I'll be PX'ing my Fabia vRS in 6 weeks time and the service I had last week recommended I had the wheel alignment done.  I'll probably be doing less than 1,000 miles in that period though so is it worth shelling out for?  I've attached a copy of the report as it makes no sense to me

 

green = OK   red = needs adjustment.

 

Only front tracking needs adjustment.

If your P/X it in I wouldn't bother

 

Maybe leave that in the service book for the next owner advising the Wheel Alignment is required

Cheers all, don't want to spend any money that I don't have to.

Trouble is that when you hand cars in as P/X someone usually de-documents the car, I left a word document of all the work ever done on the 13 year old Polo I handed in last year, discreetly hidden in the spare wheel area, so hopefully the next owner got hold of it! (well I tried!)

 

Edit:- compare that with the stuff left in the service wallet of the S4 I bought 3 years ago, service receipts and credit card tabs! I think that that is called "too much information" !

Edited 20 July, 20169 yr by rum4mo

I've booked in for 4 wheel alignment Friday 9th, they say some Fabias have rear wheel adjustment, some don't, anyone know if the Mk2 vRS does please?

Edited 1 September, 20169 yr by MilgeS

None.

Which ones have i wonder.

None.

Which ones have i wonder.

Oh ok, so I will be wasting my time with 4 wheel alignment then? They said they would only know once the car is up on the ramp.....

Oh ok, so I will be wasting my time with 4 wheel alignment then? They said they would only know once the car is up on the ramp.....

Absolutely, just pay for the front tracking to be done. No other adjustment is possible :-)

that looks like the actual tracking is ok, but the tracking has been adjusted on one side only in the past and the steering wheel is not now straight when wheels are straight

I would never dismiss the "4 wheel" re-alignment over tracking just because you can't adjust the rear "axle" mounting. The reason being, a proper four wheel alignment check will check for damage etc to the rear "axle" area - and, use the fixed position of the rear wheels as a referance to set up the front but moving the front subframe etc about - and not just altering the tracking as doing that can end up with the car crabbing, which is not good!

^^^

Correcto mondo.

So as long as the person using the 4 wheel alignment equipment has not only the gear but an idea how to use it and what it means 

it is invaluable.

As is checking tracking camber etc.

Then they must also know what to adjust properly.

 

Sadly often the gear is there and that still ends up with cars Pulling to the Left, or Adjustments done and a steering wheel on squint.

So as long as it is done by someone that can be trusted, then they road test the car, and hand it back with the steering wheel sitting where it should be and the steering geometry correct.

 

MilgeS,

?

Who said some Fabia rears can be adjusted, and are they doing the work on your car.

 

When you get in the car if the steering wheel is off, do not accept the car back.

Ask what they have set the tyre pressures at and see if they know or did.

Check yourself and reset your TPMS.

^^^

Correcto mondo.

So as long as the person using the 4 wheel alignment equipment has not only the gear but an idea how to use it and what it means 

it is invaluable.

As is checking tracking camber etc.

Then they must also know what to adjust properly.

 

Sadly often the gear is there and that still ends up with cars Pulling to the Left, or Adjustments done and a steering wheel on squint.

So as long as it is done by someone that can be trusted, then they road test the car, and hand it back with the steering wheel sitting where it should be and the steering geometry correct.

 

MilgeS,

?

Who said some Fabia rears can be adjusted, and are they doing the work on your car.

 

When you get in the car if the steering wheel is off, do not accept the car back.

Ask what they have set the tyre pressures at and see if they know or did.

Check yourself and reset your TPMS.

I called ATS yesterday about the 4 wheel alignment, to be fair he never took car details only Fabia, no reg etc, so maybe he was thinking Mk1?

 

I will still proceed with the job now then after all the above, I will query if they will look at moving subframe etc, if they don't then I will have to look elsewhere, but they did say it can take up to 2 hours to complete this work so it sounds pretty thorough.

 

I will explain that the steering is off centre when straight and that I expect it to be spot on when it comes back to me!

Do you know what equipment they will be using?

 

Hunter? Hofmann? Something else?

Do you know what equipment they will be using?

 

Hunter? Hofmann? Something else?

Unfortunately no, I didn't ask that, I'll have a look when I take it in there, I expect they use the same at all ATS's nationwide?

Unfortunately no, I didn't ask that, I'll have a look when I take it in there, I expect they use the same at all ATS's nationwide?

 

Cool. Not wishing to deter you from the job, I had the front wheels aligned by ATS when they fitted new tyres but it had to be checked & rectified by another tyre fitter with a Hunter rig.

Cool. Not wishing to deter you from the job, I had the front wheels aligned by ATS when they fitted new tyres but it had to be checked & rectified by another tyre fitter with a Hunter rig.

