andyelcomb Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 I've been trying to find the stock suspension settings for our 2003 SEAT Arosa 1.4 TDiS but can't find anything in the handbook or poking about online. Any chance WIM can let me know what they should be? My specific problem is that following another pothole bashing, the front nearside tyre wore out the inside edge and my good old fashioned alignment kit shows 0.75deg neg camber offside but even after loosening the lower strut bolts and pulling outwards I'm still left with nearly 2 deg neg nearside with toe about zero. Can't see any bend in the strut or wishbone (although if the latter was bent I would imagine that would create positive camber) or any other damage anywhere. Any thoughts on the problem and can you advise what camber and toe I should be aiming at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Setting is -30' +- 20'... I don't understand though, you say the machine measures -75' but after adjusting you still have -2 degrees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Setting is -30' +- 20'... I don't understand though, you say the machine measures -75' but after adjusting you still have -2 degrees? No, the -0.75deg is offside and -2.0deg is nearside. So offside at -45' is fine, as expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Any numbers for the KPI/ SAI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Not yet - got to go to Crystal Palace this morning for a meeting about setting up our sprint there in 30-31st May Unashamed plug - click Hope to measure this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 14, 2010 Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Nice plug...... SAI will speak volumes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 SAI will speak volumes Here you go: n/s castor +2deg, SAI +12.25deg o/s castor +3deg, SAI +11.75deg measured with Wheelforce 1900, on turntables on flat (as near as dammit) garage floor, brand new tyres. camber: n/s -2.0deg, o/s -0.75deg. To me, I wouldn't have thought those differences would indicate anything massively out of kilter or not enough to give excessive camber but as I don't know much about this I'd love to hear your thoughts please Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 14, 2010 Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Lower wishbone is bent/twisted, two areas here confirm that 1: The known camber position 2: The fact that the SAI figure is higher so the declination corresponds with the camber position? # 2 probably reads like Gobble-A-Duke so to explain.... The SAI measurement is the perpendicular position of the lower ball joint, if the pin at the joint was vertical the SAI would read 0, like a LDV with a king pin. As the ball point lowers the figure gains, so a lower position (higher number figuratively) and a negative camber it's a reasonable assumption the wishbone in bent. Confirmation of an additional twist in the unsprung chassis would come from a measurement of the set back and wheel base, nevertheless i'm confident from the data provided the wishbone is damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Thanks for that Tony, sounds good so I'll pull it all apart soon and have a good look. Initially I thought the strut might have been bent as there is a kink on the wheel side about level with the rim, but had a look the other side and it was the same - must be some sort of clearance modification built in, so was a red herring. Of course I could just open up the strut / hub bolt holes some more to give me some more adjustment and get the camber more reasonable - do you think its worth doing that or is it likely to throw the castor etc even further out? In the meantime I've reduced the camber as much as I can which has left it with 1/2 deg toe out both sides so have just tweaked the track rods 1/2 turn each which has brought toe to zero. Should at least reduce the wear on the inside of the tyre while the camber is still applied. Probably ideal setup for the track though - should turn right nicely with that amount of camber! Cheers, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Does the strut have two pinch bolts at the hub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Does the strut have two pinch bolts at the hub? Yes and the holes in the strut are bigger than the bolts and the hub upright so there is a fair bit of adjustment available, but there's no way of fine adjusting it like on an MX5 as there is no cam or offset bolt. Once you have slackened then off it just flaps about... Would much prefer to have a proper offset bolt like on many other cars. I could open up the holes a bit more to allow the upright to come out further from the strut which would correct the camber, but don't know if it will affect anything else significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hms Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 ... setting up our sprint there in 30-31st May Unashamed plug - click Sprint, tell me more! h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 ... setting up our sprint there in 30-31st May Unashamed plug - click Sprint, tell me more! h Really as per the link. 7Oaks motor club ran a sprint for a few years there ten years ago and we've been able to resurrect it - subject to putting in a lot of demountable armco and resurfacing some of the track in front of the terraces. Intend to run the Sunday as a clubby sprint and the Monday for more historic cars. Won't be in any championships, but open to the public and we expect a good crowd both days as we were just building a very good reputation for the event when we had to stop because they decided to "Victorianise" the park which meant a new silly white resin surface... If you are interested in entering then please register interest with Karen Webber at competitors@motorsportatthepalace.co.uk but spaces will be very sought after! Does that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIH Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Does the strut have two pinch bolts at the hub? Yes and the holes in the strut are bigger than the bolts and the hub upright so there is a fair bit of adjustment available, but there's no way of fine adjusting it like on an MX5 as there is no cam or offset bolt. Once you have slackened then off it just flaps about... Would much prefer to have a proper offset bolt like on many other cars. I could open up the holes a bit more to allow the upright to come out further from the strut which would correct the camber, but don't know if it will affect anything else significantly. The natural adjustment from the factory bolt positions will be more than sufficent. Personally, and depending on costs, I'd change the lower arm as I'd want to recover the castor. Relocating the strut on the hub won't achieve that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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