Inside front tyre wear..?

Hi Guys. Sorry if I'm repeating this question, I've had a search but would like a little more info if possible

My OSF tyre is wearing on the inside. The car: Mk2 golf 16v 5 Door. Its been lowered on AP coilovers. Thought tracking would affect both tyres?... Perhaps wishbone bushes worn? Would a wheel bearing do this? Also, probably part of the problem...the car develops what can only be described as a 'Wob/drone' noise over about 35mph, which gets more prominent at higher speeds. Something is obviously worn but not yet seen anything obvious. Sometimes hear a rubbery kind of noise (like a knackered bush somewhere?) when I turn the wheel when almost/completely stationary.

I'm assuming either:
Wheel bearing
Drive shaft?
Ball joint
Hub?....

I complete works to my car myself, so would like to fix this before booking into a garage if i can't find the problem. If you get me.
Cheers.

 

Tracking can be out on either wheel separately (though lowering will affect both/exaggerate any slight mis-alignment already present), but all of the above are worth checking.

The "rubbery" noise you are hearing is probably a worn top-mount. Thus could be contributory to mis-alignment too.

 

Would fairly severe tracking issues cause the car to pull way or the other? Its funny as the car seems to still drive straight and true. ...Think i need to get it up on a ramp..

There must be something worn pretty bad though, as a fair bit of rubber has worn off in only 1000 miles or less. hehe. Thanks for your advice.

 

Severe misalignment could cause a pull to one side, but would be more evident in corners. (Might feel more resistance one way or the other)

Inside wear would normally indicate excess toe-out. Best get the car in the air, check everything that could be worn, replace as necessary, then get it tracked.

 

You may also have excessive negative camber on that wheel - that would cause the wear you describe.

 

wheel bearing is an easy check, slightly lift wheel of ground, and just grab wheel at 6 o'clock and quarter to three and feel for a wobble. You can have one side out and not the other, easily done. easy check (although already showing signs of being out) either bring it in somewhere or chuck two two string lines down the side of it and measure.

 

Cheers guys. Upon a closer inspection i can now see the NSF is also starting to wear the inner edge. I'm thinking the camber is out, due to lowering the vehicle. Also, how ever good you are at 'guessing' the correct coilover adjustment (ride height) on either side, im think there could be a slight difference between the 2 sides, adding to the varied amount of wear on both.
I'll follow advice from you lovely people:
1) Do a full check-over for bush wear etc, including wheel bearings.
2) Get front ride height and tracking done: Camber/Toe aligned correctly. Not sure running a string length over the car will be accurate enough? Perhaps...I'll try it

Although, perhaps unrelated, the noise i get from the car concerns me as much as anything else. This excessive 'Drone'. Not a high-pitched, or rattly/clicky sound like wheel bearings. Would a gearbox, or diff' make this kind of noise?

 

Search for NigeP's Mk2 thread in the Members Gallery. He shows a detailed "How to" with cracking pictures (its on about page 8 or 9 of the thread)

Having just done it myself, I can attest that setting the strings up accurately is a bit of a fiddle (nearly two hours for me!), but it is a great alternative to paying someone! lol

 

Thanks for that ^ Was a very interesting read Although I see a few logistical complications for me. My car is so low I can only just get a trolley jack under it, attempting to do this without touching those strings lines might not happen. I see the chap in question is making adjustments over a pit. Thats gotta be easier But, setting the string lines up and taking some measurements would at least tell me whether things are running out. Even if i finally end up getting it put back where it all should be at the garage.

 

LOL. Just phoned up my garage for a chat. He had a mini freak out cos I had it lowered. Said he can only set it up with specs from the suspension manufacturer. BUT, he did say he could keep playing with it until it 'seems' better, at 45 an hour, and it will take at least 2 hours......Now, wheres my piece of string....

 

That's some bullsh*t you've been fed right there!

Lowering a car doesn't remove the ability to adjust the wheels till they're pointing straight ahead... lol

 

Yeah! I guess what he was getting at was he could, eventually, maybe get anything in line. But with no 'figures' to work on it wasn't going to be an easy or quick job. Think he's making a mountain out of a midget mole hill. Personally i though all they need to do is get the wheel upright, and straight? No? Can't be that hard with the right tools. Surely I'm not the first person to lower a mk2 Golf!! hehe.

 

He doesn't need any "figures"...zero toe is zero toe, and the track rods are adjusted the same no matter the ride height!

For camber (if he's doing that too), 0.5-1.0 negative is fine (arch clearance notwithstanding...)

