Wheel alignment . . does this seem right?

[BobIzYaUncle]

2006 Octavia vrs 2.0 tdi hatchback

Fronts don't seem too bad but to me the rear toe seems mega and the camber needs to be near -1.20?

Thanks in advance

[skinnyman]

I don't know if this is any help but below is mine from a few weeks ago.  It might be useful to compare?

 

[0ctavist]

and mine from 2 weeks ago 2007 O2 PFL

 

[Toxicvrs]

2006 Octavia vrs 2.0 tdi hatchback

Fronts don't seem too bad but to me the rear toe seems mega and the camber needs to be near -1.20?

Thanks in advance

Camber is excessive iirc it should be between 0 and -1, not too bad though. Would be more worried about that amount of rear toe Edited 12 May, 2016 by ToxicFrog

[brad1.8T]

2006 Octavia vrs 2.0 tdi hatchback

Fronts don't seem too bad but to me the rear toe seems mega and the camber needs to be near -1.20?

Thanks in advance

 

The rear camber is within spec but on an old car it really should be up near -1deg.

 

the toes and thrustline are shockin'!

 

Tell them to have another go (for free)

[xman]

I was considering having a hunter 4 wheel alignment at formula 1, but now I've seen Bobs printout, none of which is self explanatory, I'll give it a miss for now.

Anyone care to explain what figures are what and whether any adjustments were made? Whats the black vs green figures for example? Or small vs large?

The front toe l/r (after adjustment??) doesnt seem to add up to total (after adjustment??) or am I reading it wrong?

Rear toe looks ridiculous, if the tyres havent been wearing wierdly I'd question whether those measurements have been done correctly.

Edited 13 May, 2016 by xman

[brad1.8T]

Anyone care to explain what figures are what and whether any adjustments were made? Whats the black vs green figures for example? Or small vs large?

The front toe l/r (after adjustment??) doesnt seem to add up to total (after adjustment??) or am I reading it wrong?

Rear toe looks ridiculous, if the tyres havent been wearing wierdly I'd question whether those measurements have been done correctly.

 

IIRC, on those machines the small writing is the before & the large is the after.  If it's green on the large writing it's within spec and if it's black it isn't.  Unfortunately, it doesn't give you the acceptable range like the printout in post #2.

 

Starting at the top, the lazy gits haven't checked the Caster.  While this isn't adjustable (on a standard car), having the figure helps when looking at all the other figures & how the car behaves on the road.

 

2nd row is camber.  This isn't adjustable on a standard car unless you shift the subframe and as you add to one side it takes from the other (it's like moving the base of a trapezoid and the top stays fixed in place).  The extra camber on the LHS is good for counteracting the road camber.

 

The top middle figure is total toe.  They appear to be working in millimetres (really odd these days - only old farts like me work in mm).  It was 0.6mm and they set it to 1.8mm - both are within specification but the 0.6mm was better.  IIRC the setting is anywhere between 0mm (parallel) and 4mm toe in.  Personally, I think a FWD should toe out but I also don't like parallel, so I'd be aiming for 0.5mm-1mm total toe.

 

The next middle figure is thrust line.  It should be 0deg on most cars.  If you don't get it right the car will tend to drift and it can also affect the straightness of the steering wheel..  You can shift it a fraction off centre to counteract road camber but I wouldn't go more than 5-10 deg.

 

The figures either side of the thrust line are individual wheel toe.  You need to get these right or the steering wheel will be off centre.  I have no idea why the before & after figures are both black.  As you can see the LHS is pointing inwards 1.1mm and the RHS is pointing outwards 0.5mm.  (nb 1.1-0.5 =0.6 total toe) In theory, the steering wheel should be down on the left when driving but sometimes the tyre wear negates the alignment settings.  The lazy gits have wound the RHS in to match the LHS.  I would have backed off the LHS to 0.3mm and wound the RHS in to 0.3mm (retain the 06mm and gets the steering wheel straight.).

 

At the rear they've done absolutely nothing.  Both camber and toe are fully adjustable using eccentric bolts on the rear subframe.

 

The top figure is camber and while it's within spec (1"15'-2"15'), setting it on 1"50' is asking for saw-toothed rear tyres.  It needs to be as close to 1"15' as possible and preferably go outside the green zone & set it at 1".

 

Toe is pointing outwards on the LHS and massively inwards on the RHS.  The spec is 10' +-12.5' (a beezdick outwards through to 4mm inwards I think), so it's just within spec but totally wrong.  Personally, I'd set them up parallel to slightly outwards but I like a lively back-end and a lot of people feel it is unstable.  For most drivers you'd set it up at 0.75mm per side with a total of 1.5mm.

 

Hope that helps.  I've finished lunch and need to get out and enjoy the Saturday sunshine.

[xman]

Great explanation there brad! Confirms what I suspected, that F1 tend to be like all quick fit centres, lazy and go for the easy fix.

Skinny, where did you get yours done? Looks much more thorough.

[skinnyman]

Great explanation there brad! Confirms what I suspected, that F1 tend to be like all quick fit centres, lazy and go for the easy fix.

Skinny, where did you get yours done? Looks much more thorough.

 

It's a garage just round the corner from me in Scarborough.  I don't use them too often to be honest but they were fitting some tyres through Black Circles & I asked them to check whilst they had the car.  I can't tell if it's made any difference but seeing as I was having new tyres it made sense to have things set up as best as they could be.

[BobIzYaUncle]

Not the best pleased. I've come away on holiday and had to go to a local Kwik fit to have the alignment checked.

My suspicions were correct, the alignment hasn't been done as the bolts are seized to the bushes. So formula one have claimed they have done it when they were unable to and still charged me 50quid for doing nothing. Kwik fit were also unable to do the alignment but at least they were honest.

So seems a letter to formula one head office and some polybushes for the rears [emoji20]

[xman]

That's them off my approved list. I wonder how many others have been fleeced in this way? Should be a trading standards issue.

[BobIzYaUncle]

That's them off my approved list. I wonder how many others have been fleeced in this way? Should be a trading standards issue.

Think I might even go down this route to be honest. Can't express how angry I feel. We put our trust into these garages and they just rob us blind.

It was part of a price match issue, I wasnt able to fetch the car back from f1 when it was finished so had a friend go to pay and collect my key then I picked the car up in the evening. They lectured her about how much they lost on the tyres! she was only paying the bill for me, they didn't have to price match. Just who do they think they are [emoji35]

Rant over

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[brad1.8T]

You really need to get the rear up in the air and go to town with a wire brush, rust converter and some surface protection (as well as the bushes).

 

It might just be easier to buy the replacement arms that come with the bushes fitted.