Four wheel alignment?

This is generally accepted to be a useful thing to have done from tine to time, isn’t it? I’m being told my car needs it. It could be the garage trying it on, but it’s probably reasonable after 100k miles no?

Yey! A Molgrips car thread. In at the start

Second opinion?

Shouldn’t be expensive anyway. Last time I had my tracking done it was something like twenty quid IIRC.

It reasonable, provided the garage know what they are doing. Just be prepared for the inevitable “adjusters are seized/bushes are worn/tie rod ends blah blah blah”

Forget the mileage go off what roads you are driving on. Motorways with few potholes 100K probably about right. The wife’s Mini needed it doing twice in less than 18k due to poor roads. Luckily my mate is a tyre fitter so cost me nothing.

4 wheel alignment is in the region of £50

Depends where you go, my local specialist only charges per adjustment. So if the car is ok there no charge.

Just had mine checked and it only cost 25 quid as only 2 parameters were out.

Fcm Wheel Alignment in Bristol (if you are local).

have you got 4 wheel adjustment? not all cars have.

As above. I had a 4 wheel alignment check. The rears aren’t adjustable (and were spot on), fronts adjusted as they were way out. Only charged for fronts.

Try and get a recommendation for somewhere good locally. Look on pistonheads.

Motorways with few potholes 100K probably about right.

That’s it’s life. They are charging £85 for all four wheels, which seems reasonable. I told them to check the tyre pressures first…

I only had mine done if the tyre wear was uneven.

I only had mine done if the tyre wear was uneven.

Isn’t that a bit late as you’ve already ruined the tyres and probably at £100 a corner for the sake of getting the wheels aligned. Once the tyres are worn uneven and then getting the wheels aligned without replacing the tyres usually makes the handling worse until the tyres wear even again or are replaced.

They are charging £85 for all four wheels, which seems reasonable

Not really. £45 at my nearest specialist

Even where the back isn’t adjustable, it can still be bent or worn… It would just be a new part rather than some spannering to fix.

But tracking is not the same as four wheel alignment, and most garages just offer the massively inferior tracking.

this is a passat, right? just drive the f’ing thing. it’s not a sportscar.

Garage are claiming it pulls to one side. This is nothing to do with performance.

Garage are claiming it pulls to one side

Surely you have noticed this?

well does it? presumably it doesn’t spend all it’s time in the garage. you must drive it yourself from time to time?

I get mine checked every time they get new tyres, my place doesn’t charge for the checking (and no, they don’t always find some work to do either 😉 )

It’s funny, I knew fine well my Focus needed doing, and it made a big difference.- it was vibrating and pulling to the left (*) But I didn’t realise there was anything wrong with the mondeo til I got it done, and all of a sudden it just felt… nicer, basically. Slightly smoother, less management while driving, just a tiny bit better, but all the time. Well worth it even with the less dramatic change.

(* having said that, when you find the perfectly curved road so that your car pulls in the same direction at the same speed as the curve, it is like zen. )

PPS cambers will pull your car to the left anyway, drive it on the flat to see.

My Mondeo was really sketchy, over uneven roads or crossing onto a different camber the back would feel light and skittish and need steering correction.

Two adjustments to the rear toe and £50 lighter it felt like a brand new car.

Proper four wheel alignment is always going to be more expensive than just having your tracking checked.

You want a place that uses Hunter equipment.

Local place is about £40. Rather pointless doing it on my car, next to nothing is adjustable, so all I got was a printout telling me the angles of all of the non-adjustable items on the car.

Better value was the older fashioned front wheel alignment for toe in/out. Caster and camber are non-adjustable on mine.

Of course your car maybe different. VW Golf MK4 FWIW.

I thought Mk4 Golf’s rear wheel camber was done via the slotted holes in the beam mounting plates?

Isn’t that a bit late as you’ve already ruined the tyres and probably at £100 a corner for the sake of getting the wheels aligned. Once the tyres are worn uneven and then getting the wheels aligned without replacing the tyres usually makes the handling worse until the tyres wear even again or are replaced.

