I had my car serviced recently at the main dealer who said I had uneven tyre wear at the front. So I took it to a local tyre specialist (whom I know and trust) who put it on this amazing machine. The rear camber was out, the rear and front tracking was out and, finally, the front camber was out. Only the front tracking was adjustable.
So... if only the front tracking is adjustable what use are the other measurements?
Another Dave
What car? They're not easily adjustable on many cars, but it can be done.
Hyundai i30 diesel comfort, less then 2 years old. The tyres lasted
23,000 miles and were slightly more worn on the inside. They've added a bit of toe-in as indicated by the machine so it should be OK for all practical purposes.Another Dave
To do these measurements accurately requires far more skill and time than the average tyre place have. The car has to be weighted correctly. The reference points for the sensors have to be perfectly clean and true. Etc.
Maybe you "adjusted" non-adjustable parts on kerbs and pot holes? Maybe lots of people do and its wise to find out so the non-adjustable parts can be replaced before they completely fail?
On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:13:03 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) stammered:
I took my MX-5 and Audi Quattro to Chiltern tyres in Marlow, they do full
4-wheel alignment. It wasn't cheap, and it took them a good couple of hours.
Hyundai come factory equipped just like that. Dealers will have nothing to do with wheel alignments- its all your fault.
I believe that rear tracking on FWD cars can sometimes be adjusted with shims behind the wheel bearings.
It'll work better behind the hub carrier though
A good wheel alignment setup will do all 4 wheels at the same time and all it needs is punching the info into the computer. This gives a read out.
What takes the time is to accurately make the adjustments and recheck them.
If an adjustment, is necessary, on a non adjustable car then its looking for worn components, damaged chassis and replacing bits to bring it back into the manufactures specs.
There are after market adjustment kits available for "known problem" cars.
Huh!
They must be big shims then.
Shimming for anything like tracking would not make any significant difference.
Have made bearing spacers up for a Mazda not for tracking tho.
Describe how four wheel alignment picks up the reference points needed to give readings?
Well if you're out by very much then something that's very bent needs replacing.
Thats camber adjustment not what was mentioned "shimming the bearings" these go on top of the spring end of the strut.
I mentioned in another reply you can buy this sort of thing to align for a special purpose (ie racing, sports or even to carry a heavy load) where the geometry needs to be out of the normal range.
No, they go behind the bearing carrier, which is how you can get them to adjust tracking or camber. See picture for the fixed ones
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