Here's mine setup last week;



I'm ruining fairly low too, but I've got a low entry jack which helps (sitting the car up on some planks might help in your case). As long as the strings are fairly close to the car, you should be fine, and brushing slightly is ok, as long as you don't shift the fixed points (axle stands in my case).

I've got a pit on the other side of the garage, but jumping in and out to measure/adjust was too much d*cking about for me! lol

 

BOO Broken image! Wanted to see that as well
I understand the string idea for getting the wheels the same as each other, inline and upright etc. But surely you can't base it on a camber setting (such 0.5-1.0 negative, as you mention)? As you have no way of utilising that figure unless you have the gauge to measure it?
But now having this figure, thanks to you, I might just take to another guy I know and get him to set it all up to that. 0 toe, and .5-1.0 negative camber.
Thanks for all your help!

 

StuMc, you seem to be a pretty knowledgable guy. You dont think this has anything to do with it all do you? http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?259973-AP-Coilovers-Top-mount-issue-Help-please-)&highlight=

Just a thought...

 

Picture fixed!

You can align your wheels using the strings, no matter the camber of each wheel, but of course differing/excess camber will still cause issues making it a pointless task anyway.

Camber is difficult to measure accurately without a gauge, and needs the car to be absolutely level. Much easier when done on a ramp that`s for sure, but what I did was first to watch these three videos;

[video=youtube;sZoL1gaWedA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZoL1gaWedA[/video]

[video=youtube;gjcP07VKVZM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjcP07VKVZM[/video]

[video=youtube;RpEwSeSJVW4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpEwSeSJVW4[/video]

When I measured the camber I wasnt concerned with getting an exact degree-figure (using the inverse tan equation), so just made sure both front wheels were the same millimeter-figure, since I`m more bothered about arch clearance and turn-in ability than being close to factory settings (and I`m wider track too, so theyd be pointless anyway)

With both front wheels camber-adjusted, then I set up the strings and set the toe - zero toe for both. You can see in the picture that my tyres were extremely worn on the outside edge (toeing in) That was my own daft fault for thinking I could do the tracking by eye...

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lol

 

Already helped you in that thread...! lol

A worn top mount would cause the camber/caster to alter as you were driving which wouldn`t help a great deal. Usually you can tell if they`re gone if you get harsh knocking over bumps or clunking when turning at low speeds.

As said that thread; there`s no issue in the way it`s been assembled, but if the top of the strut is moving around within the rubber, then the bearing has failed. New ones are less than a fiver each, and theres no need to change the rubber section if it`s in good nick, (the Mk2 mount has the bearing bonded to it as one piece whereas the Mk3 ones are separate) but again there fairly cheap new. (15)

 

What a brilliant set of videos! Very well explained Although, I see difficulties for me. IE: Very poor uneven ground to work upon - would take me a day just to try and level the car. lol. And even this chap recommends you get the alignment checked at a specialists. I also think checking it to be one issue, but then correcting it all to be another. You would have to work out your differences, find where the issue lies, lets say too much negative camber, then adjust the relevant parts, drop the car, re-check, adjust again perhaps, re-check and so on...Simply because im not conversent with how much suspension adjustment (slotted holes in the leg, or track rods) amount to how much wheel movement. I'm sure once you've done this a few times it would be a simple task...
BTW, yes you did help me in my Top Mount thread...Cheers
Think im going to ring around some tyre places (Formula 1 and alike) to see what they charge.

 

It does take some practice!

Having taken suspension on and off Mk2/3s for years I get a feel for what`s right camber-wise, drop it down, see if it looks right, run it for a bit and monitor tyre-wear. Anything adverse then it`s re-adjusted.

I always hate paying the monkeys at these tyre places, because they just look at screen an adjust until everything is in the green zone (but you can still have a large discrepancy between wheels) and pay zero attention to what they are actually doing...like twisting and tearing steering gaitors because they are too dumb to take the clips off...or using up all the adjustment on one track rod and re-setting the steering wheel so now there are more turns of lock in one direction than the other...

 

LOL yeah.

I've actually spent 10 years in the motor trade, as an Engine Recondtioner (Machinist) and have owned 8-ish VWs and Audis. But this is the first time I've ever had tyre wear issues. Admittedly none of my other vehicles had coil-overs and such low ride hide. I'll have to put some thought into this.
Be nice to know of a VW fan/specialist in my area to take it too, people that actually understand what you want and are equally as passionate always helps. I'm also a little concerned about taking it to high street 'tyre' fitment places for the same reasons as you. This is why they are called 'fitters' these days....Not mechanics...