[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Issue of front wheels got shifted backwards after the suspension overhaul.

Yesterday I measured the wheel base from center to center of the wheels and it was 2460mm compared to official spec of 2470mm.

Today visited the workshop and they said that there is nothing which can be adjusted to fix this thing, still they put the car and checked.

Also had a visit at the wheel alignment point where they again checked and found everything fine and repeated same thing that nothing can be adjusted.

Also found that one of the front wheel touched the wheel-well when the alignment guy drove the car on his steep ramp.

Now this issue is bugging me despite all the time, efforts and money I spent on the suspension overhaul.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Yesterday I measured the wheel base from center to center of the wheels and it was 2460mm compared to official spec of 2470mm.

Today visited the workshop and they said that there is nothing which can be adjusted to fix this thing, still they put the car and checked.

Also had a visit at the wheel alignment point where they again checked and found everything fine and repeated same thing that nothing can be adjusted.

Also found that one of the front wheel touched the wheel-well when the alignment guy drove the car on his steep ramp.

Now this issue is bugging me despite all the time, efforts and money I spent on the suspension overhaul.

It is possible to bring back the wheel little forward but the process is not standardized. I had gotten it done for my Zen; but the way it was done was very painful to watch. They chained the wheel (probably locked at lower arm) and attached the other end of the iron chain to a fixed iron pillar. The car was taken as close to the iron pillar as possible and then reversed with full force till the chain length allowed and then the chain would pull the wheel a little. It was done 3-4 times to get the desired result. I am sure this would put a lot of strain on many components, esp the the arms and the sight was not pleasing but it achieved the purpose. Just sharing because your post reminded me of the process they followed at MASS to rectify it.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ouch! That sounds like a very rough and non-precise adjustment process

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Also found that one of the front wheel touched the wheel-well when the alignment guy drove the car on his steep ramp.

This is not at all acceptable. It's curious that only one wheel is touching. It makes it sound as if the alignment is not the same on both sides?

[tbppjpr]

Today again had a visit and asked them to loosen up all the bolts which are tightened on the joints with rubber bushes and then tight them up when the car is fully grounded with its weight on the arms.

Although it did not make any difference but I measured the wheelbase when the car was on the lift with wheels hanging in the air and then re-measured when car was grounded and here are the results:

On lift : 2454mm
On ground : 2460mm

So it means the wheels are moving forward with the suspension compression. This gives some hope that I should wait and let the new suspension settle.

Still would like to hear opinions of experts if something should be checked.

The annual service is also due which I am planning to get done after driving the car for a month or so and will try to get the opinion of VW guys on it. I always got the car serviced at the VW workshop, only this aftermarket suspension I had to get done from a big Bosch garage in my town.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Issue of front wheels got shifted backwards after the suspension overhaul.

Attachment 2583693

Originally Posted by saket77

It is possible to bring back the wheel little forward but the process is not standardized.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Ouch! That sounds like a very rough and non-precise adjustment process

Finally got the issue fixed at VW service station. It turned out the new ball joints were installed reversed. The left one was installed in the right lower arm and vice versa. This all when L and R are clearly mentioned in the center of the ball joints. Although I might had to pay for full set of lower arms+service charge as was instructed to the the VW technician but then another technician came and he noticed the blunder.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Finally got the issue fixed at VW service station. It turned out the new ball joints were installed reversed. The left one was installed in the right lower arm and vice versa. This all when L and R are clearly mentioned in the center of the ball joints. Although I might had to pay for full set of lower arms+service charge as was instructed to the the VW technician but then another technician came and he noticed the blunder.

More than the mechanic who noticed the blunder, I would credit this troubleshooting to you. Leave aside troubleshooting it, most people would not have even noticed this blunder and would have driven like this for years. You meticulously kept following up thinking about the causes, measuring wheel base and comparing with factory specs. Great job done. You must be relieved as well. Thanks for sharing and giving us the update & closure.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Finally got the issue fixed at VW service station.

So glad to hear that. Amazing that it turned out to be something so simple. Kudos to the VW guy who spotted it and corrected it rather than imposing a much more expensive "solution!"

This was quite a major fitting blunder. I wonder if the car handling was affected? Can you feel any difference before/after the parts being fitted correctly?

