I've seen a 12" Tyre stretched on to a 13" rim Whoaaa.
Also I recently had a wander round my local car auctions and saw loads of cars with cheapo tyres with makes I'd never heard of, a couple with 4 different makes.
In message , Chris Whelan writes
The printout from Kwik Fit that I got for free was like that.
The question is whether to go somewhere else cheaper after I get all 4 wheels sorted out with the correct nuts and reasonable tyres, or should I go back to KwikFit who say their £96 4-wheel alignment comes with a 2 year warranty and during that 2 years they will re-align multiple times free of charge. It has been suggested to me that this is just an invitation to return so that they can generate work on suspension components.
It is a Range Rover and there are an awful lot of dangly bits underneath that clonk over bumps and some of which need specialist diagnostics for the computer settings after replacement.
That was done by the local 4 wheel alignment place after I'd fitted a new rack to the SD1. Still was noticeably out, even although I'd set the wheel correctly using the rack centre finder. They tried again, and got it better but still not perfect.
But is the steering wheel 100% spot on?
And the price they charge for a cup of tea nowadays. Tea bag, water and a splash of milk - how much could it possibly cost?
:-)
Or I'm in the wrong part of the country. ;-)
The machine they used would have needed lots of 40 quid contributions to buy however, and using it to check was free.
Chris
As far as one can tell by driving, yes - perfectly.
Having the tracking correct but the steering wheel not centred, though irritating, is actually the lesser of two evils. Handling will be as the manufacturer intended, and tyre wear will be minimised.
In the past I've had cars where tracking adjustment put the steering wheel off centre, and I've ended up correcting it myself.
Chris
With R&P steering, the rack is part of the track rod assembly. With ball joints at either end. If it is not perfectly central, the geometry of the steering will not be 100% correct with suspension movement.
A car usually comes new with this spot on. So it must be possible when adjusting the toe-in too. My guess is it simply takes too much time.
First time I changed the track rod ends on me old Fiesta, even though I counted how many times I had to turn each one to get it off (in the hope that the new ones would be exactly the same), I ended up with a steering wheel about 45 degrees out. Annoying, but not worth taking everything off to again to straighten it. Maybe when I was more in the mood :-) As luck would have it, the new ones had been made with the vertical shaft too short, so the boots were destroyed within a year. When I replaced them again, I spent a lot more time trying to get the two sides equal, but it's still a tiny bit out. More annoying is the vinyl coating flaking off. If they still make Tyrewall Black, I might try painting it with that.
Much like the journalists on some consumer TV programs who thought it outrageous that replacing a 10p tap washer cost £60 - conveniently ignoring the plumbers overheads and time (including travelling).
My answer usually is if you don't want to pay someone to do a job, DIY. If you are incapable or can't be bothered to shop around, your decision.
£60 for a 1 hour (or part of) call out is quite common. Especially for large plumbing co's, they have a big call center and mangers on £50K+ to pay for as well.
But far too often they are using low grade staff that get the job wrong.
My bother had mixer tap cartridge/valves replaced. The idiot fitted them the wrong way round so the tap handles worked the wrong way and poked forwards over the sink bowls when off instead of being turned parallel back to the wall so they didn't get in the way. Evan at £60/hour couldn't spend 5 min getting the job done right. I had to swap them over next time I went to see him - less than 10min.
And very reasonable it is, too.
Every lever tap I have ever seen point forward when off. They come from the factory like that.
Chris
Dave Plowman (News) expressed precisely :
The steering wheel is centered, by adjusting the track rod ends - screw on end in half a turn, screw the other end out half a turn. No reason why the steering wheel cannot be both centred and the tow-in/toe-out be accurate - though many mechanics fail to bother and just adjust one end and leave it at that. Me, I would take it back and have them do the job properly.
I know how it should be done. And know - at least round here - it generally isn't.
It's a dual lever tap. Tap is shown in the off position. The ceramic valves are under £10 a pair.
I've just looked at the printouts in more detail, and there is a graphic of a steering wheel labelled 'Steer Ahead' that shows a value in degrees in the 'before', and 0 in the 'after', so I'm guessing the machine also detects when the steering wheel is not straight.
The alignment machine was a Hunter Hawkeye Elite; I can't find a price as they mainly seem to be leased.
Chris
A mate took an old Astra Estate into a major tyre place and they offered to check the tracking whilst changing the tyres. They said the tracking needed doing but then found they couldn't release the track rod ends even after waving the oxy torch over them (and melting some stuff).
So he brought it to me (for some reason) and a while later I had both released and sent him back to get the tracking checked and re-set (that they then did for free). ;-)
What always get's me about this sort of thing (along with what Chris was saying in his OP) is this is what they do for a living?? How can an electronics / IT support guy do something the supposed professionals can't?
Cheers, T i m
I've had a tyre place admit defeat in releasing a track rod end locking nut; I drove home and did it for them. They still charged me the full price for tracking it when I returned, so that was another one off the list.
Chris
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