[plazski]

Hi everyone,

So today I got a wheel alignment done front and rear. After the alignment when the car is going straight the steering wheel is a tad off-centre.

However the car tracks straight with no sudden pulls to each side. I feel like the alignment wasn't done properly, I have attached the printout any ideas ?

[IMG][/IMG]

[vtl]

Originally Posted by plazski

Hi everyone,

So today I got a wheel alignment done front and rear. After the alignment when the car is going straight the steering wheel is a tad off-centre.

However the car tracks straight with no sudden pulls to each side. I feel like the alignment wasn't done properly, I have attached the printout any ideas ?

[IMG][/IMG]

Let me guess, if you put the wheel straight ahead, the car steers to the right? and if you are driving straight, the wheel is pointed slightly to the left.

This is because your camber is uneven on your car (the tilt of the wheel). For some reason you have positive camber on your front right wheel. May have had a knock in the past that has bent something on the right side.

The camber is normally fixed but you can adjust this by pulling the alignment pins in the strut towers, allowing the shop to readjust the camber by moving the strut in and out. After installing my m3 control arms my camber was around 0.3 degrees out so I had to pull my alignment pins to compensate.

I pulled the alignment pins myself and took it to traction tyres in Rowville and they did a good job with the alignment.

[plazski]

Originally Posted by vtl

Let me guess, if you put the wheel straight ahead, the car steers to the right? and if you are driving straight, the wheel is pointed slightly to the left.

This is because your camber is uneven on your car (the tilt of the wheel). For some reason you have positive camber on your front right wheel. May have had a knock in the past that has bent something on the right side.

The camber is normally fixed but you can adjust this by pulling the alignment pins in the strut towers, allowing the shop to readjust the camber by moving the strut in and out. After installing my m3 control arms my camber was around 0.3 degrees out so I had to pull my alignment pins to compensate.

I pulled the alignment pins myself and took it to traction tyres in Rowville and they did a good job with the alignment.

Yes exactly as you describe it, well the shop did have the struts pulled out to swap out the springs on Monday and they said let it settle for a couple days before an alignment, odd thing is before today it was perfectly fine. Only after the alignment today it started doing this.

Which is why I think it was just a poor alignment job, everything under there seems straight doesn't seem like it's had a knock.

Oh great that's right in my area, so I'll drop in and hopefully they can sort it out.

Thanks.

[vtl]

Originally Posted by plazski

Yes exactly as you describe it, well the shop did have the struts pulled out to swap out the springs on Monday and they said let it settle for a couple days before an alignment, odd thing is before today it was perfectly fine. Only after the alignment today it started doing this.

Which is why I think it was just a poor alignment job, everything under there seems straight doesn't seem like it's had a knock.

Oh great that's right in my area, so I'll drop in and hopefully they can sort it out.

Thanks.

Ah easy then, if it happened after fitting the part then that was most likely the cause. Are you on the stock struts or aftermarket? After market ones sometimes don't have the alignment pins and if you just fit them randomly in the chassis then your camber will be off. When you tell them to do the alignment just tell them to max out your camber, you'll probably get around 0.5 degrees of negative camber on the stock control arms.

With the camber as it is now I'd say the front end grip would be pretty crap if you did any hard driving. Or at the very least you'll get excessive wear on the outside edge of the tyre.

[plazski]

Originally Posted by vtl

Ah easy then, if it happened after fitting the part then that was most likely the cause. Are you on the stock struts or aftermarket? After market ones sometimes don't have the alignment pins and if you just fit them randomly in the chassis then your camber will be off. When you tell them to do the alignment just tell them to max out your camber, you'll probably get around 0.5 degrees of negative camber on the stock control arms.

With the camber as it is now I'd say the front end grip would be pretty crap if you did any hard driving. Or at the very least you'll get excessive wear on the outside edge of the tyre.

Yeah stock struts, yeah I'll definitely let them know.

I can definitely notice a difference, turn in is not as sharp. I'll be going in either tomorrow or next week, get it fixed asap

Much appreciated.