Unless there was some other symptom, you’d just be paying for tracking rather than potentialy new tyres. If it never needed adjusting then you’d shell out more for tracking than new tyres! I usualy have mine checked with new front tyres, so circa 30,000miles on the focus.

Surely you have noticed this?

Well that’s just it, I didn’t. The car has sat for a while though*, and if it pulled I’d be checking the tyres first.

* If you’re wondering why, I’ll post installment #5 of the saga later in the week

Well that’s just it, I didn’t. The car has sat for a while though*, and if it pulled I’d be checking the tyres first.

* If you’re wondering why, I’ll post installment #5 of the saga later in the week
Sat for a while? Driving through lots of rain & puddles = a sticking brakes caliper or as you say tyre pressures 💡 Dad had this only the other week…..
@ 100k the suspension will be generally worn out anyway so it would be a question of what to replace first?
Old Ford Capris pulled to the left from new. I found a cure, the Ford rep was impressed 😆 Assembly line issue.

I’ve a 4wheel drive babe magnet and I’ve just had some new boots put on it, tracking done on all 4hoops and if you look at the rubber that came off it you’d understand why I had it done.. 🙄
I think it’s worth doing at least once 😆

Isn’t that a bit late as you’ve already ruined the tyres and probably at £100 a corner for the sake of getting the wheels aligned.

You don’t have to wait till they’re worn out to check them….

I’m sat in a garage reception having mine done now… £59.00

I asked for it to be done myself as I knew it needed doing. My tyre’s outside edges were looking a bit ‘F1esque’.

My Mondeo was really sketchy, over uneven roads or crossing onto a different camber the back would feel light and skittish and need steering correction.

Two adjustments to the rear toe and £50 lighter it felt like a brand new car.

I hope that isnt a Mk3 Mondeo? They dont even have rear adjustment 😆

My Mondeo was really sketchy, over uneven roads or crossing onto a different camber the back would feel light and skittish and need steering correction.

Two adjustments to the rear toe and £50 lighter it felt like a brand new car.

I hope that isnt a Mk3 Mondeo? They dont even have rear adjustment 😆

Also £50 wont get you proper 4 wheel alignment.

Look for Hunter equipment, but even then that is not enough, they need to know how to use it properly and not all do.

That’s it’s life. They are charging £85 for all four wheels, which seems reasonable. I told them to check the tyre pressures first…

He he, I bet mechanics just love it when people tell them little nuggets of insight like that.

He he, I bet mechanics just love it when people tell them little nuggets of insight like that.

Why many do not, seams resonable to me when many ‘professionals’ just do it to ’30’

“Look for Hunter equipment, but even then that is not enough, they need to know how to use it properly and not all do.”

the equipment brand isnt terribly important. whats more important is that the staff are trained and the kit is calibrated.

He he, I bet mechanics just love it when people tell them little nuggets of insight like that.

i guess you havent read molgrips form with mechanics…

4 wheel alignment is a usefull tool if your cars wearing tyres or still feels skitish or is pulling to one side even after front tracking has been checked and adjusted.
Even if as with most cars the rear is not adjustable it can high light a wheel that is out due to a component that is bent or damaged that is not easily visible just by looking at the underside.

I bet mechanics just love it when people tell them little nuggets of insight like that

Well the tyres were random and dangerous when I bought it from the same place, after their own mechanical check, so they have a bit of form 🙂

Given that it was fine before it went in it’s likely to be tyres or brakes as above. And yes I do have a pretty low opinion of mechanics as a trade. I’m sure there are great mechanics out there, I just wish I knew one.

Well the tyres were random and dangerous when I bought it from the same place, after their own mechanical check, so they have a bit of form

Why would you take it back there for work you will be paying for then ?

FunkyDunc – Member

I hope that isnt a Mk3 Mondeo? They dont even have rear adjustment

Mk3 has toe adjustment on the rear. Or at least, the estate does.

Why would you take it back there for work you will be paying for then ?

Well, that’s a bit of a long story…