About a month and a half ago I had a stupid, low-speed curb encounter when turning into work from the nicely plowed road to the unplowed parking lot. I came away with a scratched up right rear rim (it kills me) and a clear alignment problem.
I dropped by the dealer the next day to get everything checked out. They said that all that was needed was an alignment, and went ahead with it. This mostly solved the problem, but I did notice that, especially when driving over slick surfaces, my poor Jetta had lost stability--as if the rear-end would "jump" and reseat itself whenever I hit even the smallest bump.
So, I was back at the dealer the next week for my 20k checkup, and I asked them for the alignment machine printout and to talk with the mechanics. Turns out that the right-rear is out of alignment (about 2 degrees, but I can't remember which meausrement it is...forgot the paper at home). The mechanic insists that noting underneath looks damaged at all (and none of us could believe that I managed to do anything major with such a small curb collision), but said that there were no points for adjustment in the Jetta IV rear suspension. He also said that I might as well have a body shop take a peek. So I did. The body shop guys told me once again that everything looked completely kosher, but after doing their measurements, the rear was definately out of alignment, very slightly. The only thing they could guess was that the rear "axle" (don't know the correct term for this part since it isn't actually an axle--whatever connects the two rear wheel spindles) was slightly bent.
Wonderful.
At any rate, last sunday my friend was following me home and said that he could visibly detect my car dogtracking. This pretty much is the kicker for me...I need to get my baby fixed or I need to figure out if that's just not possible (reasonably) so I can start planning to pick up a new Jetta GLI.
So, does anybody have ANY recommendations, especially trusted shops in the Boston-Worcester, MA areas that might be able to help out?
I guess the bonus is that if i end up replacing the rear "axle," i might as well get a new rim, too, as i'll be so far over my deductable...but given Massachusetts insurance rates, I'd rather not play that game...
Thanks for any help!
-mike
'01 Galactic Blue Jetta
---Wolfsberg Edition---
I dropped by the dealer the next day to get everything checked out. They said that all that was needed was an alignment, and went ahead with it. This mostly solved the problem, but I did notice that, especially when driving over slick surfaces, my poor Jetta had lost stability--as if the rear-end would "jump" and reseat itself whenever I hit even the smallest bump.
So, I was back at the dealer the next week for my 20k checkup, and I asked them for the alignment machine printout and to talk with the mechanics. Turns out that the right-rear is out of alignment (about 2 degrees, but I can't remember which meausrement it is...forgot the paper at home). The mechanic insists that noting underneath looks damaged at all (and none of us could believe that I managed to do anything major with such a small curb collision), but said that there were no points for adjustment in the Jetta IV rear suspension. He also said that I might as well have a body shop take a peek. So I did. The body shop guys told me once again that everything looked completely kosher, but after doing their measurements, the rear was definately out of alignment, very slightly. The only thing they could guess was that the rear "axle" (don't know the correct term for this part since it isn't actually an axle--whatever connects the two rear wheel spindles) was slightly bent.
Wonderful.
At any rate, last sunday my friend was following me home and said that he could visibly detect my car dogtracking. This pretty much is the kicker for me...I need to get my baby fixed or I need to figure out if that's just not possible (reasonably) so I can start planning to pick up a new Jetta GLI.
So, does anybody have ANY recommendations, especially trusted shops in the Boston-Worcester, MA areas that might be able to help out?
I guess the bonus is that if i end up replacing the rear "axle," i might as well get a new rim, too, as i'll be so far over my deductable...but given Massachusetts insurance rates, I'd rather not play that game...
Thanks for any help!
-mike
'01 Galactic Blue Jetta
---Wolfsberg Edition---
