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questions about alignment

I just took my 2002 Jetta into a repair shop because my front passenger tire was leaking air. I was told that I needed to have the alignment fixed so I did it. After looking at the report their computer generated, though, I'm wondering if I might have been taken advantage of. The "before" part of the report says that the front "total toe" was -0.33° and the rear "total toe" says it was -0.30°. After the fix, the numbers are 0.30° for the front and -0.31° for the rear. Is -0.33° a big number? It seems like 1/3 of one degree wouldn't be that big a deal, but like I said, I don't know much about these things. Also, why isn't it a big deal that the rear "misalignment" after is almost the same as the front was before? Is it because I have a front wheel drive vehicle?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Reply to
Nikko
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What you should kook at is:

Individual toe and camber for the rear, and individual camber, caster and toe for the front. Before and after!

I'm most certain you'll see these angles have not been adjusted (Note! Caster might not be adjustable on your car) and you were the victim of what we in the alignment business call: "A toe and go".

You pay for a full alignment, and only get your toe in and thrust angle set, providing that was even done properly, if it was a mass merchandiser.

To set front toe, should be no more than a $15.00 job, and maybe $20.00 if the tie rods were seized. Rear toe is a per car basis, all are different. So in essence, if you only got a toe in adjustment, and the camber is off. the tires will wear unevenly, negative camber leads to inside wear, and positive camber leads to outside tire wear.

I hope this helps?

Refinish King

Reply to
Refinish King

The message from "Nikko" contains these words:

I think it's more likely that you were ripped off.

Reply to
Guy King

In London UK, the usual price for an alignment check and toe-in adjust with no problems is 20 gbp.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Wait and see if your tyres wear evenly from now on. Mind you, if they were OK before, your alignment was probably OK.

Reply to
Mark W

That's a good scam....

Give every flat tire car an alignment. LOL!

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Nikko wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

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