3 ways of setting wheel alignment?

Anonymous · February 7, 2004, 19:25

Excellent idea markiii. My dealer proved to be useless; I would love to say a few words about them. Could any of the moderators care to create a poll and maybe make a sticky for easy reference?

I am eagerly waiting to post my experiences...

Back to the topic... The dealer changed all 4 corroded disks including the hubs but failed to align the steering - it was still pulling to the right. Not only that but when I got the car back, there was excessive body roll to the right!!!

I argued and argued and argued completely wasting my time. The dealer insisted that they aligned the car according to the spec and that there is nothing else they could do as my tyres are not what Toyota recommends!!!

In the end, we agreed that if I took the car somewhere else and have it sorted, I would get a full refund. So, I went to Kwik Fit and voilà, the car is perfectly aligned. I am curious to find out if I will indeed get a refund on Monday.

Anonymous · January 27, 2006, 17:44

Just to reignite this topic, I have noticed in the first week of owning my MR2 that the steering wheel is fractionally to the left and when accellerating hard, the car seems to drift so slightly to the left even if I was on the other side of the road (so to eliminate camber)!

My questions are:

1/ Can the steering wheel be aligned dead central because I know of some instances where some cars it is very difficult to obtain.

2/ I have a P5000 tyre on the left and a P6000 on the right rear of my car, can this have any bearing on the drift when accellerating above 60mph (motorways etc)

The car feels very unstable on a motorway or similar almost as if its getting blown around by wind like a high sided vehicle!!! What causes this or is it normal?

Im desperate to find out cause if these are all faults I have an opportunity to hand the car back within 28days and thats just what i'll do!

thanks for helping me out (a novice to mr2's)!

markiii · January 27, 2006, 17:53

yes teh steering wheel can be adjusted.

first job get those tyres changed.

your going to end up in a ditch or worse if you don't have matching tyres all round

Anonymous · January 27, 2006, 21:16

As Markiii says first job get 4 tyres all the same make/type.
Then if symptoms persist get a 4 wheel alignment check done. Maybe the dealer who sold you the vehicle will carry this out for you, if you look like your rejecting the car.
Once the adjustment is carried out the steering wheel will be centred and your problem should hopefully disappear.

Anonymous · January 27, 2006, 23:17

As someone who used to fit tyres, when you have the alignment done, ask for the steering rack to be centralised. Over a period of time with several adjustments being made, the "straight ahead" position may not be in the dead centre position of the rack, a classic symptom of this is if the steering wheel is not central when travelling in a straight line (presuming the steering wheel hasn't been moved on the splines).

HTH

kanujunkie · January 28, 2006, 10:18

Quote from: "steveupton"As someone who used to fit tyres, when you have the alignment done, ask for the steering rack to be centralised. Over a period of time with several adjustments being made, the "straight ahead" position may not be in the dead centre position of the rack, a classic symptom of this is if the steering wheel is not central when travelling in a straight line (presuming the steering wheel hasn't been moved on the splines).

HTH

good point, but why the hell is it not done anyway, surely this is just bad practice and laziness not to centralize the steering wheel

heathstimpson · January 28, 2006, 12:56

But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Tem · January 28, 2006, 14:00

Quote from: "heathstimpson"But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Huh...mine didn't s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

heathstimpson · January 28, 2006, 14:59

Quote from: "Tem"
Quote from: "heathstimpson"But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Huh...mine didn't s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Maybe its an England dealer thing s:? :? s:?

kanujunkie · January 28, 2006, 17:27

Quote from: "heathstimpson"
Quote from: "Tem"
Quote from: "heathstimpson"But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Huh...mine didn't s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
Maybe its an England dealer thing s:? :? s:?

nope, neither of ours did s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · January 28, 2006, 18:27

Quote from: "heathstimpson"But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Mine did s:(

s:(

mrsmr2 · January 28, 2006, 18:33

Mine didn't. But, I just had a 4 wheel alignment test and adjustments during my 20k service and then closely afterwards, 4 new wheels.

