91 Golf Needs Adjustable Left Tie Rod

I never had issues doing alignments with one fixed tie rod! What does your align guru say the issue is?

Re: availability of adjustable left tie rod, yes they are available. I replaced it on my '90 Golf on recommendation of the (non-VW) alignment shop. Cost was about $50Cdn for the tie rod itself.

However, I can't recall the mechanics of what the advantage of a left adjstable tie rod was as it seems being adjustable on one side should be sufficient.

Tony Vancouver, BC '85 and '90 Golfs

My non-expert guess would be that it could let you not have to adjust the steering wheel to center it.

You could well be right. The alignment guy at a Big-O tire shop was able to get the two front wheels pointed in roughly the same direction but said that since it was only adjustable on one side, the steering wheel would be off when driving straight. As a result, the cross member of the steering wheel is about 15 degrees from horizontal. Thanks to all for the input.

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Now the fix is easy, just remove the steering wheel and center it. What I did was drive the car and mark the center with masking tape. Then pull over remove the wheel , then center it.

The non adjustable tierod also keeps the steering gearbox or rack centered with the steering wheel, Its more important on some cars then others, And on a manual rack with a centering spot, then power assist, then power steering in that order. On a car with a non centering rack, or non centering power steering, it doesn't matter at all. Its possible to move both wheels far enough to get an unequal pressure to turn the car left or right. The car turns real easy left, but hard right, even though its aligned properly. Its because the racks not centered and is pulling a little, because its out of the neutral steering range. My 86 golf is a good example. Its got an adjustable left side and a manual adjustable self centering steering rack. The wheels are aligned with the steering wheel, but you have to hold a little pressure on the wheel to the left. If you center the rack, by feeling it in the steering wheel, the car steers right and the steering wheel is turned right. The steering wheel pulls equally because the steering rack is centered. This is because I put an adjustable tie rod on both sides and it doesn't bother me because the car is old.The purpose of my alignments is to increase tire life first, the make the car easier to drive second. The bently talks about centering the rack by setting the tie rod length before intstalling them, and keeping the steering wheel centered. This is because VW knows the required length to keep the rack centered and aligned at the same time, and has only one adjustable tie rod, and assumes theres nothing wrong with the body of the car. My brothers

2000 Dodge Neon with artificial feel power steering has a centering spot too. and does the same thing, for a different reason. The power steering cares less about the alignment , but adjusts the pump feel pressure based on rack position. As soon as you turn the wheel left, the power steering kicks in, but has a nuetral feel spot turning right then kicks in about 20 degrees. The steering wheel and tires are aligned. The rack isnt. An alignment shop 99% of the time gets the steering wheel and tires aligned, and the centering spots still good. But what they,re trying to do is align the steering wheel and the tires only, as this is the easiest to do, and cost less. VW decided to control the rack center by offering one adjustable tie rod. This keeps the steering wheel, rack, and non adjustable side always aligned, You do the alignment by the adjustable tie rod only.. The alignment shop don't know which tie rods been adjusted how many time before they got there. And one , or the other, or both tie rods can be used to adjust the alignment in either direction, depending on if more toe in or out is desired. Most of the time the racks not out far enough for it to matter. There is a range. But sometimes on a much older car , or ones been wrecked, or hit, the cars tires are aligned with the steering wheel, but still pulls harder one way or the other, due to both tierods being adjusted far enough to get the rack out of center. In the case of a wrecked or bent car, adding another adjustable tierod allows the alignment shop to adjust both wheels far enough in the same direction to get an alignment done.Then they get the steering wheel on center with the tires, by disconnecting it and installing it centered again. This means the rack is not centered but the wheels and steering wheel are. And may or may not be an issue at all. It depends on the car. It may pull harder one way or not, the power steering may turn the car like a hot rod one way and a truck the other. or it may be just a little different. The car may turn a complete circle tighter one way then the other. The Outer CV joint boot may tear also on one side because the wheel is turning sharper then the boot will allow for. A lot of human beings can't tell, or feel it or could care less about it. I never press an alignment shop about it,unless they are involved in race cars or performance alignments. They understand, but they charge more too. Because a regular shop isn't interested in that variable, because they have to measure the tie rod lengths with the boots on, and check it in the VW book. and time is money to them. But I watch what tie rod they adjust. They say its aligned perfectly but pulls one way, or the steering pressure is higher one way then the other. Once they done the alignment perfectly, all thats needed is to equally adjust both sides tie rods enough to center the rack. If the alignment they did is perfect the steering wheel will still be centered but the car won't pull any more. The steering wheel, rack, and wheels are now aligned. If the steering wheel moves, but the car doesnt pull anymore, they lied, or something else like castor or camber is out, or their technician did it wrong, but probably doesn't know. And in that case I put it back where they put it. because I mostly want to make my tires last longer, And that alignment will do that. But if the car does pull, this is what I do. So as not to start a fight, I adjust the tie rod they didn't adjust to get the rack centered, at home, and take it back .But the steering wheel will be crooked and the car will pull the same way. Now , what has happened is I have adjusted one side of the car and the rack up, but brought the other side they adjusted before out. I take it back and they adjust the same tie rod they did before to get the steering wheel and the other side aligned with what I did, and they shoulda did right the first time. That way they center the rack without knowing it, and they're are no arguments with someone who doesn't understand, or read a factory manual. I gave it back with the rack and the side they didn't move aligned and the steering wheel out, They align the steering wheel and their side with the rack and my side. And now everythings aligned again. Unfortunately this is necessary because a human can only keep a perfect alignment in without the equipment, that the shop did correctly, with the rack not centered, by moving both the tie rods exactly the same, and make a rack adjustment. But you can't adjust a bad alignment without the equipment , because you can't figure which side to move , and get it all aligned again, and have your toe in or out correct. Merry Christmas All!!!! "Woodchuck" wrote in message news:99366$42eaa736$41c71355$ snipped-for-privacy@SALSGIVER.COM...

I assume this is the same situation as on my 84 rabbit convertible. Bentley has a good description of the process to replace factory non adjustable with aftermarket adjustable.