4 wheel alignment readout

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Gate Keeper

Thank you Brian The reason I asked, I recently bought 2 new tyres and manager in the tyre shop said I should have the wheels checked for laser alignment every 3 months.

So four times a year???

You could replace all four tyres annually for the same sort of money.......perhaps a little bit of upselling going on there

Brian

[v-man]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

perhaps a little bit of upselling going on there

Brian

Either that or the local roads are worse than the ones in Africa....

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

... an amount of rework being carried out first, something that wouldn't be carried out by a garage when fitting new parts.

Originally Posted by marinabrian

.....perhaps a little bit of upselling going on there ...

You're surely not suggesting that the practices of some members of the motor trade are not entirely in the customer's interests are you Brian?

Simon

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by SD1too

You're surely not suggesting that the practices of some members of the motor trade are not entirely in the customer's interests are you Brian?

Simon

No I'm suggesting that the most members of the motor trade would simply fit a new part supplied to them without question, and why shouldn't they especially if the part arrives in an MG Rover branded package.

I'm not in that position though am I

Brian

[T-Cut]

I wonder what a different tracking station using a different rig would produce in their printout?

Notwithstanding the minutiae that the resetting of one parameter has on another, it's interesting just to compare the specifications, which of course control everything. You'll see that the sample printout provided here shows all the angular settings in degrees and minutes, whereas the MGR specs are set out in decimal degrees. To compare one with the other, you have to convert the printout into MGR language so you can do a direct comparison.

So, having done that, I can confirm that the Castor , Camber and Thrust angles are the same as the MGR specs. However, the toe-in specs for the front and rear wheels seem quite different. Although the final result of the front and rear wheel setting in this case do comply with the MGR specs, there will be some cases that don't.

You'll also see that MGR specify the Total Toe-in for front and rear wheels, whereas the tracking printout shows these as toe angles per wheel. Each wheel has the same 'sub-toe' on the same axle. So, I've simply doubled the ranges to give the total toe spec. I believe this is valid, but I'd appreciate comments on this point. Also, it would be helpful if someone else would do the comparisons and report their findings. The reason I 've done this is because I know from personal observation (as I noted earlier on a similar thread), that different tracking stations can have different specs. In broad terms I suspect they encompass the MGR specs, but may extend beyond them by an unknown amount. This would imply that some cars could be mis-tracked. I have read the odd report of poor steering after a tracking service.

TC

[bendrick]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

I wonder what a different tracking station using a different rig would produce in their printout?

Notwithstanding the minutiae that the resetting of one parameter has on another, it's interesting just to compare the specifications, which of course control everything. You'll see that the sample printout provided here shows all the angular settings in degrees and minutes, whereas the MGR specs are set out in decimal degrees. To compare one with the other, you have to convert the printout into MGR language so you can do a direct comparison.

So, having done that, I can confirm that the Castor , Camber and Thrust angles are the same as the MGR specs. However, the toe-in specs for the front and rear wheels seem quite different. Although the final result of the front and rear wheel setting in this case do comply with the MGR specs, there will be some cases that don't.

You'll also see that MGR specify the Total Toe-in for front and rear wheels, whereas the tracking printout shows these as toe angles per wheel. Each wheel has the same 'sub-toe' on the same axle. So, I've simply doubled the ranges to give the total toe spec. I believe this is valid, but I'd appreciate comments on this point. Also, it would be helpful if someone else would do the comparisons and report their findings. The reason I 've done this is because I know from personal observation (as I noted earlier on a similar thread), that different tracking stations can have different specs. In broad terms I suspect they encompass the MGR specs, but may extend beyond them by an unknown amount. This would imply that some cars could be mis-tracked. I have read the odd report of poor steering after a tracking service.

TC

Thats pretty technical stuff to a duffer such as myself who basically just wants to drive a safe and correctly set up car and leaves such matters to the professionals I pay to attend to these sort of things.

Not that I can do any more than I have but can I interpret from your comments that the readings that are indicated are broadly OK in your opinion or not so much?

I watched the operative set up his machine and obviously he scanned to the Rover 75 cdt settings stored within the data base which then dictated the printout and settings, so presumably whichever method of calculation is used and whichever measurement is used one would have thought that the machine database settings would automatically correspond to the MG requirements.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

Each wheel has the same 'sub-toe' on the same axle. So, I've simply doubled the ranges to give the total toe spec. I believe this is valid, but I'd appreciate comments on this point.

I agree that it's valid in that it complies with the way the official data is presented. However I much prefer to know that both my wheels are angled equally.

Also, it would be helpful if someone else would do the comparisons and report their findings.

I have done it with my Hunter print-out. It is the same as you found; the range for toe, both front and rear, does not correspond with MGR's figures whereas all the others do (unless we're missing something mathematical).

Incidentally there was a revision for front camber (Tech. Bulletin 0061 dated 22.02.02) from minus 0.33 degrees to minus 0.50 degrees (the tolerance remaining unchanged).

Simon

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

So four times a year???

You could replace all four tyres annually for the same sort of money.......perhaps a little bit of upselling going on there

Brian

I told this chap, I had the laser alignment done in January and would not be taking up his offer of alignment at £30 per wheel. Because of speed bumps and pot holes, he said especially cars in London should be checked more often every 3 months. I got the feeling he was trying to push the price of my visit up in his favour and he applied a little pressure for me to buy his product, but I did not comply. £30 per wheel every 3 months, your right about easily replacing four tyres annually

[MSS]

Originally Posted by Gate Keeper

I told this chap, I had the laser alignment done in January and would not be taking up his offer of alignment at £30 per wheel. Because of speed bumps and pot holes, he said especially cars in London should be checked more often every 3 months. I got the feeling he was trying to push the price of my visit up in his favour and he applied a little pressure for me to buy his product, but I did not comply. £30 per wheel every 3 months, your right about easily replacing four tyres annually

Every 3 months is more often than some people check the tyre pressures!

I would tell the chap that I have it done every time that I fill up, so no thank you.

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by mss

Every 3 months is more often than some people check the tyre pressures!

I would tell the chap that I have it done every time that I fill up, so no thank you.

It is scary to hear how some people check their tyre pressures every 3 months. You have to wonder, what else are they not doing? Would there be diesel drivers where performance is everything and they are doing these checks more often because of the wellie