After that it was pulling to the left and the wheel wasn't centred.

It went back yesterday and they said they have just had their set up recalibrated - obviously calibrated wrongly s:o

s:o

Seems to drive fine after today's test.

Jason

Ross_Curtis · July 28, 2006, 07:45

Protyre in Enfield (on the A10) will do a 4 wheel laser allignment for free! however any adjustments you will be charged for.

markiii · July 28, 2006, 07:46

don't sound free to me then

edward.carter · July 28, 2006, 08:41

Quote from: "Ross_Curtis"Protyre in Enfield (on the A10) will do a 4 wheel laser allignment for free! however any adjustments you will be charged for.

sounds like they will check it for free, then tell you its way out then charge you to put it right s:)

s:)

markiii · July 28, 2006, 18:09

usually these kind of places charge liek a wounded bull per change they have to make

red_leicester · July 28, 2006, 18:16

Quote from: "heathstimpson"But I think you will fine that all MR2's come from the factory with a steering wheel offset to the left; I know mine did s:? :? s:?

Aren't all left-hand-drive cars set up so they pull slightly to the left, and RHD cars slightly to the right?

Something to do with the car naturally steering away from oncoming traffic in the event of a driver falling asleep / suffering a heart attack / receiving a 'Gillian Taylforth' / etc

Draggon · July 28, 2006, 19:31

Great info here
s:)

s:)

When I get the springs done I should ask for a wheel alignment and a steering rack alignment?...is that still valid to do?

If i decide not to get this done at the Mrt garage that is doing the springs and take it too my great local garage who looked after me with the Alfa....is there any thing they need to know regarding alignmnet etc?

markiii · July 28, 2006, 19:34

if you fit springs the alignement shoudl be included in teh price typical MRt price is £50 if not included

Ross_Curtis · July 28, 2006, 20:01

Okay then its Free for the check and they should give you a print out which states the measurements along with the tolerancies, but any adjustments you pay for but they are reaonable and probably the cheapest tyre place I've found in the area. I've just sold a 306 Rallye which is notoriously hard to balance due to the type of alloys and I've never had a problem unlike many other 306 owners!

VVT-i · September 5, 2006, 09:57

1st of all i would like to clear something up that could be confusing a few people reading this (either that or i'm just about to confuse you s:lol: :lol: s:lol: )

4 wheel allignment = adjusting the TOE settings on the front and the rear, and its ONLY the toe settings that get adjusted.. the rear can only be done if there are track rod ends on the rear of a car.. i.e, if its adjustable, and the MK3 isn't adjustable.

Full Global GEOMETRIC check/adjustment covers 15 different angles (incl the toe settings) Camber, Caster etc etc.

The reason i am pointing out this difference is because if you ask for a 4 wheel allingnment, all you are going to get done is the front toe settings adjusted and the steering wheel centred... when perhaps you wanted a global geometric check done after having changed suspension etc.

Looking at the diagram posted earlier, it looks like a full geometric check was carried out, not 4 wheel allignment as was stated.

Ok.. going back a wee bit to earlier in the thread....

3 different setups??..

Every car can have different setups.. it will depend on what you use the car for.. take racing on an oval cuircit, if you are constantly turning to the right, you are going to wear out the edge of a tyre quicker than you would if you were traveling in a straight line.. so the allignment would be set to "pull" the car to the right.. this would stop the excess tyre wear on the edge of the tyre.. however, if you then were to drive in a straight line it would wear the edge out again... most road going cars are set for even wear when driving in a straight line, and there will be only ONE factory setting for this.

Quote1/ Can the steering wheel be aligned dead central because I know of some instances where some cars it is very difficult to obtain.

A. Yes it can.. and should be... if it isn't get it sorted

Quote2/ I have a P5000 tyre on the left and a P6000 on the right rear of my car, can this have any bearing on the drift when accellerating above 60mph (motorways etc)

A. Other than the fact that mixing tyres isn't reccomended on the 2.. the P5000 is a directional/rotational tyre and the P6000 is by-directional (no direction of rotation) so the P5000 will disperse water quicker than the P6000, it will also create a different amount of friction on the road and lead to the car pulling to one side.

