Syncro suspension - Settings
Syncro Caster and Camber
Suspension alignment settings should be adjusted in the folowing order:
1) Caster; 2) Camber 3) Toe
See here for sign convention for caster, camber and toe settings Steering geometry/alignment
From the workshop manual
- from new or after new springs, allow 1,000 ~1500 km before checking/setting
- tyre pressures corerctly set
- vehicle on level and horizontal surface
- bounce vehicle to settle it
- steering gear correctly adjusted
- steering linkage free of play
| Setting | Empty | Full load |
| Front | ||
| Toe per wheel (not loaded) | See below | See below |
| Camber (wheels strt. ahead) | + 0° 20' +/- 20' | - 0° 30' |
| Max. allowable diff. between sides | 0° 20' | 0° 20' |
| Caster (vehicle on level) | + 4° 40' +/- 15' | + 3° 35' |
| Rear | ||
| Camber | - 0° 15' +30/- 10' | - 1° 10' |
| Camber Max diff. between sides | 0° 20' | 0° 20' |
| Toe per wheel at specified camber | + 0° 5' +/- 10' | + 0° 5' |
Syncro Toe Settings
- Bounce vehicle several times
- The vehicle must be empty of cargo and occupants during measuremtn and setting
- remove any front wheel covers (hub caps)
- measure height from centre of bore in axle shaft to botom edge of wheel house (lip of wing directly above the centre of wheel)
- measurement of height is in mm
- read across to toe setting (for Syncro this is from 0 to -ve values, e.g. 0 to toe-out)
- toe setting is toe per wheel (total toe is 2 x toe per wheel)
- setting should be within the tolerance band on graph (max/min limits)
- toe values must be set as accurately as possible!
NB. If height measurement falls outside the range on graph, use toe specification last shown at the appropriate end of the graph.
NB. Total toe-in/toe-out not given as depends upon wheel size; use given toe per wheel angles (or total toe)
Derek Drew's article
Derek Drew: These are Derek's thoughts as of 1994 on how to setup the suspension/steering on a Vanagon Syncro
Dear Friends,
The VW service manual for the Vanagon was updated in 1990 to include a different method for calculating the proper alignment specs for the Syncro Vanagon. Owners of the earlier service manuals for the vanagon will miss these new specs. The specs are contained on page 44.3a of the service manual. If your manual does not contain this page and these specs, you will not have the updated information on how to correctly align your syncro.
If you rely on someone else to select the proper specs for the Vanagon Syncro, you have a problem as well. This is because the company that makes almost all alignment machines in the country, the Hunter company, put in the wrong specs for the front of the Vanagon Syncro. I actually located the clerk in Hunter who misinterpreted a symbol in the Vanagon repair microfiche and who admitted he made a mistake. Over time--a very long time--he said he would try to get the specs on the Hunter machines corrected, but he admitted that in the mean time repair mechanics around the country would be setting the Vanagon Syncros in their shop to the improper alignment specs.
I recalculated all values and came up with the following specs, which are proper for the Camper model. If you don't have the camper model, you should obtain page 44.3a of the service manual and perform your own calculations as your specs will be slightly less aggressive than these due to the lighter weight of your vehicle.
If you take your Vanagon Syncro into an alignment shop and say, "give me an alignment," there is a 5% chance you will get a proper alignment, and a 95% chance the mechanic will use either: a) the faulty specs in many Hunter alignment machines or b) the earlier,easier to figure, alignment specs used before page 44.3a was issued. As a matter of fact, the guy at the Hunter alignment company told me that the methodology in page 44.3a was too difficult to input into the standard format of the Hunter alignment machine computer systems, and so the proper procedure would never appear on those machines. The proper procedure involves measuring the ride height of the vehicle and calculating the proper alignment spec based on that. The measurement is taken by measuring the distance between the wheelwell and the center of the wheel.
Once you are able to obtain the proper specs, there is another problem inforcing your mechanic to follow your specs and not those in the Hunter machines. You have to tell the mechanic that the vehicle has been modified or make up some story or he will simply ignore your specs anduse those in the machine. One way to force the mechanic to be honest is to insist on a print out from the Hunter machine showing your actual alignment specs after the operation. You can then compare these specs to those you provide him to check whether he has done the job right.
The alignment is difficult enough on a Vanagon Syncro that there is a strong possibility the mechanic will use either, a) the hunter specs, or b) your specs, whichever he is able to achieve first, unless you beat him up to not do so.