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I wonder if the car handling was affected? Can you feel any difference before/after the parts being fitted correctly?

Since the complete suspension went through overhaul, car obviously felt different. In between I also ended up installing lowering springs thinking that increased ride height may have caused that issue. So it changed the character again. But somewhere in my mind it kept bugging me that the wheel location shifting must be stressing the other key components, and I am sure it did.

Apart from all the technical negative, the biggest difference I felt in in the drives was that the car's pickup increased drastically (or maybe it felt due to change in the geometry) with the incorrect setup and the suspension did not turn out as stiff and uncomfortable as expected for a lowered one.

After correcting the ball joints the car has become slightly more lowered and suspension has become much more stiffer. The pickup has come back to normal I feel. Though so far its just been just a single drive back to home from the VW workshop in the busy night traffic after the correction.

[DogNDamsel12]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Finally got the issue fixed at VW service station. It turned out the new ball joints were installed reversed. The left one was installed in the right lower arm and vice versa. This all when L and R are clearly mentioned in the center of the ball joints. Although I might had to pay for full set of lower arms+service charge as was instructed to the the VW technician but then another technician came and he noticed the blunder.

I had faced the same issue that you had faced to the extent that the FNG made the same mess with the ball joint fitment. My complaint started with a weird rattling noise in the suspension as the car took on speed breakers. The VW service center here, had previously mentioned that there was not much urgent issue with the suspension and therefore they did not get it rectified while they could have under warranty. Now once the car warranty is over, they gave me a hefty estimate for an entire overhaul of the suspension.

From my previous experience of the service center, then running under OSL and now under PPS have not been great, especially in terms of turnaround time. In NCR, certain works used to be swift and parts availability was not much of an issue. Such is not the case in Kolkata. There is a manpower and facilities issue - I have had other friends also mention that their issues have not been fixed in the past.

Therefore, I was pushed into experimenting with an FNG. Initially, as I mentioned they messed up the balljoint placement - apparently according to them the L and R marking of the balljoint for VW is reversely done compared to Japanese OEMs. So when I bring back the car, I felt there was still something amiss (excuse my lack of mechanical knowledge). We noticed there was a gap between the wheel and the wheel arch of the front tyres, spoke to the workshop about a possible inversion of the ball joint because of which this is happening. They fixed it. Simultaneously, we had noticed that the steering would not come back to its central position once the car turned. The FNG ended up changing the steering rack too.

Next, when I bring back the car, the wheel gap has been fixed, and the steering does come back to its original position at higher speeds, at lower speeds I personally felt there was an agility issue. But well!

But there continues to be a rattle from the left wheel. I take it back to the workshop, and am told that this is a functional noise of the spring and will go away with lubrication. And indeed that happens, but only for a few days, after which that rattling continues.

We spoke to a few of our friends who drive a VW and tried to figure out if it is a brake caliper issue. But it isn't.

So now, of course I am never going back to the FNG, I am wondering whether to go back to VW for fear of a new large estimate, or to another FNG, or to take it back to NCR (crazy as it sounds) or to just give up my beloved Polo altogether to save myself the woes!

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by DogNDamsel12

My complaint started with a weird rattling noise in the suspension as the car took on speed breakers.
...

But there continues to be a rattle from the left wheel. I take it back to the workshop, and am told that this is a functional noise of the spring and will go away with lubrication. And indeed that happens, but only for a few days, after which that rattling continues.

Sorry to hear about your issue.

It's hard to tell what can go wrong without knowing the history of your car and recently replaced parts. Maybe some photos-videos of the parts related to the suspected area can help.

Going by my experience with this car, the parts which cause rattles from the front side are primarily the top strut mounts which can go bad when the car hits hard at some sharp potholes or speed-breakers. Then come the lower arm bushes, link rods and the steering rack.

[DogNDamsel12]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Sorry to hear about your issue.

It's hard to tell what can go wrong without knowing the history of your car and recently replaced parts. Maybe some photos-videos of the parts related to the suspected area can help.

I will try and get you photos, but for now here is a list of replaced parts:

• Both side shockabsorber with mounts (oem)
• Both the lower control arms (oem)
• Link rods (oem)
• Both side ball joints (oem)
• Steering rack (rene)