QuoteThe car feels very unstable on a motorway or similar almost as if its getting blown around by wind like a high sided vehicle!!! What causes this or is it normal?

A. I had this after fitting my 17".. after lowering the car on Tein springs, the problem went away.. i put it down to airflow under the car.. that subject could be worth a search.

QuoteAren't all left-hand-drive cars set up so they pull slightly to the left, and RHD cars slightly to the right?

Something to do with the car naturally steering away from oncoming traffic in the event of a driver falling asleep / suffering a heart attack / receiving a 'Gillian Taylforth' / etc

100% correct.. a car should naturally drift very slightly to the nearside.. that is also the reason roads are cambered as well. (also helps prevent the roads from flooding)

Draggon.. when you get your springs fitted.. get a Full Glabal Geometric check carried out.. after a change of suspension it is very possible that the factory settings are no longer applicable, the standard setup is for standard suspension only.. having said that, when i got my springs changed the allignment/geomerty wasn't affected, i am told this is because the car has "semi-struts" and the springs were i direct replacement (same fit as factory) and no other parts needed to be removed/adjusted.

One last thing.. I would reccomend getting the allignment/geomerty checked every 6 months, going over potholes and speed bumps does knock it out over time

If you change your suspension setup, get the full geometric check done and get a copy of the printout.. the next time you need an adjustment, you should only need to get the allignment done useing the new settings that are on the printout from your previous geometric check.

Sorry for the long post.. but i hope its helped.

EDIT: Why on earth did i think this was July?? s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Tem · September 5, 2006, 10:31

Quote from: "VVT-i"4 wheel allignment = adjusting the TOE settings on the front and the rear, and its ONLY the toe settings that get adjusted.. the rear can only be done if there are track rod ends on the rear of a car.. i.e, if its adjustable, and the MK3 isn't adjustable.

Full Global GEOMETRIC check/adjustment covers 15 different angles (incl the toe settings) Camber, Caster etc etc.

Interesting info and it explains some matters, if that's the case.

Over here 4-wheel alignment means the whole deal, including camber, caster and the lot. I've never even heard of just checking the toe.

VVT-i · September 5, 2006, 12:19

Where i live in the UK.. getting your allignment/tracking done, just involves the following...

Front toe settings adjusted
steering wheel centred
Front wheels in a direct line with the rear wheels (thrust line)

Gauges hang on the front wheels and point accross the front of the car, and also down both sides to the rear "flag" guages.. the front reading is the Toe settings and the rear flags are there to get the cars centre line correct (both flags should have the same readout) thus ensuring that the thrust line is correct and the steering wheel is straight.

Steering wheel get clamped straight and the rack gets centred (with engine running in cars with power steering) before anything gets loosened off.

Anonymous · September 6, 2006, 10:52

Quote from: "VVT-i"4 wheel allignment = adjusting the TOE settings on the front and the rear, and its ONLY the toe settings that get adjusted.. the rear can only be done if there are track rod ends on the rear of a car.. i.e, if its adjustable, and the MK3 isn't adjustable.

Sorry mate on my MK3 and everyone elses, the back end is adjustable, if you look at the lower tie rod you will see, on the inboard side, a calibrated nut which does adjust your toe angle on the back, you can not alter the camber angle or at least not easily.

I've just had mine checked at SP they use a laser system which hangs on your wheels but they can also check you caster and camber angles by attaching a device to the laser system.

Don't forget to knock off a degree due to you being up north s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

heathstimpson · September 6, 2006, 15:50

Quote from: "FGRob"I've just had mine checked at SP they use a laser system which hangs on your wheels but they can also check you caster and camber angles by attaching a device to the laser system.

What did you pay SP for that matey s:?: :?: s:?: