Intrepid wheel alignment - done right?

Greg Houston · 2004-02-25T04:58:42+00:00

Several months ago, I let my dealer do a 4 wheel alignmenton my 99 Intrepid. When you get an alignment these days, isit customary for them to put everything in the middle of therange? From what it looks like, I just paid for anexpensive piece of paper. The rear right toe and the totaltoe were slightly out of range, but they said that theydon't fix these unless they are really out of line. Shouldthey have centered the adjustments in the range (especiallythe RR toe and Total Toe which were out of range) or am Ijust being picky? The factory service manual preferredsetting is the middle of the ranges...(all numbers are degrees) Acceptable RangeFront Left:Camber Actual 0.0 -0.6 to 0.6Caster Actual 2.3 2.0 to 4.0Toe Actual 0.08 -0.05 to 0.15Front Right:Camber Actual -0.1 -0.6 to 0.6Caster Actual 2.1 2.0 to 4.0Toe Actual 0.08 -0.05 to 0.15Cross Camber Actual 0.1 -0.7 to 0.7Cross Caster Actual 0.2 -1.0 to 1.0Total Toe Actual 0.16 -0.10 to 0.30Rear LeftCamber Actual 0.2 -0.7 to 0.3Toe Actual -0.10 -0.10 to 0.20Rear RightCamber Actual -0.1 -0.7 to 0.3Toe Actual -0.12 -0.10 to 0.20 *OUT OF RANGE*Total Toe Actual -0.22 -0.20 to 0.40 *OUT OF RANGE*Thrust Actual 0.01 -0.15 to 0.15

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mic canic 22 years ago

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Neil Nelson 22 years ago

Thanks Darryl.

Uh... I think our Mac dealer either quit or starved to death, haven't seen him in months.

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Ric 22 years ago

I work in the electrical testing industry. We test electrical equipment such as transformers, circuit breakers, and disconnecting equipment, among other things. In our business, the equipment is worth at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, but if the equipment fails, it can create losses of more than that due to loss of production.

The posts I have been reading make me think of how we testers work. Obviously, the customer is going to want to know how their equipment is holding up. We give them an "As-found and As-left" report. This means that the equipment is measured and recorded as to its manufacturers literature before work is done. If it is out of specification, it is determined what is needed to fix. In my business, it usually needs to be cleaned (electrical contacts need some polishing or etc.). If the test after the work is complete is satisfactory (close to specification), we record an "As-left" reading. If this reading is -CLOSE- or within the limit to the limit the manufacturer has set, work is done. More damage could be done with further work, and our test equipment (while it is calibrated yearly) could have some error.

There are two reasons that we give our customer a detailed report. The first is the amount of money that can be lost if the equipment does fail after we worked on it is very high. The second is that historical data could show that a part is degrading. I see the logic in having an historical record of data.

The customer is also told why we havn't put the equipment into the limits of the manufacturers range if it wasn't done. More than often, 'knob dicking',as we call it, is harmful. I you try to put something within it's brand new spec it likely will result in worst results in the long run. If it works do not tweak it.

I hope I made a case for both reasons of not wanting to put an alignment on a car to within the specs when close enough is satisfactory. Also I think that not providing the customer with the 'eye candy' is wrong. Telling a customer why you did not mess with an out-of-spec setting without telling him why you did not mess with it is only bad business. Close enough is good, but only if you can tell why.

Ric

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