Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ??

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Sat 11 Jun 2016 22:29
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - wemyss

Yesterday with the wife driving she heavily hit a rather high kerb with the front nearside wheel.

Only a week or two ago I had two new front tyres on the front and a specialist wheel tracking done.

The steering wheel alignment has not altered and there feels no difference in driving. Should I get the tracking done again. I tend to feel that if the tracking had been altered the steering wheel would be misaligned.

Any Views.....

wemyss

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 00:04
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Cyd

Check out alignmycar.co.uk and get it on a Hunter

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 01:32
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Avant

It wsa a long time ago but I can remember hitting a kerb in a car that was only a few months old: I couldn't detect any difference when driving, but I went to Slowfit as a precaution and they found that the tracking was out by quite a lot. If I hadn't had it done I'd have had uneven wear on the tyre.

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 10:43
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Cyd

Do not have the fronts only checked using 2 wheel guages. Waste of time and money in your case. And ONLY go somewhere that has a HUNTER rig and is listed on alignmycar - the rig will have been recently calibrated if not new, unlike many other places that offer "4 wheel alignment" using cheaper older equipment. And in case you're wondering what you're paying for when you get the bill, remember a Hunter rig is about 40 grand!

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 11:23
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Doc

But can adjustments actually be made on camber and castor on the front and toe in/out on the rear of most modern cars?

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 11:29
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Wackyracer

But can adjustments actually be made on camber and castor on the front and toe in/out on the rear of most modern cars?

I agree, it is pointless getting 4 wheel alignment done if the rears are not able to be adjusted. Besides that, if the front wheel was clouted on a kurb how likely is it to have moved anything at the rear ?

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 13:00
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - corax

You will probably be OK with alignment, but if they say that they can't achieve the settings, have a look at the front strut.

I have had two cars bought at high mileage, neither could be aligned properly and in both cases replacing a bent strut sorted the problem.

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 13:09
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Cyd

You clearly don't understand the relationship between the front and rear wheels and why to go for 4 wheel alignment. I'm no expert, but I do have access to Chassis Engineers on the floor above me at JLR's R&D centre at Gaydon.

I have had a Hunter rig check on my cars every time I've changed any tyres for the last 20 years or more. Similarly after a few nasty pot holes and kerbings. I have never had any problems with uneven tyre wear. With tyres at around £130 apiece, neither do I want any.

You do what you want, it won't make a jot of difference to my life except that perhaps I'm wasting my time here giving you all the benefit of my 30 years in auto engineering for free. It's why I post infrequently now despite having been a regular here for over 20 years.

When I started here we used to be able to write a profile so people could see what background and expertise members had. I used to get a lot of respect for the expert advice I was able to access at work. But not any more. The profile facility has gone.

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 14:07
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - slkfanboy

In many years of driving using hunter and other systems i've found the hunter system to be the best system.

Having said that the only car the constantly needed reguliar alignment was the BMW that I had. All others seamed to keep aligned once set.

Tyre wear is not the only reason to get the alignment checked. Safty is my prime reason as badly aligned cars are hard to stop in a staight line and will cause the car to spin in some cases.

P.S. many places to the check free

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 14:10
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - brum

You do what you want, it won't make a jot of difference to my life except that perhaps I'm wasting my time here giving you all the benefit of my 30 years in auto engineering for free. It's why I post infrequently now despite having been a regular here for over 20 years.

When I started here we used to be able to write a profile so people could see what background and expertise members had. I used to get a lot of respect for the expert advice I was able to access at work. But not any more. The profile facility has gone.

Hand me a hanky, luv......

Oh, and hand me that speed gun, backroom police duty calls....

Edited by brum on 12/06/2016 at 14:12

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 14:33
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - madf

You do what you want, it won't make a jot of difference to my life except that perhaps I'm wasting my time here giving you all the benefit of my 30 years in auto engineering for free. It's why I post infrequently now despite having been a regular here for over 20 years.

When I started here we used to be able to write a profile so people could see what background and expertise members had. I used to get a lot of respect for the expert advice I was able to access at work. But not any more. The profile facility has gone.

Hand me a hanky, luv......

Oh, and hand me that speed gun, backroom police duty calls....

What an unneccessary and childish remark.

