Quote:
Originally Posted by Laird Scooby
The way i viewed the Trackace, even buying it new for £70 (it was slightly cheaper then) is that there is front and rear alignment adjustment on the Rover (i had 2 Rovers at the time, the other was an 827 Coupe) plus the Volvo (only adjustable on the front) so that was 5 potential charges for wheel alignment @ £36 per alignment. That's £180 by my maths! I've used it on the Coupe (that i no longer have) twice, the Sterling 3 times (soon to be 4) and the 760 several times to get their mistakes corrected. I reckon it paid for itself very quickly!
If memory serves your CO should be 2% +1.5%/-1% or is it 2.5% +/-1%, somewhere aronud one of those two parameters, i think i'd just get it checked before adjusting it. If it's within limits and reasonably close to the 2-2.5% point, i think i'd leave well alone if it's running nicely and starting easily.
Das ist sehr gut, nicht war!?! The one thing not mentioned in the listing is it needs to be checked with the normal weight of the car on the hub. If you can pop out the dust cap from the hub nut on the front, refit the wheel (clean the outer edge of the hub where the dust cap goes in) and then put the camber gauge in, you can do it with the wheels on the ground. As the suspension moves up and down from the normal position, the actual camber angle alters.
You're not the only one perusing foreign online auction sites, a friend in Sweden sent me a link to the correct engine oil cooler for mine, just trying to organise the ebst way to buy it now. I don't speak Swedish so i've asked him to find out from the seller about postage here, also not much point me registering for one items purchase!
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I see your point about the cost of alignment Dave. F1 will check it for free, then charge £25 (for the front wheels) to adjust. It would not take long to make the money back - and use it on the Skoda as well, plus a few mates' cars. I'll keep an eye on that second hand one. As you know, I like getting gadgets for the garage.
The camber gauge looks like it might fit on to one of the discs through a gap in the wheel:
... if that idea works I could also calibrate it against one of the back ones. At the price it is well worth having (and I'm thinking I might find a lot of other uses for a tool like that - sort of digital plumb line that might come in handy in all sorts of places.
You are of course right about the camber angle varying with deflection: it is a triangle where the length of one of the sides changes, so of course the angles will all change as well. I think the best position would be with the wheel on the ground so the suspension is at a fairly normal position for driving. Camber will always be a bit of an approximation in a strut type suspension system; I'm not getting uneven wear across the tyres and the car sits right, so I think the mid point dot has been a really good guess (and probably the reason Mr Volvo put it there in the first place).
I'm rather hoping the manager at F1 might just check the CO content for free because they were fascinated by the RB when I got the tyres changed there. I'm pretty sure I have it just about right, it starts easily and runs well - the plug colour is just about right. It would be nice to have confirmation, it is probably a once only adjustment (the way it was designed to be out of the factory). The CO content (from the Volvo green book) is 1.5-3%.
I find foreign auction and sales sites work fine - I've never had a problem - it is no different from buying something from Autodoc in Berlin. In fact I'd say I have had less problems than with some UK suppliers.
Dan and I took the Skoda out for a run to Lincolnshire and back yesterday, it had not been used for a while. As I was reversing back onto the drive the parking sensors gave an error. I know what the problem is: the plastic holder for one of the sensors has failed - it did it about 6 months ago and at the time I took the rear diffuser off and fixed it with some contact adhesive. I was wondering how long that bodge would work before the sensor came loose again. Fortunately I'd ordered some of the plastic holders some time ago in anticipation and they are sitting on my desk (they just glue on with a 3M patch. That will be today's job - dropping the diffuser down to get enough access shouldn't take long (famous last words...).
Stay safe,
Alan