£40 wheel alignment a good idea?

imkaz

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My car ever since I got it, 2 years now, has pulled quite a bit to the left. Changing tyres improved it a bit but it still likes going left. Will the £40 alignment that I see dotted about in places be what I need? I have always thought I wheel alignment was quite expensive.
 
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s500colin

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Hi I had my mine done on the S500 last year, cost about £40 and it made a big difference to the way the car drives and to the steering.
Like any other garage repair, it will depends on how good the person doing the repair is.
 

jaymanek

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It will be a basic adjustment but maybe that's all that's needed so worth a try. If that doesn't work or you end up with uneven tyre wear you need to have it done properly at someone like wheels in motion, center gravity or main dealers.

Alternatively you can find someone local who has decent equipment by looking on the alignmycar website.
 
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imkaz

imkaz

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Really good responses guys, so sounds like definately worth a shot looking into, especially if I can find someone good to!
 

Rotorhead500

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Will also reduce and even out tyre wear, so well worth doing.

Tend to get mine checked annually, if not more.
 
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ianrandom

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Absolutely. I had the tracking done on my SE about 7 times before I got a full alignment done at a place with the Hunter machine - highly recommended for Mercs. It was like driving a different car.
 
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peterdh

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Absolutely. I had the tracking done on my SE about 7 times before I got a full alignment done at a place with the Hunter machine - highly recommended for Mercs. It was like driving a different car.

I don't expect the full alignment would have cost you £40 though.

Had mine done at a local garage last year when I changed a couple of tyres and they spent quite a bit of time on it but the cost was £75. Worth it though but how long they stay properly aligned with our lousy potholed roads is anybodies guess.
 

wheels-inmotion

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Be careful what you buy or think you are buying.... This might help>
...............................................

Various methods are described to encourage you to resolve tyre wear or handling issues, additionally members in forums are keen to advise but often fall victim to the same miss-information, read carefully and stay ahead of 'alignment the big con'

Tracking/Alignment
Is linear, this measurement shows no concern for any other angle. This form of measurement is the most common in the World and the most damaging.
Angles measured 1

Four wheel Alignment
Uses the rear wheels as a scale to centre the steering rack.... then the front toe..... this is better but is assuming the rear is centred.
Angles measured 2

Four wheel Laser Alignment
Same as above.... be wise!

Geometry/Primary
Will image the exact rear centre line to permit a centred steering wheel.. additionally the front and rear camber positions will be measured. This is the most common form of Geometry and i consider this as 'basic'
Angles measured 8

Full Geometry/primary and Secondary
Is absolute but harder to understand. Few places even with the equipment measure the Secondary angles, these include...
Castor
KPI/SJI/SAI
Scrub radius
included angle
TOOT/Ackerman
Delta curve
and so on

Most areas that involve rapid tyre wear or handling issues need to be read from the 'Secondary' data, even more important if the car has been modified or for diagnostics after an accident.
Angles measured 15+

Not easy reading indeed, millions of pounds change hands every day for 'Alignment', a need to be wise could save you £ssss

One more thing to make the 'blood boil'.. The Primary and secondary Geometry has a customer destination?

1: Primary is the 'dumb' customer version
2: Secondary is with held unless requested and named the 'Technicians version.
 

L John

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Fantastic post Wheels-inmotion.

Just wondering... On a front wheel drive car, does the geometry change when the car is under power or would that only be the case if joints were worn?
Not sure it that is covered in the secondary angles you mentioned.

Your post should be in an archive somewhere if it's not already.
Very helpful.
 
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imkaz

imkaz

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Be careful what you buy or think you are buying.... This might help>
...............................................

Various methods are described to encourage you to resolve tyre wear or handling issues, additionally members in forums are keen to advise but often fall victim to the same miss-information, read carefully and stay ahead of 'alignment the big con'

Tracking/Alignment
Is linear, this measurement shows no concern for any other angle. This form of measurement is the most common in the World and the most damaging.
Angles measured 1

Four wheel Alignment
Uses the rear wheels as a scale to centre the steering rack.... then the front toe..... this is better but is assuming the rear is centred.
Angles measured 2

Four wheel Laser Alignment
Same as above.... be wise!

Geometry/Primary
Will image the exact rear centre line to permit a centred steering wheel.. additionally the front and rear camber positions will be measured. This is the most common form of Geometry and i consider this as 'basic'
Angles measured 8

Full Geometry/primary and Secondary
Is absolute but harder to understand. Few places even with the equipment measure the Secondary angles, these include...
Castor
KPI/SJI/SAI
Scrub radius
included angle
TOOT/Ackerman
Delta curve
and so on

Most areas that involve rapid tyre wear or handling issues need to be read from the 'Secondary' data, even more important if the car has been modified or for diagnostics after an accident.
Angles measured 15+

Not easy reading indeed, millions of pounds change hands every day for 'Alignment', a need to be wise could save you £ssss

One more thing to make the 'blood boil'.. The Primary and secondary Geometry has a customer destination?

1: Primary is the 'dumb' customer version
2: Secondary is with held unless requested and named the 'Technicians version.

Thanks for that wheels-inmotion, do you have an idea of what the rough price ranges are at these different levels?
 
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wheels-inmotion

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Fantastic post Wheels-inmotion.

Just wondering... On a front wheel drive car, does the geometry change when the car is under power or would that only be the case if joints were worn?
Not sure it that is covered in the secondary angles you mentioned.

Your post should be in an archive somewhere if it's not already.
Very helpful.

Front or RWD the geometry changes, reason being FWD pulls the car and RWD pushes, add a smattering of bushing compliance and the tyres rolling resistance then some serious considerations need to be applied.

Most cars live most their life in the realm of worn it's not new but not worn out. We have to understand in an ideal world everything would be as good as new but it's not an ideal world. Assessing play -V- the owners complaint is part of the job.
 
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wheels-inmotion

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@ imkaz
Prices differ massively so it's a hard call but i would say if it reads very cheap be suspicious, very expensive ask yourself why? Half price or a free test is a worm on a hook so don't fall for that one.
 

Parkgate

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If your car needs camber bolts fitting to change the suspension geometry it will cost, obviously, and fair play to WIM for sorting this sort of problem out for lots of MB drivers. But it also may be a simple tracking job, so lets not beat around the bush here, no-one really knows until the stearing/suspension/bushes/turret cones/ tyres and everything else has been checked first. So sometimes a quick £40 job will either solve it, or it won't. Its thats simple.
 

wheels-inmotion

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2x camber bolts again depends on the shop.... All the under tray needs to be removed, the machine needs to be able to read the camber position with the wheels off the ground and the adjuster bolts have to be genuine MB ones, so i would say all done including front/ rear toe correction and a complete chassis image about £150+ vat.

As you say the car needs to be mechanically fit but most times tyre wear or handling complaints due to worn components has an attached noise because it would take significant wear ( normally )

Tracking AKA wheel alignment is the least influential and least damaging of all the angles. Few complaints are directly due to tracking although i'm not saying at the time it might be incorrect but historically it won't be playing alone.
 


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