Problems after wheel alignment

[Dieselman]

Hat-trick.

So "adjusting" the camber and castor to stop it pulling results in off centre steering...

Any "after" printout?

 

[momomo]

Wow, it seems as if lots of members have got the same problem. Im very surprised its not been mentioned before!

 

[Rory]

Same here.... 3 attempts and still ~20deg off horizontal.

I don't understand how it could be so far out - 20 degrees is a lot.

They did mine and it's fine. To honest, in a weird way it was almost disappointing that it wasn't more hassle - I'd lived with the drift left thing for some time and had heard the horror stories of other places messing the cars up. Eventually I found an opportunty to go to WiM.

Tony checked the car and his colleague made some adjustments and that was it. I was left wondering what all the fuss was about!

 

[whitenemesis]

I think it is really such a fine adjustment needed. Sometimes achieved first time, sometimes not. WIM never hesitated to check/adjust again, I just ran out of time ...

 

[Rory]

I think it is really such a fine adjustment needed. Sometimes achieved first time, sometimes not. WIM never hesitated to check/adjust again, I just ran out of time ...

I don't know how all the adjustments would interact with each other but would have thought that if the wheel was centered at the start of the process (as it always it) then is should stay there.

I'm always bemused by all these places seeming to be happy to set up the cars so the readings are just in the green area of the tolerance - I'd perfer spot on!

I did wonder if it should be done with a spreader between the front tyres, or even with the car weighted, but Tony said not.

 

[whitenemesis]

Strange! Tony insisted on the spreader being used in my case!??

 

[markjay]

Like the rest of you, I am very surprised by all this.

I have been to WIM a few times and was very impressed. Never had this type of problem.

Tony Bones is a member here, hopefully he will pick up the gauntlet and tell us what's going on...

 

[aka$h]

The spreader wasn't used on my car.

I'll try to dig out the alignment spec an upload it.

 

[KLP 92]

All alignment figure were within spec on the car.

Everything else seems fine, haven't driven it enough to see if the tyres are wearing evenly or not, but its annoying that the wheel isn't straight when you're going straight!

Yep the chaps are nice enough, to be honest i used to use a smaller garage to do the alignment before, they were just lazy about installing the adjustment bolts, but never had an issue where i had to take the car back to them.

I'm actually at the stage now to take the car to the chaps i used to use and have them to adjust it if its as they're local and considerably cheaper.

I have 2 other cars at home that need wheel alignment done, the intent was to take all 3 down after reach other, but after the 1st one i held back.

 

[KLP 92]

WIM never hesitated to check/adjust again, I just ran out of time ...

Completely agree, very happy for me to bring the car back, just a case of last time i went there i was told that the issue wasn't the alignment but a sensor problem on my car.

 

[KLP 92]

Hat-trick.

So "adjusting" the camber and castor to stop it pulling results in off centre steering...

Any "after" printout?

Even before the work was carried out the car was within spec according to the print out and the first initial check for the camber. My issue was inside tyre wear on the fronts, but was told to have the new bolts installed as obviously there was a problem there. So installed and the camber adjusted within spec but to the other end of the scale.

 

[jaymanek]

The sensor can be reset by just disconnecting the battery for ten mins then lock to lock 3 times.

 

[AdamG]

Does the car pull left or right?

I ask as I had my car tracked at WIM all in spec....bolts fitted. Great service.

Despite this it still had a bad pull to the left and the steering had to be positioned at about 1 o'clock when going straight even when the camber was sloping down to the right!

I swapped the front wheels left and right and this solved it. Unfortunately being directional (kumho ku31's) I had to put them back.

When they were new all four tyres had a yellow runout band on the left shoulder of the tyre. So they all had a tendancy to pull left!

I'm waiting for them to wear out to put some michelins on

Adam

 

[KLP 92]

Does the car pull left or right?

I ask as I had my car tracked at WIM all in spec....bolts fitted. Great service.

Despite this it still had a bad pull to the left and the steering had to be positioned at about 1 o'clock when going straight even when the camber was sloping down to the right!

I swapped the front wheels left and right and this solved it. Unfortunately being directional (kumho ku31's) I had to put them back.

When they were new all four tyres had a yellow runout band on the left shoulder of the tyre. So they all had a tendancy to pull left!

I'm waiting for them to wear out to put some michelins on

Adam

very slight pull to the left if i let go of the steering, no worse than any other Merc on my driveway.

All the castor specs are within tolerance so shouldn't give me 1 inch steering wheel position difference.

Brand new tyres fitted day before alignment so not a tyre issue as it drove fine on the way to them and the day before.

 

[KLP 92]

The sensor can be reset by just disconnecting the battery for ten mins then lock to lock 3 times.

Doh, completely forgot about that!

 

[wheels-inmotion]

@ KLP 92

I'm sorry you still have problems but i can assure you the reason is not the chassis.
Your initial complaint was inner front tyre wear, this was due to the lowering hence the reason we installed the adjuster bolts. After this you returned stating a slight pull and the steering position off-centre, after re-checking the chassis only to find everything was as set i advised you on the poor condition of the tyres ( violently worn ) as reason for the wayward handling and even the off-line steering wheel. You replaced the wheels/ tyres with another old set but still had an off-line steering wheel. The reason i suggested setting the steering angle censor is because that's the next logical step, seemingly this didn't help.

Given the opportunity i would like to look at the car but it would involve looking outside of the box to find the criminal.

Here is an example
We fitted a rear tyre and set the chassis on a Mazda MX5, the car returned with an off-line steering wheel, so we rechecked the chassis and it was fine. The owner insisted the steering wheel was straight before, so sine the only other thing we did to the car was a rear tyre we swapped the rear wheels side-to-side, after driving the car the steering position went the other way? Despite the tyre was the same size, make, pressure the steering changed. Now i can't explain why the tyre did this other than the fact it did.

 

[C43AMG]

Sorry to hear you have problems . Good to hear from you Nav.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

If it drives straight and chassis is as it should be, could undoing and rotating the wheel to the right position be the fix?

Maybe somebody did the same to hide an issue, and now the issue is resolved the wheel is out of true?

 

[Burger]

I find a not straight steering wheel a major annoyance. Hope you manage to get it resolved.

 

[C43AMG]

If it drives straight and chassis is as it should be, could undoing and rotating the wheel to the right position be the fix?

Maybe somebody did the same to hide an issue, and now the issue is resolved the wheel is out of true?

Makes sense.