Vr6 - GTI Ball joint extenders (again..)

I could be interested in a set of there's a group buy.

 

Any one had any experience with these? http://unixperformance.bigcartel.com/product/balljoint-xxxtenders-kit-mk1-mk2-mk3-4cyl

 

No, but they don't look nearly long enough.

 

I guess it depends on low you are planning to go wouldn't it?

 

I think you ideally want the extender to be the same length as the distance the TRE ball joint moves when flipped baz

 

Aye these: http://www.compbrake.com/product/seat-ibiza-mk2-3-track-rod-ends-pair/

 

No. If the ball joint extender is 15mm, you will need to lower the tie rod 15mm. However, that would put it in the middle of the mounting point on the hub, so you would need to either leave it on top, or mount it on the bottom. Both of these options will give huge amounts of bump steer.

 

Pass.

Im not sure if you still need to drill out the taper to use the compbrake ones (i'm guessing you do)??

 

I thought the whole reason in fitting these was to cure bump steer? Or is your example only for 15mm? All of the extenders I've seen are a fair bit bigger than 15mm.

 

The compbrake ones are Adj TRE. Is that the same as what you were talking about.

 

Nope.

I'm on about the inserts/sleeves you fit when you drill out the TRE taper in the hubs and mount them from underneath the hub knuckle, instead of the top

 

Right, lost now, I haven't seen any mention of inserts/sleaves until now. From what's been said the extender should to be the same length as the flipped TRE to keep it all equal, what has a sleeve got to do with it??

 

When you want to 'flip' the TRE, youll have to drill out the taper that exists (top to bottom) inside the knuckle on the hub. The TRE has the same shaped taper and fits into this when bolted in from the top.

Once drilled out, you need to fit a sleeve/bush/insert/fitever which will have the corresponding taper (which you just removed with the drill). Now you press that in from the top and it gives you the taper upside down. Turn the TRE 180deg and itll now bolt up from the bottom

 

Right ok, I thought everyone put uprated rod ends on when doing this and put straight sleaves in. School day today

 

You could be right wrt the compbrake kit, as that looks like there are wee straight sleeves on them. I've not seen that setup before though.

I'm trying to avoid replacing TREs as only one of mine is removable... Fortunately there is no play in either of mine, and the rods are fine too.

 

Sorry, it's a bit difficult to explain without resorting to writing an essay.

You get lots of bump steer if you lower the car too much. You also mess up the roll centre.

The ball joint extender is used to fix the roll centre, moving it back to where it should be, by lowering the outside of the suspension arm.
If you only did the ball joint extender, your suspension arm would pointing down slightly (with the car at rest), but the tie rod would be sloping up. This would give massive bump steer.
So, the second part of the process is to mount the TRE under the upright. Because the upright is about 1" thick, and the TRE is also about 1" thick, this moves the TRE down roughly 2".
To make sure the TRE and the suspension arm are moved the same amount, you need to measure how much the TRE moves down, and then get the ball joint extenders made to be at least as long.

So, the ball joint extenders above aren't long enough, which will not cure the bump steer issue, and will actually probably make it worse.

Hope that makes more sense.

 

Not an ideal solution, as the TRE's are slightly offset, so you need to swap the left to right when you flip upside down.

 

Indeed, and I have a pair of rods and ends to swap in when the time comes. Might actually be worthwhile doing that once the 1.3 comes out and I have better access to the rack.

 

That won't work. The hole is tapered, so they won't fit in from the bottom. That's why people switch to Compbrake items, as the arm is drilled out.