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Author Topic: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?  (Read 7397 times)

Offline bodger00

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4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« on: May 13, 2011, 09:42:01 pm »
I had my alignment checked today and they made the following changes but I am not sure that everything is as it should be.

What I need to know is are my tyres going to go bald quickly?

Before




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Offline chungster

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2011, 09:46:31 pm »
where did u go to get that done??

Would say no to tyres going bald...but why didn't they sort out your camber angles left to right?

Front is a total mis match!  :surprised:

« Last Edit: May 13, 2011, 09:52:09 pm by chungster »

Offline vRSAlex

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2011, 10:09:03 pm »
There isn't that much camber adjustment at the front, but you can get a little bit of movement by shifting the subframe.  I will always give it a go then let the customer know if it can't be improved on.

You shouldn't get any tyre wear issues from that setup, but the car may be pulling to the left slightly due to having more camber on the right side to the left.
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Offline the bruce

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2011, 04:14:15 am »
 :happy2:

Camber correction would be fine.
But why is caster so low?
"You get what you pay for."

Offline bodger00

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2011, 07:59:12 am »
I had this done at Removed as I was working up there.

To be fair to them my invoice says no camber adjustment. But at £72 I want the car to be right.

So I am confused guys. Is the camber ok? I was told it couldn't be adjusted. I could have paid £50 more and had this looked at I think :surprised:

As for caster what should I be aiming for?
« Last Edit: May 21, 2011, 07:35:53 pm by bodger00 »

Offline the bruce

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2011, 09:30:45 am »
Front camber CAN not be ''adjusted'', but it can be ''optimised'' though.  :wink:

By moving the subframe within it's bolts I guess you get both sides more
close to the same amount of camber. Try to get the difference below 5'.

The caster is low (this is why it's red). Is your car significiently lowered on front?
"You get what you pay for."

Offline bodger00

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2011, 08:38:38 pm »
@ thebruce - Do you mean caster or camber that can't be adjusted on the Mk5? I guess you mean caster?

The car is on standard suspension so camber adjustment should be no problem, I guess??

I phoned the place today and I have been booked in for a re-check. They seem really fair so I am sure I can get it sorted out. I mentioned that the caster could be changed by loosening the sub frame bolts ?? and they said it could only be done on the MK4??

 :confused:

« Last Edit: May 14, 2011, 08:47:18 pm by bodger00 »

Offline the bruce

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2011, 11:16:32 pm »
I mean camber.

But it's all the same with both camber and caster. They both can not be adjusted to all
you might wish to have.
But that's no reason to leave them as bad as they are before adjustment.  :wink:

Camber left and right can be pushed to equal angles booth sides by moving the subframe.
If camber ist different more than 10' the subframe has to be pushed.

Caster correction is similar: by pushing subframe and rear bush console forward and
backwards on left or right.
"You get what you pay for."

Offline rich83

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2011, 01:48:06 am »
Why dont your front castors match? Mine are 7deg 49" thats with the WALK!

Offline bodger00

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2011, 10:05:52 am »
Ah ok thanks  :happy2:

The only thing I have done to the suspension is fit S3 lower wishbones....that's it :confused:

Do you think its realistic to ask them to get the camber identical both sides and bring the caster into the green (close as possible to equal both sides)??

I just need to be clear what I can realistically achieve and then ask them firmly for it  :smiley:

Offline laurent.d

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2011, 10:31:41 am »
I can't tell why your caster is so low, but it's very commun that front camber is not balanced.

You can have it balanced properly, as I did it on my A3.
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Offline the bruce

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2011, 06:05:23 pm »
Do you think its realistic to ask them to get the camber identical both sides and bring the caster into the green (close as possible to equal both sides)??

I guess YES, you can.  :wink:
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Offline bodger00

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2011, 06:58:16 pm »
@the bruce

Thanks for your help, I will let you know how I get on :happy2:

Offline the bruce

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2011, 07:52:21 pm »
Good luck and let us know !!  :wink:
"You get what you pay for."

Offline bodger00

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Re: 4 Wheel Alignment - Does this look right to you?
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2011, 07:35:16 pm »
Well I went back to the garage today. The visit went like this, introduced to the monkey of the place.....explained the problem....I was told they have a policy not to  change the camber and caster on my car......I asked what I was paying for........twenty minutes later (after they had setup the Hunter alignment machine) he tells me that he can't change the caster and camber "as you can't do it on the Mk5".....I then firmly stated, :fighting: that by loosening the subframe bolts you can get a bit of movement to put the caster and camber back as it should be. He then went off the talk to the workshop manager..............

He then comes back and says I was only booked in for a 30 min slot so can I come back another time..........so I'm getting rather p**sed off now.... so I told him that it's their fault I'm back there, as they did not do the job properly and he had two choices.....A - give me my money back or B sort out the problem today.

Now I get to talk to the workshop manager, who asks have the wishbones been changed......I explained that I have told them twice now to two different people that YES they have been changed. He then agrees to "have a go" and putting it right but he is "not going to get involved in subframe problems"...... :rolleye:

Anyway after an hour and a half later I see that he has given up with the adjust method and has started to move the subframe.....result!

I left feeling happy with the settings and the workshop manager was actually very good, (once I had convinced him that I was not going to leave until it was sorted) :wink:.

Before



After



Result = The car drives much better and I am happy with the end result :happy2: