Topic

My wife took the TF to have a full four wheel alignment check yesterday, the front came back with it having being correctly set. The rear was a totally different matter, four degrees toe in, camber on the nearside one degree negative and the offside with two and a half degrees negative. This is the first alignment check since both front and rear suspension was totally rebuilt. Having paid for it in advance I was rather surprised that they will redo the toe in for free but they want another £34 to do the camber. Have I been done or is this normal these days. I must mention that one of the locknuts on one of the rear track rod's was seized and the car was returned with the advice that I must get it sorted out because they had no acetylene.

I guess it could depend on what they charged as an initial fee. They could be doing the check as a loss leader and making that back by charging more for corrective labour.

If this was a all in price to have the 4 wheels aligned then I wouldn't be happy, surely toe and camber would be included so why the extra cost?
The worst bit was to say that you should sort out the seized nut yourself.. I wouldn't be happy.

I made a special tool to shift those bloody lock nuts. They’re always way too tight, as you can’t easily check the correct torque & there’s always an extra nip up to make sure (no bugger can shift them again).
It was a two piece unit bolted together across flats & an extension bar clamped on, even with this one was stubborn but it acquiesced just before I got cross.
Big job on the suspension this back end with regassed spheres & lowering knuckles & then all aligned.
Rough do all around with that experience.
M

It was £70 for the four wheel alignment check with toe being checked and adjusted front and rear, the extra £34 for adjusting the rear camber. Every single joint front and rear was replaced with new with the exception of those two track rods, every threaded adjuster was free running with the exception of just that one nut. It took just about half an hour to undo the inner joint, then unscrew the track rod from the outer joint and put it back together again after taking careful measurements to get it close to where it was. The nut itself was really difficult to turn but a MAP torch soon got it hot and moving, then some copper grease will hopefully keep it that way. Next week back to have the rear setting put to where they should be.

The tracking was done again today, same place but a different manager, what a difference a change of personnel makes. I took a printout of the correct settings with me and he explained that they use the setting programmed into the computer and presume it's correct. Anyway they spent an hour and a half and got the toe and camber spot on. Although he is also a MOT tester he had no idea about adjusting the camber.
Back on the road the difference is unbelievable, the handling is transformed and the knocks and bangs from the rear suspension have gone. I had put those knocks down to the polybushes but it is almost silent now.
With the experience that I have had then I would recommend taking the correct setting with you when you have alignment done.

I forgot to say that I went to a local cash machine and gave him a £20 tip, Unless you have seen the tracking done you would not believe how a small adjustment to the tracking makes a difference to the camber and vice versa. He started with two degrees toe in each side and and one degree negative camber one side and over two the other, as the toe became correct the camber got worse, then the camber was corrected and the toe became worse. The problem is that the rear lower link is not placed vertically below the centre of the hub, as you adjust the toe with the two long radius rods at the back of the subframe the hub pivots on the lower link. If that link was below the centre of the hub it would just rotate but because it is forward it both rotates and moves in or out as well.

Its only when you have that pointed out, as you have just done, do you realise how critical the geometry is. I would wager a couple of Walnut Whip & a British Rail sandwich that your car is one amongst not many where all the tracking parameters are set in accordance with the design criteria.
M

When you read various questions and comments regarding twitchy handling, importance of tyre choice and the TF's bad ride I cannot believe the tracking made so much difference, nothing else changed to alter so much. Initially I thought that the polybush's had made it so noisy and after the first time at ATS where effectively only the rear toe was wrong was resigned to the noise. Whether the improvement in perceptive ride quality is due to noise reduction or whether it has actually improved is difficult to tell. After Friday's return visit not only did I notice the improvement but my wife changed from driving it to wanting to drive it.