"!!! I'd find a proper VAG tec - they do exist though mainly working for respected indep VAG specialists.

camber is adjustable on the 9n altho not by much but enough for tire wear!
its adjusted by moving the subframe

poloecosse wrote:camber is adjustable on the 9n altho not by much but enough for tire wear!
its adjusted by moving the subframe

lower crossmember - or subframe movement is used to "square" the front suspension up to the fixed rear suspension, also it is used to equalise the side to side difference in camber. This is best done after setting the camber up as near as possible by using the free movement (adjustment) available at the lower swivel>TCA mounting point by the provision of over sized bolt holes. Its very difficult for the DIYer to take these bits apart and rebuild them exactly as they were, one way to minimise errors is to use a bright - say yellow paint spray and paint the area at the end of the TCAs in particular the bolt heads area and the swivel mounting exposed area, when you rebuild these parts you try to align the swivel to the TCA using the painted areas.

Disagree if you like. I have given sound advice so im not fussed.

Phone VW and ask them if its adjustable if you want proof its not

pidge87 wrote:Disagree if you like. I have given sound advice so im not fussed.
Phone VW and ask them if its adjustable if you want proof its not

VW will not say its "adjustable" - that was not intended - its just that it needs to be checked after working on the front suspension for the reasons given. Fact "1" VAG provide setting pieces to allow the crossmember to be dropped and refitted back in exactly the same place - but ElsaWin still demands that a full four wheel realignment is carried out. Fact "2" ElsaWin also issue this same statement if the lower swivels are removed. If you still feel keen enough to put your theory to the test, try jacking up the front, slacken the three lower swivel mounting bolts in the TCA just a little and feel the free movement that is possible - and yes you can hold the swivel in any position and tighten the bolts and it will stay in this new posItion - not good! You can of course buy a complete TCA with the swivel hopefully jigged up and bolted on - but that would only work on a "perfect chassis" and even then if you replaced both sides you might have to move the crossmember sideways to equalise the camber as the side to side differance limits are very tight. By the way, after VW replaced my ARB and charged me for a full four wheel realignment, the steering wheel was then not centered and the car felt loose at the front - ie not tracking true. It was only when I saw the light and avoided these VAG dealer duffers that I got a proper VAG indep specialist to fit my Cupra TCA bushes and they did a full four wheel realignment that the steering wheel went back to being centered and the car felt as it was tracking okay. VAG main dealers only want to empty your wallet, most of the genuine good techs move into the indep specialist garages.

The VAG factory workshop manual shows how to adjust the camber onthe polo 9n chassis, there's even a special tool to do it.

When it says 'adjust' it really means, make it the same on both sides - by moving the subframe to increase one side or decrease the other.

You dont do anything with the Ball joints. . .

So the general concensus is that the camber needs adjusting after removing the front struts to fit lowering springs?

I know it is common practise to have the tracking checked after changing suspension components, but I've never had a car that has adjustable camber so I need to find someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to this.

Cheers

Jon

As andy947 said the VAG workshop manual explains how to equalise the camber side to side, but luckily in your case, the lower swivel assembly to TCA fixing bolts also allows for a bit of adjustment, so when you have fitted shorter road springs you will end up with more camber than is necessary and this will lead to excessive tyre inner edge wear. Now I'm sure that there are lots of people around that don't mind their tyres wearing on the inside very quickly - so sacrifice tyre wear for "mean looks". I'd check up on VAG's camber settings for sport suspension then try to aim for achieving that by using the free movement that is available at the lower swivel fixing bolts - then equalising the side to side camber by moving the lower cross member as necessary. Remember you might need to find shorter ARB droplinks to keep the ARB in the correct position relative to other suspension bits - that is if you are aiming to go a lot lower than sport settings. Life was alot easier when no movement was possible - unless fitting track parts, but remember these cars are just Skodas so the design has needed to take into consideration the cheap plus rough and ready way they will be built (well as Fabias anyway). I seem to remember the last small Ford I worked on (a lot) had rivetted lower swivels so it didn't matter if the suspension was "out" - you just had to live with!