The following specs should be read with a proportional font text reader in order for the columns to line up correctly. Again, the following is for the camper model, or other very heavy model vanagons. The rest of you will have to make up your own chart after consultiing page 44.3a.
The material in this document is copywrite 1994 by Derek Drew, 487 Columbus Ave. #3R, New York, NY 10024 (212)-580-4459. It may be reproduced and redistributed for any non-commercial purpose provided proper credit is given to the author. Contact the author for permission to reproduce in a commercial work.
Before giving you the specs, a disussion of how to lift the van is in order. Since I regularly drive my Vanagon Syncro Camper on rough terrible roads and bash the underside, I have undertaken to lift it a bit. I lifted it about 1" by buying BF Goodrich Radial All-Terrain tires, in light truck size 27 x 8.50 for the 14" alloy rims. (I love these bigger tires, and they provide excellent handling because the sidewalls are relatively stiff, but they kill the performance of the motor due to their effect on the gearing. You will feel like you are in a 1970s era bus again, but I feel the tradeoff is well worth it for my application).
Another method I used to raise the van is to raise the rear end. I did this as follows: in between the rear springs and the body of the vehicle there is a small doughnut sized wedge of about 3/4 inch thickness. I went to the dealer and bought a pile of these little wedges and put 2 or 3 more on each side of the rear of the vehicle. I am still puzzling over how to lift the front of the vehicle so right now it tilts down at the front a bit. Any ideas on how to easily lift the front of a Syncro Vanagon, guys?
BELOW IS WHAT YOU GIVE THE ALIGNMENT MECHANIC----------------
VANAGON SYNCRO --'86-'91 ALIGNMENT SPECS FOR CAMPER MODEL WITH DUAL BATTERIES UP FRONT
[Proper specifications for camper are NOT INCLUDED on Hunter machines. Use the following.]
ORDER OF WORK
Alignments MUST be performed in the following order to avoid one adjustment from changing other adjustments:
1st Castor 2nd Camber 3rd Toe
SPECIFICATIONS -- 30-40% laden
Left Front Right Front
-----------------------
Min Max. Min. Max.
-----------------------
-0.27 +0.40 Camber -0.27 +0.40
+3.8 +4.4 Caster +3.8 +4.4
-0.033 +0.033 Toe -0.033 +0.033 (-0.017") (+0.017") Toe (inches) (-0.017") (+0.017")
Front
-----------------
Min. Max.
-----------------
Cross Camber 0 0.3
Cross Caster 0 0.5
Total Toe -0.07 +0.07
Toe in inches: (-0.033") (+0.033")
Setback 0 0.5
Left Rear Right Rear
-----------------------
Min. Max. Min. Max.
-----------------------
-0.67 0.00 Camber -0.67 0.00
-0.08 +0.26 Toe (each) -0.08" +0.26 (-0.04") +(0.13") (in inches) (-0.04") +(0.13")
Rear
-----------------
Min. Max.
----------------- FINAL
Cross Camber 0 0.3 This page
Total Toe -0.16 +0.52 based on
total toe in inches: (-0.08") +(0.26") measurement
Thrust angle -0.10 +0.10 page 44.3a
Notes on calculations (for your own use/reference)
1. Calculating front camber spec:
Notes: The front camber spec for the regular Vanagon
peaks in the middle and then comes back down.
However, for the Syncro the spec seems to drop
directly. My figure should probably be centered
around zero. Thus:
+5' +- 20' is a good compromise
Range in degrees is 0.7*.
This translates into:
+0.0825* +/-0.334
This translates into:
+0.4165 -0.2515
2. Calculating the front castor spec:
Set arbitrarily at halfway between published spec
and halfway point.
3. Calculating the rear camber spec:
Empty Full
+0.25 Max -0.50
-0.25 Nominal -1.17*
-0.42 Min. -1.84
Has a 0.67* spread.
So, set this at -0.00 max.
-0.67 min.
4. Calculating the rear toe spec:
Empty Full
+0.125"
-0.041"
WEIGHT INFORMATION:
Premise: The empty non-camper syncro weighs in at between 3,641 and 4,000 lbs. depending on the model. The max weight is 5512. The halfway point is therefore between 4577 and 4894 lbs.
My vehicle weighs in at about the halfway point, since I weigh 4680 empty. Being conservative, I will produce a set of alignment specs for a vehicle 33% laden.
