# air ride messing with my alignment



## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

I got an alignment after I did my air ride and mkII control arm/axle swap. Today, I installed the proper mk2 tie rods and flipped them with the bfi flip kit. I set the tie rods to as close as I can to 0 (I have an alignment scheduled for tomorrow morning). I aired the car down to see if I could now lay frame, and the front wheels toe in an insane amount. I air the car up to ride height and the alignment is all messed up again. What did I do wrong?


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## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

i got it aligned this morning, so i know it is right. its just weird how much the wheels toe in when i air it down


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## rabriolet (May 27, 2005)

its because when you raise and lower the car it knocks it out of alignment.

if you ever watch your front wheels you can actually see them camber/toe when you air the car down or raise it up. 

i havent had my car aligned since i did the install haha, i just drive around and air up the side opposite that it pulls to and the car drives straight with no vibrations or any pulling after that


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## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

yeah I understand that, before I flipped my tie rods the front wheels would suck into the center of the car and keep their alignment. After I flipped the tie rods, they suck in and toe in. Also, when I jack up the car, the wheels toe out. It's just weird that it didnt do it before and now it is


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## rabriolet (May 27, 2005)

i dunno man haha, i havent flipped mine yet ive been wanting to but worried about the tie rod hitting the barrel of the wheel afterwards.


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## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

rabriolet said:


> i dunno man haha, i havent flipped mine yet ive been wanting to but worried about the tie rod hitting the barrel of the wheel afterwards.


 thats the second time i have heard this. i have 15s and they arent even close. yeah maybe with 13s and possibly 14s there could be a problem. But you have 16s so youre good to go


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## rabriolet (May 27, 2005)

SuperBacon said:


> thats the second time i have heard this. i have 15s and they arent even close. yeah maybe with 13s and possibly 14s there could be a problem. But you have 16s so youre good to go


Not true......my friend did the flip on his gfs passat with 16" th lines and it chewed up the edge of the barrel. It depends on the design of the wheel. Some have a higher hump in the middle than others I guess.


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## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

thats very weird


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## Kiddie Rimzo (Feb 21, 2008)

SuperBacon said:


> thats very weird


yeah..it was on the drivers side. we had the car on a lift and saw the barrel...it was only on turns tho..with the wheel straight there was plenty of clearance. we unflipped that ****..and im pretty sure he's gonna notch for the tie rods instead


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## Afazz (Feb 10, 2002)

Do you have balljoint extenders or only the tie rod flip?

If you flip the tie rods without balljoint extenders, you get crazy amounts of bumpsteer. With OEM tie rods and balljoints, as you lower the car it generates a little bit of toe-out. For example, if you're aligned at ride height you'll be ~1/2" toe out on the floor. With the tie rod flip but no extenders, if you get it aligned at ride height you will be ~1-1/2" toe IN on the floor. I drove for a few months with flipped tie rods, no extenders, and H&R UUL coils. Driving the car was a scary for sure, a two handed deathgrip was the only way to keep the car on the road.

In a Macpherson strut car, the tie rod and lower control arm should be approximately parallel through travel to minimize bumpsteer. If you lower the outer tie rod, you need to lower the outer balljoint too to keep everything parallel.

Solution: Buy balljoint extenders or un-flip the tie rod :thumbup:


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## Afazz (Feb 10, 2002)

As for the tie rod and barrel clearance, it depends a lot on the wheel diameter and offset. It helps if you switch the left and right outer tie rod ends so they swoop toward the front of the car, as they do from the factory with top-mounted tie rods. I don't have OEM tie rods, but I rubbed barrel with 16x7.5 et35 (just on one side) and have no trouble with 17x8 et35 now. It's definitely something to watch out for though, and clearance could change again if you get balljoint extenders.


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## SuperBacon (May 8, 2006)

yeah Afazz, I did a little searching earlier and found your thread about this. Unfortunately, PMW is out of stock for the next 3-4 weeks, and I was hoping to get them on asap. I really dont want to drive to WF like this


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## nap83 (Jun 24, 2007)

rabriolet said:


> i havent had my car aligned since i did the install haha, i just drive around and air up the side opposite that it pulls to and the car drives straight with no vibrations or any pulling after that


 i started doing this


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