Hunter 4 Wheel Alignment :D

[karlbar2k]

Just managed to score a Hunter 4 wheel alignment for the 4x4 courtesy of AutoStop of Porth Closest ones to Bridgend but you can search all over!! I always thought the rear end was not adjustable but turns out it is

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Definately worth the extra compared to the butchery that normally gets passed of as "Tracking"

[Liverpool-Lad]

What was the cost? They use shims on the back?

[karlbar2k]

The prices for Hunter allignment seem to vary quite a bit across the country but AutoStop of Porth charge

£29.95 to adjust the front "tracking"

£29.95 to adjust the rear "tracking"

£14.?? for any camber/caster adjustments

But the deal clincher for me is they offer a FREE check. Which is the first time I have seen a hunter specialist offer this, they are usually £50+ for a check and small adjustment + hourly rate after that if its a big job.

Swansea Mercedes want £98+vat just to look at it?

I did wonder about the adjustment on the rear but for Toe, the Cup bracket at the front of the trailing arm has slots for the bolts so the front pivot point of the arm can be moved in/out to adjust the toe angle of the wheel.

The Hunter system even shows the diagrams for the individual cars and what needs to be adjusted. Even tells the tech what tools are required. Very impressive bit of kit

I also had all 4 wheels balanced at the same time on their hunter balancers.

[Liverpool-Lad]

Ahhh forgot you had 4 x 4 so a little different than the FWD. Rear camber looks a bit off still?

Edited 2 December, 2011 by Liverpool-Lad

[Tahir]

I get my front wheels for £15.00.

Checks are free, and four wheels tracked from £20.00!

They also use hunters 4 wheel alignment.

It's all about the money!

[missingmyvrs]

is it me or is the rear camber a bit out??? dont you want them near matching each side ???

and to be honest your toe angles in the first pics look good and are idea for a performance car setup ???

what are they setting the car up against?? standard skoda settings??

do love the hunter system but sometimes you need to check what there adjusting too

[allias]

Equipment is great but its not only the machine but person that use it. There should be no supprise rear is adjustable. Every car will have rear adjustalbe as long its with independant suspension. Only straight beam axle need shims and extra work to make it work.

As far as your results. Looks like who ever did the job played with arm adjustment on right side as it should be balanced between that and plate in frame. Somehow he resulted with much more negetive camber then he had initialy. Went from -1.6 to -2.0. Its still within spec but you might get inside wear on this tyres bigger then others. - remember - you might or might not.

Good to see great outcome in overall.

[karlbar2k]

The rear toe in was actually visible when looking at the car but I was getting bad scrubbing on back tyres. The rears actually wore quicker than the fronts?

[allias]

I havent seen tyre so hard to say but I would guess you had to much wear on outside of your tyre - front as well in a rear. With previous setting - various things could happend to your tyres. I bet handling feel more direct now, does it? And most liekly will help you with life of your currect and future tyres.

[karlbar2k]

fronts were worn badly on inner "edges" and the rear passenger was worn right across the tyre but from in to out, with the outside being worse than the inside..

When it was on the hunter the display actually shows the tyres in the direction they are pointing, unlike the final printouts which just show the values. but it looked something like this:

So I can only imagine it would be down to the thrust/steering angle being hardest on the passenger rear tyre as it was going opposite way to the other three tyres?

The Hunter machine is good because it shows you visually what is wrong, makes it really easy to comprehend what they are talking about rather than just being a bunch of figures.

[snow_muncher]

"Honestly officer - its's the car that's p1ssed, not me"

Bet you're glad to get that fixed

Do you recon its been mis-aligned since you had the car ?

I guess with alignment kit its more the operator than kit, but has anyone any idea how good Beissbarth kit is ?

[allias]

karlbar2k - that way those bars are directing is relevenat without scale and numbers. It all depend on spec and nubers used.

snow_muncher - Beissbarth will be as good as every other but its really important if fitter/technician know where and why adjust it as it not about going by numbers as many make that mistake and there is no understanding why problems occur.

[karlbar2k]

It has always been a bit toe'd in on the rear but it never scrubbed, like I said it looks like the steering angle at the front caused the wear at the rear. Not to bothered about it being toe'd back out a bit as I don't take the car on the track so tyre longevity is more important. The front alignement has taken a battering with the state of the roads this last two years, as well as destroying the gearbox last christmas.

[allias]

It has always been a bit toe'd in on the rear but it never scrubbed, like I said it looks like the steering angle at the front caused the wear at the rear. Not to bothered about it being toe'd back out a bit as I don't take the car on the track so tyre longevity is more important. The front alignement has taken a battering with the state of the roads this last two years, as well as destroying the gearbox last christmas.

If what you call angle would be wrong it would be distrubuted between both front wheels equaly and cause your steering wheel be off centre. With negetive camber on rear (as most of cars) you need positive (or close to 0) toe to make your tyre last longer.

To make it simple - negetive camber ----> you want positive toe to compensate that. Positive camber (small cars, few vans and heavy trucks) and then you want negetive toe to compensate that.

Only with racing setups drivers tend you set negetive toe to get more oversteer on corners. Tyre life is not concern in cases like that.