RANDOM WEIGHT STATISTICS:
TOTAL Front Axel Rear Axel
Syncro Camper
GVWR 5512 2866 3042 Empty 3950 Actual 4620? 2310? 2310? Pub. curb R&T 4000 1972 2028 Pub. curb C&D 4000 Extrapo camper 4350
Non-Syncro Camper
Empty 3960 Full 5280 Cargo weight 1320
Non-Camper Syncro 2.1 litre
Empty 3661 (3689) 1793 1867 Observed empty 4045 (4109) 1982 2063 Cargo weight 1929 Implied GVWR* 5590
(*meaning empty + cargo)
Non-Syncro, Non-Camper
Empty 3670
Road and Track states that Syncro adds 330 lbs to the 3670 non syncro Vanagon and the camper adds 350 lbs as well.
TRANSLATING DEGREES, MINUTES, AND INCHES:
Degrees Minutes Inches 0.01* = 0.6' = 0.005" 0.0165* = 1' = 0.00825" 0.025* = 1.5' = 0.0125" 0.05* = 3' = 0.025" 0.10* = 6' = 0.05" 0.167* = 10' = 0.0825" 0.25* = 15' = 0.125" 0.5* = 30' = 0.25" 0.75* = 45' = 0.375" 1* = 60' = 0.50"
Degrees devided by 2 = inches
2* = 1.00" 3* = 1.50" 4* = 2.00" 5* = 2.50"
Inches to Minutes
1.00" = 15'
Derek Drew
487 Columbus Ave. #3R
New York, NY 10024
212-580-4459
Internet: derekdrew@aol.com
From: JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU To: Derek Drew
Derek,
you might want to send that alignment message to harris upham, the editor of the LiMBO transporter (if you don't mind them publishing it). the real problem seems to be (from my own personal experience) that Hunter and Bear (the alignment machine companies) used the 1980-1983 vanagon specs!!! Even if you have a non-syncro, but have a vanagon that is lowered (like the 1988 and later, or the earlier Wolfsburg Limited Editions), the specs are just flat WRONG! so i have to take my Bentley book along and make him set the car to the bentley book specs ... and then actually compare his printout to the bentley book myself.
Ain't it fun having an exotic car!!! :)
joel
From: Derek Drew <derekdrew@rcn.com>
Subject: Re: Wheel alignment Specs for 16" wheels on a 14" Syncro?
There is no definite answer to your question!!!!!
However, I would put spacers under and/or over your springs until the measurement documented on page 44.3a is 19.25 inches and then I would follow the directions on page 44.3a. If you drive a westfalia, or heavily overloaded, then I would extrapolate your specs for the measurements that are not on 44.3a to a partially laden setting. The factory gives partially laden settings for 2WD but not for syncro, so you will have to make up your own partially laden specs by extrapolating between the full and empty specs, depending on how heavy your vehicle is when it is at the emptiest when driving around.
I have been unable to determine whether it is better to use partially laden specs or empty specs for heavily laden vehicles. The factory seems to think that you should use partially laden specs, which is why it supplies these specs for 2WD. However, some say it might make sense to use empty specs, even for a heavily laden vehicle. So, what I would do is to recalculate the specs using either method and then split the difference, for now, until we get more definitive information. If you have a light weight vehicle, then I would use the specs exactly as they are in Bentley. For the typical Westfalia, I would use specs which are, say, 22% of the way up from the empty spec toward the full spec. For my own personal camper, I would use specs which are 30% of the way up the scale because there are all kinds of heavy things on there. The extrapolation applies only for those readings which are not covered by the chart in 44.3a.
For more reading on this topic, you can search for the word "alignment" and for posts made by me in the syncro and possibly, for earlier posts, to the Vanagon lists. There is a utility for doing that kind of search in the links below.
Forum posts/discussion
Here's one set of figures from Nigel in SA for a Syncro
I have 235/75/15 tyres. Alignment specs used at my alignment shop are below (with my syncro's actual values in brackets):
FRONT
Caster: 4.41 to 4.91 (L=5.00, R=4.01)
Camber: 0.66 to -0.40 (L=0.18, R=0.08)
Toe: no spec (L=-0.2, R=-0.2)
REAR
Caster: no spec
Camber: -0.42 to 0.25 (L=-0.66, R=-0.39)
Toe: -0.5 to 1.6 (L=-0.2, R=0.4)
Regards Nigel, SA
