Steering alignment angles

[adurer]

Hello people,

I have one quick question for you.

Can I check and correct myself (amateur) steering alignment angles on my Felicia?

If yes, how?

Thank you.

[Guest masster]

are you referring to WHEEL alignment angles perhaps?

or to steering wheel not being centered?

wrong wheel alignment angles (caster, camber and toe-in) result in a not uniform, asymmetric tyre wear pattern.

[adurer]

Sorry for my Technical English.

In fact I want to know 2 things:

• How can I check and set those 3 wheel angles?
  
• A local mechanic changed my front right steering joint in a rather... brutal way (big hammer, big chisel to cut original rivets instead of a cutting disc). When I took the car for a drive my steering wheel was no more centered (some 45 degrees to the right) on a straight road. I re-centered it by taking it out and inserting it rotated some 45 degrees left) but I am wondering if that mechanic didn't deform my track control arm(?) and I will have steering problems and uneven tire wear...
  

[djaychela]

If any part of the front suspension has been changed, it's possible that the steering geometry will be out, and given what you say, it's likely yours will need checking/adjustment. While in theory replacing a ball joint at the end of the wishbone shouldn't alter things much, production tolerances mean they usually do.

On the Felicia there is only one angle which is adjustable as standard, and that is the toe in/out, which is adjusted using the threaded ball joints on the end of the steering rack. For measurement you can purchase devices which will tell you the setting (they are around £50 for a pair of drive-over plates which tell you the angle), or you can do it manually using a couple of different methods, either using string (which is a bit fiddly but very accurate), or by making marks on the tyres and measuring the difference across the car between those marks when the marks are at the front of the wheels and at the back by rolling the car forwards and backwards, but this takes a bit more maths (unless you have a car where you can make both measurements when the marks are at the same height as the centreline of the wheel which isn't the case on any car I know of, certainly not a Felicia). I have used string to set up the rally car on many an occasion and it's worked well (particularly as you want non-standard alignment on a competition car and trying to explain this to most people in garages is a waste of time).

You can measure camber and caster fairly easily with a camber gauge - this is a spirit-level type device which you attach to the wheel (or the brake disc) and you can measure camber instantly and caster with some basic maths and the instructions given with the camber gauge. Neither setting is adjustable by default on the Felicia, so if they are off then you would need to find out why - usually due to accident damage or possibly damage to the wishbone when the ball joint was fitted by the mechanic (unlikely, but possible).

[adurer]

On the Felicia there is only one angle which is adjustable as standard, and that is the toe in/out, which is adjusted using the threaded ball joints on the end of the steering rack. For measurement you can purchase devices which will tell you the setting (they are around £50 for a pair of drive-over plates which tell you the angle)

I believe I've seen that device in Wheeler Dealers show when Edd China did a steering job. It has some small red lasers attached.

Thank you djaychela for taking the time to write such detailed answer. :clap:

[djaychela]

No worries

The device I was talking about is this:

http://www.gunson.co.uk/item.aspx?item=1812

You drive over it and the slip angle the wheel has is marked by the plate. I think the thing you are talking about is a more advanced setup, more like a pro tracking shop would use, such as these:

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=27047&Referrer=googleproductlisting&gclid=CKf4_cSwj7ICFUQLfAodA0cAKw

Quite a bit more - about 10 times the price.

The string method works perfectly though - you can get really good results with it if you're careful and after you've done it a couple of times it doesn't take long to set up.

[adurer]

The device I was talking about is this:

http://www.gunson.co....aspx?item=1812

That is a cheeky clever gizmo indeed.

I've put also the string method to my tips and tricks box.

[adurer]

Hey djaychela

I've managed to find the video in which Edd is doing the geometry tracking with a slightly simpler tracking device than the professional one you linked. I've uploaded that short 1 minute sequence and here it is. Can you identify who makes that device please?

http://s1057.photobu...LexusLS400.mp4

Edited 31 August, 2012 by adurer

[djaychela]

That's a good video explaining it, but you have the wrong end of the stick - that's a Supertracker device, the STR1LCTR24, which is for sale here:

http://www.jbsequipment.co.uk/newsite/index.php?cat=&page=Wheel%20Alignment

It's about £2400.

[adurer]

Wow, I guess Edd is rich after 9 seasons of Wheeler Dealers...

[allias]

Znajdz kogos kto ma sprzet do zbieznosci/geometri i niech to zrobi dobrze. Pan Zbyszek z mlotkiem i kilofem nic nie zdziala. Chcesz to zrobic dobrze - to naprawde potrzeba fachowca a nie nitki i temu podobne.

Pozdrawiam z Leeds.