On Friday, I took the Beetle down to the local Kwik-Fit (slogan - 'you can't get better than a kwik-fit fitter') for them to check the tracking, a possible cause of the steering 'difficulties'. I don't usually use k-f, but they're just down the road, and I wasn't going to let them loose with spanners, just the measuring! Well, they couldn't fit their equipment to the wheels as there wasn't enough clearance between the tyre and the bodywork. Hmm... back to the drawing board - again.

And so a weekend of VW tinkering began! After much thought and reading of manuals, I decided to check through the whole steering system at home. Eventually, having dismantled most of the front end of the car, I discovered a very stiff king-pin. Ah ha! Some fiddling around with a grease gun had that sorted, and it all went back together, along with a new steering damper I've had lying around for years. Which still left the tracking.

You can do amazing things with string and a tape measure. With the help of the on-line VW community, I worked aout a way of checking the tracking myself. A few measurements and a couple of calculations later, the tracking turn out to be near enough to factory spec. Back out on the road, it now steers like it should, and I did it all my self (and a little help from Linda) Yay!

Which all goes to prove beyound any doubt - you can get better than a kwik-fit fitter. You just need some string and a tape measure!