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 14:55
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - brum

That's what I thought too. ;)

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 15:01
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - oldroverboy.

Hand me a hanky, luv......

Oh, and hand me that speed gun, backroom police duty calls....

What an unneccessary and childish remark.

LIKE CYD.. I have access to old friends who were in various roles at Rover JLR and Lotus..

And I am very grateful for the advice and a lot of help over the years, including finding hard to get parts for myself and previous customers.

Everbody is a know it all, and nobody wants to pay for anything, (including diagnostics) (and they certainly wouldn't want to pay for change a bit at a time without diagnostics.

My advice,, Carry on cyd.... Ignore the wits..

Personally I am sometimes jaded and amused by some of the "requests " for advice but i still feel that a bit of help would not go amiss.

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 21:09
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Cyd
LIKE CYD.. I have access to old friends who were in various roles at Rover JLR and Lotus..

And I am very grateful for the advice and a lot of help over the years, including finding hard to get parts for myself and previous customers.

Everbody is a know it all, and nobody wants to pay for anything, (including diagnostics) (and they certainly wouldn't want to pay for change a bit at a time without diagnostics.

My advice,, Carry on cyd.... Ignore the wits..

Personally I am sometimes jaded and amused by some of the "requests " for advice but i still feel that a bit of help would not go amiss.

Thanks ORB. It's starting to p1$$ me off no end though. I've had daily access to about 2000 other expert engineers for 30 years now and have been giving away good quality advice and help for well over 20 years here. These days though, most seem to prefer to consult Fred down the pub!

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 15:39
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Doc

You clearly don't understand the relationship between the front and rear wheels and why to go for 4 wheel alignment. I'm no expert, but I do have access to Chassis Engineers on the floor above me at JLR's R&D centre at Gaydon.


I'll repeat my question: if the alignment is out, can adjustments be made?

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 16:11
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - oldroverboy.

You clearly don't understand the relationship between the front and rear wheels and why to go for 4 wheel alignment. I'm no expert, but I do have access to Chassis Engineers on the floor above me at JLR's R&D centre at Gaydon.


I'll repeat my question: if the alignment is out, can adjustments be made?

Front yes...

rear sometimes, depending on car.

Best person to ask is your dealer or owners club forum.

Whatever it is the check is either free or not expensive. It is the adjustment/replacements that cost.

Edited by oldroverboy. on 12/06/2016 at 16:12

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 16:35
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - oldroverboy.

For those interested, read this..

www.bmwclub.lv/files/BMW_X5_Suspension_Systems.pdf

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 18:00
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - wemyss

Thanks for all the replies.

Cyd the tracking I had done was indeed done on the Hunter setup at Edentyre in Derby and it certainly was a thourough job. As you know the machine gives a printout before and after showing the four wheels and the alignment giving a green or red for degrees out. The operator has a large screen and adjusts until he gets an all green. very impressive and cost about fifty quid.

I first saw one of these in lagos portugal many years ago when we used to drive down to a time share. My Vectra had been running perfectly true on our UK roads but as soon we were on the Continent with right hand driving it was pulling dreadfully all the way down. I should have had new tyres fitted on the front as on the drive back it was still pulling over which was because the tyres had taken wear which was only cured by new ones when we arrived home.

I recall some fifty years ago making my own tracking device in my workshop with steel pipes sliding in or out with vertical pins which moved in or out to the inner rims and adjusting the track rod ends until it was parallel, with my then young wife holding the steering wheel in the correct position.

wemyss

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Sun 12 Jun 2016 20:56
Skoda Fabia - Alignment needed ?? - Cyd

Cyd the tracking I had done was indeed done on the Hunter setup at Edentyre in Derby and it certainly was a thourough job. As you know the machine gives a printout before and after showing the four wheels and the alignment giving a green or red for degrees out. The operator has a large screen and adjusts until he gets an all green. very impressive and cost about fifty quid.

Well done you. That was a good price. I had my Saab done recently in South Wigston (not too far away south Leicester) and it was nearly a ton. All four wheels needed some adjustment in prep for new tyres.

Take it back and have it overchecked. I don't mind wearing out expensive soft compound tyres, but I hate unnecessary wear, which only comes back to hit you in the wallet.

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