Hopefully they will sort it out ok, I'll be there in the waiting room while it is being done and will insist it is test driven, if not ok when I drive it I will be taking it back until it is corrected. Thank you for your advice :-)

Are there any steering rack adjustments that can be made? At present the wheels are apparently pointing straight but the steering is off, is it feasible that the wheels are correct and the steering wheel is in need of repositioning?

I had uneven front tyre wear after getting my alignment done by a local tyre fitters (to be fair the alignment could have been knocked out after they did it... He did take my car for a 'test drive' on the Carmunnock bypass, which shouldn't have been necessary).

Anyway, after getting four new tyres in November last year I bit the bullet and got four-wheel alignment done by dealer - 60 quid - although I'd to pay extra labour for them to remove a seized tie rod.

Edited 2 September, 20169 yr by Brian69

Are there any steering rack adjustments that can be made? At present the wheels are apparently pointing straight but the steering is off, is it feasible that the wheels are correct and the steering wheel is in need of re-positioning?

 

If you have not previously had the steering wheel position altered (?) - it rather sounds as if one side (Track rod + track rod end) is too long and the other side too short. Although collectively this  can provide you with a correct track - other factors creep in.

 

For example, you can have a different turning circle in one direction compared with the other. Plus there are other geometric considerations.

IF YOU ARE SURE that the steering wheel has not been at some stage altered - I would go back OR go to a proper company for a full/correct job.

 

Try a quick test as follows.......

1 - Turn the steering wheel fully in one direction

2 - count the number of turns required to go fully in the other direction.

Turn the wheel back to the central position (IE half the number of turns it took to go from full left to full right)

Report back how the direction of the road wheels themselves are with the rack at the halfway setting.

 

If someone had the car before you (could they have moved the wheel.)

 

Finally - if the steering wheel was reasonably straight/horizontal BEFORE they played with it - this means that some amateur has been committing the sin of only correcting the track  adjusting one side only. The ultimate action of an untrained dipstick!

I've just had my front tracking sorted at Kwik Fit in Sleaford as the nearside tyre was getting ruined. They are Hunter equipped with a slave monitor in reception so you can watch the whole process from the comfort of your chair. I asked that they ensure the steering wheel remained straight which they did, which is a first for any car I've ever had tracked. Kwik Fit seem to have done the job well, kept me informed, and charged me a reasonable price. And the staff seem to have grown up and are now looking and behaving like professionals The car is now transformed and handles as it was designed to. There is a bit more to this story if anyone is interested but its not relevent to the original post.   

If you have not previously had the steering wheel position altered (?) - it rather sounds as if one side (Track rod + track rod end) is too long and the other side too short. Although collectively this  can provide you with a correct track - other factors creep in.

 

For example, you can have a different turning circle in one direction compared with the other. Plus there are other geometric considerations.

IF YOU ARE SURE that the steering wheel has not been at some stage altered - I would go back OR go to a proper company for a full/correct job.

 

Try a quick test as follows.......

1 - Turn the steering wheel fully in one direction

2 - count the number of turns required to go fully in the other direction.

Turn the wheel back to the central position (IE half the number of turns it took to go from full left to full right)

Report back how the direction of the road wheels themselves are with the rack at the halfway setting.

 

If someone had the car before you (could they have moved the wheel.)

 

Finally - if the steering wheel was reasonably straight/horizontal BEFORE they played with it - this means that some amateur has been committing the sin of only correcting the track  adjusting one side only. The ultimate action of an untrained dipstick!

Hi, thank you for your detailed answer.

 

I have had the car from new, first set of front tyres were changed and no tracking done up to that point. The next change was all 4 tyres, tracking was adjusted and the steering wheel was off centre, I took it back to them and they said that the alignment was set to correct and that there must be a problem with the car, which I found very strange as it was fine when it went in to them. They readjusted it but it was still not 100% straight.

 

I then took it to another place and they adjusted it many times, when it was set correct, it was back to where the other place had it, the only way to get the steering wheel straight and the car drive straight was to set it at -2.7 and +2.7, I'm booked in Thursday for the 4 wheel alignment and I am hoping they can get things set properly or at least have a good explanation what the problem is

Whats actually wrong with your car MilgeS is it pulling to the left ?

It does pull a bit to the left, the main issue is the steering has to be held off centre to keep the car on the road, if you hold the steering wheel straight you'll soon end up in a ditch!

 

It had a bump at the garage recently but now it's been set to "straight" again it's back to where it was, slightly off, so I don't think the bump has had an effect.

Mine used to do this I would say your alignment is spot on!

The issue is your tyres!!!! What you running ?

For some reason the car doesn't like rotational tyres I swapped mine for some Uniroyals which are inside/outside the steering wheel sits straight and no longer pulls left