[T3] Front beam after alignment

[Jim Adney]

On 8 Feb 2012 at 21:39, Chris Slaymaker wrote:

> Total cost was about $330.  OUCH!  

That's a pretty fair price for the amount of work they did. It's a 
hard job.

> The mechanic said he checked what I pointed out that morning and was
> concerned about the upper torsion arm axial play.  He said he tried
> tightening things in there (set screws? lock nuts?) which didn't sound
> good to me.  He said one bolt was sticking way out.  I checked things
> when I got home and didn't find any axial play in the upper torsion
> arms.  Maybe it's only present when the beam isn't loaded, but I
> really need to look at the wheel bearings. 

Start by studying the Bentley front axle chapter. I mean really study 
it. Axial play in the upper torsion bar is a common problem that 
needs to be fixed correctly before it does permanent damage. Check 
for this by grabbing the top of a front tire and yanking it in and 
out hard. A second person looking at where that torsion bar goes into 
the axle beam should see that torsion bar move no more than a half 
mm. If it's been driven much with a loose upper torsion bar, fixing 
it requires more than just tightening the set screw.

As for the bolt sticking out, you'll have to get them to tell you 
which bolt.

To check the wheel bearing adjustment, feel for excess play with the 
tire off the ground. There should be barely perceptable play. If a 
bearing has failed, you'll probably hear noise.

> This past weekend, I inspected their work.  They really beat the shit
> out of the diagonal arm (the rearmost part at the axle housing),
> presumably to get the alignment right. 

It's possible that your diagonal arm was bent, or that they just 
didn't know how to adjust it. There is actually very little 
adjustment possible. If the tire was worn down on the inside edge, 
the diagonal arm was probably bent. I have good used ones if this fix 
doesn't pan out. They are NOT easy to replace.

> In front, I couldn't find any "bolt sticking way out."  The outboard
> end of the right tie rod was bent.  I don't know if it was bent prior -
> it probably was - but surely the would have informed me of this.  It
> appears that the inboard tie rod end of the left tie rod is not
> original, as it is not angled. 

Sounds like they swapped those two tie rod ends.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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