Make a donation

Author Topic: 4 wheel alignment problems  (Read 4631 times)

Offline markos

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 13
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 84
    • Email
4 wheel alignment problems
« on: December 16, 2015, 05:29:58 pm »
anyone else had any issues with a hunter 4 wheel alignment machine?

had mine done the other day and the mechanic said he could only adjust the toe and not the camber as the computer came up with an error. said something like "adjustment not allowed on this model"

Offline rich83

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 165
  • -Receive: 802
  • Posts: 13444
    • MK5 Golf GTI
  • My Ride: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=dr4om3nkf2ps2msm8ua626019a&/topic,19740.0.html
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2015, 06:03:09 pm »
Front is Toe adjust only.

Rear is Toe and camber.

Redemption

  • Guest
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2015, 06:47:37 pm »
Camber and Caster (to some extent) can be adjusted by shifting the subframe around but not all alignment places are willing to do that.

Offline rich83

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 165
  • -Receive: 802
  • Posts: 13444
    • MK5 Golf GTI
  • My Ride: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=dr4om3nkf2ps2msm8ua626019a&/topic,19740.0.html
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2015, 06:56:21 pm »
Camber and Caster (to some extent) can be adjusted by shifting the subframe around but not all alignment places are willing to do that.

Very very very very small amount of movement. Negligible.

Offline r5gtt

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 342
  • -Receive: 334
  • Posts: 5586
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2015, 07:03:20 pm »
It's not a quattro so doesn't have front camber alignment... Edit   :stupid:
« Last Edit: December 16, 2015, 07:35:06 pm by r5gtt »

Offline rich83

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 165
  • -Receive: 802
  • Posts: 13444
    • MK5 Golf GTI
  • My Ride: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=dr4om3nkf2ps2msm8ua626019a&/topic,19740.0.html
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2015, 07:09:02 pm »
It's not a quattro so doesn't need alignment...

Eh?

Offline r5gtt

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 342
  • -Receive: 334
  • Posts: 5586
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2015, 07:17:54 pm »
Sorry what I was meant to type- it's not a quattro so the front doesn't have camber adjustment.
Thinking audi tt with adjustable lower ball joints for camber.  :stupid:

Offline Panthera

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 23
  • -Receive: 8
  • Posts: 266
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2015, 08:14:25 pm »
As said before, there is no front camber except moving the sub frame. There is toe and camber on the rear which can be adjusted.   I work for the company that sells Hunter garage equipment and I had my GTi professionally aligned at work as the specialist I used, who's Beissbarth (which is also VAG approved) measured the rear of mine wrong.....it was toeing out on the rear!   So far so good with the alignment. 
Its all things to all men...Golf GTi
2007 Blue Graphite Golf GTi

Offline markos

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 13
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 84
    • Email
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2015, 09:57:35 am »
the mechanic said the camber and caster could be a number of things. rear wishbone bushes, front wishbone bushes, shocks... all could have a part to play in things being unbalanced in that department.

i'm going to get the tracking done and the rear wishbones do look a bit worn so will get them replaced. hopefully that will sort it!

i'll try and get my figures emailed over from the garage to see how they compare but he said the caster was the main problem
« Last Edit: December 17, 2015, 10:17:41 am by markos »

Offline rich83

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 165
  • -Receive: 802
  • Posts: 13444
    • MK5 Golf GTI
  • My Ride: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=dr4om3nkf2ps2msm8ua626019a&/topic,19740.0.html
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2015, 10:21:50 am »
We need the alignment readout numbers.

Offline Panthera

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 23
  • -Receive: 8
  • Posts: 266
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2015, 08:29:00 pm »
We need the alignment readout numbers.


This is mine and you can see that after the specialist had 'aligned' my GTi the rear was toeing out.  It felt rather odd and scary at times.  After I had my car aligned at work, I took the results back to the VAG specialist handmade them aware of their poorly calibrated machine.   I can be sure that our machine is accurate is that a few days earlier, we had Aston Martin down, then we had Rolls Royce checking our machine/equipment and it is bob on accurate.

https://flic.kr/p/Cf7EVN
Its all things to all men...Golf GTi
2007 Blue Graphite Golf GTi

Offline markos

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 13
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 84
    • Email
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2015, 09:57:12 pm »
here's a rather crude diagram of mine (had to do this myself as their printout wasn't working!!)


imagur

Offline rich83

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 165
  • -Receive: 802
  • Posts: 13444
    • MK5 Golf GTI
  • My Ride: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=dr4om3nkf2ps2msm8ua626019a&/topic,19740.0.html
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2015, 10:23:31 pm »
God that was a right mess panthera

Offline markos

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 13
  • -Receive: 1
  • Posts: 84
    • Email
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2015, 01:58:41 pm »
so, apart from adjusting the tracking and looking at the wishbone bushes is there anything else i can do to get this leveled out?

Offline r5gtt

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 342
  • -Receive: 334
  • Posts: 5586
Re: 4 wheel alignment problems
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2015, 02:17:53 pm »
Top mounts?. wear and tear can cause imbalance to suspension hence cause tracking camber to be out.