Car pulls to the left - Tracking has not been done, but no still pulls ??

Nor on t'Escort or t'Panda

According to my tracking place, the Panda has no adjustment available. Which is why my Garage refunded me £60 for doing the tracking last service!

Can't comment on t'Almera

You're sort of answered your point earlier - I'm not surprised race cars and elises have very adjustable suspension. But boggo road cars - no. I'm actually surprised the 400 has it. I'd expect the way they get most cars pointing straight is by building it straight in the first place - perhaps Rover couldn't :-) (or is it more likely that the wishbone suspension offers that adjustment where trailing arm doesn't?)

Not sure what happens if it's bent in a crash - suspect it's either pull it straight again (would that be what rejigging it is?) or scrapping it.

cheers, clive

In my case it's not lowered and the tires aren't directional..

I also suspect it hasn't got any fancy adjustments available (Mk1 Mondeo) so I guess a 4-wheel alignment is about as good as it will get?

No he doesn't.

He contracted them to do tracking, they did tracking.

If he had contracted them to "stop it pulling to the left" and they failed to stop it pulling to the left then he would have them. But as that fails to state "without ripping up tyres" he could have got it back so it doesn't pull but did rip up tyres. He still wouldn't "have them" as again the contract would have lacked specification.

The motor trade have some big holes in contract law they can slip though. You give them symptoms, they make suggestions, YOU CONTRACT them to carry out work. If it doesn't fix it they are not responsible as they did what you contracted them to do. Only way to get it right is to contract and pay them to make those "suggestions" in a written report of cause and define the remedy. You then contract someone to perform the remedy, if that fails you sue the people who created the report for cost of remedy and worthless report. No one does this as cost of that report is way more than applying a few suck it and see remedies. No one in trade is willing to make those reports as they wouldn't be in business very long.

It's the difference between dealing with professional engineers and craft/technician mechanics.

So you don't touch trackrod ends or steering racks etc in your Garage?

Best you invest in some basic equipment I reckon! even the most basic garage has Dunlop type gauges. As for £35k for alignment equipment I guess you are Ron Dennis then? Go Lewis go..

In article , Fred > gauges because I refuse to let anyone in the garage >f*ck about with

Having done major steering works in the past on many cars with R&P steering I can comfortably state that no simple tracking arrangement will get the steering wheel in exactly the correct position (as when it left the factory).

I fitted a new steering rack to my car not so long ago, and centred the steering wheel on assembly by using the centre finder on the rack then had the tracking set by a local company with a four wheel alignment set up. Posh with computer read out. Steering wheel was off centre when going straight. So they did it again. Better - but still not perfect. I then adjusted both sides equally until it was correct and had it checked yet again - my efforts hadn't altered their readings...

Basically, their gear simply wasn't accurate enough. I'd love to know of a reasonably local place that had accurate equipment.

What a load of **** as a lay man and not a professional mechanic, I would expect some reasonable level of expertise and competence in any mechanic.

Most people take a car to a garage, and ask them to repair the leaking water, the knocking noise etc etc. They very rarely say can you change the widget.

As with most garages they check the tracking for free, and only if they see its OK will they do any adjustments. As it was my sons car, I asked him to go and check to see what the guy was doing to his car, he did not take me up on that. As I know that they always say the tracking is out, and then charge u for adjusting it.

It still was not any better, so I took it back.

The guy spent 1 hr on it and he did a test drive, only to say that there was nothing that he could do. It must be the play in the steering rack.

In the end he gave me my money back, with no hesitation or asking. Now thats good Quik Fit.

I even then took it too an independant tyre specialist, who said that the tracking was perfect the sterring was OK, and that it was because the car has got over size tyres on it.

There we are into another whole different ball game.

So much for professional engineers and craft/technician mechanics.