Dealer 4-wheel allignment, ouch but Wow!

Welton · Sep 7th, 2009, 08:51

My S40 had been feeling a bit wayward lately with the steering feeling stupidly light and the front end being 'twitchy' especially at speed. It was not giving me any convidence and I was fed up with the drive.

I had to get a rear tyre last week before doing a very long trip at the weekend so I got my local tyre place to check the tracking too. They said it was 'out' but the lad was struggling to free off the threads to adjust it so we left it be.

After the tyre fitting I rang my local Sturgess Dealer and they agreed to collect the car to do the allignment. They duely collected and returned the car bang on time on Friday last.

Anyway the car now feels fantastic! the steering now has a nice weighty feel to it and the car feels planted and tracks good and straight. The 400 mile motorway trip at the weekend was a dream with the car sitting confidently to it's line and B road driving is much more settled too.

It cost £82.00 but to be honest it was worth it. I don't know what they did and don't really care because it feels brilliant now. Plus I had no running around to do, I just carried on working whilst they did it all.

NoviceV50 · Sep 7th, 2009, 10:26

I looked at all our four tyres (well measured down to 1/10th of a millimeter) and discovered that the rear tyres (first set at 30k) have worn badly on the outside. In fact the readings (mm) for 4 treads are 1.6 3.16 3.35 3.67 and 3.4 2.9 3.4 2.6. Both tyres are worn most on the outside (1.6 and 2.6) whereas the other three treads have worn on avg 1.5 to 0.7 less.
I imagine that tracking is at fault and I will get them aligned when I exchange the 2 rear tyres in a few weeks.
84 quid sounds a lot though (ie. 20.5 per tyre/wheel). My tyres wear 0.34mm front and 0.23mm rear per 1000 miles. So costwise it makes little sense to align rear (lifetime up to 32k) but i may pay for the fronts if misaligned (as lifetime is up to17k)

Welton · Sep 7th, 2009, 12:15

I think that from when you drive a car from new the suspension and bushes will settle and the geometry will change (not too mention crashing down the odd pot hole etc.) so getting the tracking set is a worthy job.

It was expensive but I just felt they would do it best and set it up how it should be and I've been happy with their work before.

alfiembra · Sep 7th, 2009, 12:58

You got a bargain at £82 that is not expensive at all, many independant places will charge more than that. I paid over £100 for a 4 wheel alignment after a suspension rebuild at an indy, so for a dealer it looks like excellent value to me.

Alan

matt182 · Sep 7th, 2009, 14:38

frf volvo in swansea do it for £55, its a reduced rate to bring in business from what i remember of the conversation as its about an hours labour to do the alignment

Sep 7th, 2009, 08:51	#1
Welton Premier Member Last Online: Sep 14th, 2021 17:03 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Market Harborough	Dealer 4-wheel allignment, ouch but Wow! My S40 had been feeling a bit wayward lately with the steering feeling stupidly light and the front end being 'twitchy' especially at speed. It was not giving me any convidence and I was fed up with the drive. I had to get a rear tyre last week before doing a very long trip at the weekend so I got my local tyre place to check the tracking too. They said it was 'out' but the lad was struggling to free off the threads to adjust it so we left it be. After the tyre fitting I rang my local Sturgess Dealer and they agreed to collect the car to do the allignment. They duely collected and returned the car bang on time on Friday last. Anyway the car now feels fantastic! the steering now has a nice weighty feel to it and the car feels planted and tracks good and straight. The 400 mile motorway trip at the weekend was a dream with the car sitting confidently to it's line and B road driving is much more settled too. It cost £82.00 but to be honest it was worth it. I don't know what they did and don't really care because it feels brilliant now. Plus I had no running around to do, I just carried on working whilst they did it all. __________________ 2005 S40 T5 SE - Manual. Bilstein B4's. (For Sale) 2010 Citroen C4 1.6 HDi (bizarre Gearbox model). 2010 Renault Twingo (refreshingly simple) 2018 Infiniti Q30 1.6T Business Executive (what's this button do?)

Sep 7th, 2009, 10:26	#2
NoviceV50 New Member Last Online: Oct 27th, 2009 08:38 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: lONDRES	Tracking I looked at all our four tyres (well measured down to 1/10th of a millimeter) and discovered that the rear tyres (first set at 30k) have worn badly on the outside. In fact the readings (mm) for 4 treads are 1.6 3.16 3.35 3.67 and 3.4 2.9 3.4 2.6. Both tyres are worn most on the outside (1.6 and 2.6) whereas the other three treads have worn on avg 1.5 to 0.7 less. I imagine that tracking is at fault and I will get them aligned when I exchange the 2 rear tyres in a few weeks. 84 quid sounds a lot though (ie. 20.5 per tyre/wheel). My tyres wear 0.34mm front and 0.23mm rear per 1000 miles. So costwise it makes little sense to align rear (lifetime up to 32k) but i may pay for the fronts if misaligned (as lifetime is up to17k) Last edited by NoviceV50; Sep 7th, 2009 at 13:16.

Sep 7th, 2009, 12:15	#3
Welton Premier Member Last Online: Sep 14th, 2021 17:03 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Market Harborough	I think that from when you drive a car from new the suspension and bushes will settle and the geometry will change (not too mention crashing down the odd pot hole etc.) so getting the tracking set is a worthy job. It was expensive but I just felt they would do it best and set it up how it should be and I've been happy with their work before. __________________ 2005 S40 T5 SE - Manual. Bilstein B4's. (For Sale) 2010 Citroen C4 1.6 HDi (bizarre Gearbox model). 2010 Renault Twingo (refreshingly simple) 2018 Infiniti Q30 1.6T Business Executive (what's this button do?)

Sep 7th, 2009, 12:58	#4
alfiembra Member Last Online: Sep 3rd, 2010 15:02 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Edinburgh	You got a bargain at £82 that is not expensive at all, many independant places will charge more than that. I paid over £100 for a 4 wheel alignment after a suspension rebuild at an indy, so for a dealer it looks like excellent value to me. Alan

Sep 7th, 2009, 14:38	#5
matt182 VOC Member Last Online: Mar 26th, 2024 10:49 Join Date: May 2007 Location: CARDIFF	frf volvo in swansea do it for £55, its a reduced rate to bring in business from what i remember of the conversation as its about an hours labour to do the alignment

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