Wheel Alignment How bad is it

[hancym]

I had me wheel alignment checked today on a fancy 4 wheel laser setup, mainly because they offer the service free of charge and only want a small fortune when they turn a nut.

After having the front wheel toe-in tracked and re-aligned the other day at another outlet, I thought it would be an interesting exercise just to get it checked. What do you know they tell me it’s out! ...... I need to spend £92 plus VAT to have them tweak it?

• They told me the front left toe needs adjusting, I can't understand how they can deduce that only one side needs adjusting when both wheels are intrinsically linked by the same steering rack. Surely if one side is out the so is the other?

• They also said the toe and camber was out on the rear left wheel

I've attached the printout I asked for below.
Could anyone please interpret these figures and tell me what’s really what and how much I should be worried and whether any of the adjustments should in actual fact be done?

[timh30]

Imagine a line drawn through the centre of the car. To get perfect tracking/alignment you want all wheels (front and back) to be aligned relative to this - either toe'd in or out as per manufacturer specs. It is therefore perfectly possible that just the front left needs adjusting and the front right is within spec.

[hancym]

Originally Posted by timh30

Imagine a line drawn through the centre of the car. To get perfect tracking/alignment you want all wheels (front and back) to be aligned relative to this - either toe'd in or out as per manufacturer specs. It is therefore perfectly possible that just the front left needs adjusting and the front right is within spec.

OK fair enough so when a car is only "front wheel aligned" why do they not take a centre line through the car to do it? Merely the angle and measured independent of this.

Anyhow can anyone interpret the print out please?

[t5_monkey]

I got mine done property for £75 all in.

Anything within half a degree is OK

[timh30]

Originally Posted by hancym

OK fair enough so when a car is only "front wheel aligned" why do they not take a centre line through the car to do it? Merely the angle and measured independent of this.

Anyhow can anyone interpret the print out please?

That is why having just front alignment done is next to useless. If the rear wheels are not eaqually angled to that centre/thrustline, you will still have a car that veers offline.

With regards to your printout, for the fronts you have toe, castor, camber and for the back just toe and camber. Each value has a permissible range, if you are outside that range it is highlighted in red.

Just to add, the middle values are the total toe etc, and the left/right values those of the individual wheel.

[hancym]

Originally Posted by timh30

That is why having just front alignment done is next to useless. If the rear wheels are not eaqually angled to that centre/thrustline, you will still have a car that veers offline.

With regards to your printout, for the fronts you have toe, castor, camber and for the back just toe and camber. Each value has a permissible range, if you are outside that range it is highlighted in red.

Ta! But their printer was out of black ink by the looks of it. I'm assuming that, on the front wheels, the top one is CAMBER the middle is CASTOR and the bottom one is TOE. On the rear the top one is CAMBER and the bottom is CASTOR. The very last measurement in the middle must be THRUST ANGLE? Which is only a tad out! Can anyone who has had one of these done please confirm this?

ALSO, I've been looking for a confirmation elsewhere on the web as to what the alignment specs (2004 T6) and the permissible tolerances are for an XC90. Can anyone please post them or point me to a link?

[hancym]

I've found this link here: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?p=768224
But the figures do not seem to tie in with the tolerances specified onthe print out I was given. I have 18" wheels but mine is a T6; surely the spec does not differ for a D5?

[Clan]

The reason that ONE of the front toe-in figures needs adjusting on one particular side is steering wheel alignment , this is cruicial on your car becase if you start driving down the road with the steering wheel at an angle an ABS message and fault code will come up , the steering wheel angle is constantly measured when driving for the DSTC system . The steering wheel will only fit on one way with these cars . So you centre it by adjusting the track rods .
I cant make anything of the figures with nothing to determine what each box is .
Getting the alignment done is a good idea it will help stop the rear tyres wearing on the inner edges as they tend to , and also improve the driving experience , an XC90 is horrible to drive when front and rear wheel alignment is out .
Another tip keep the tyre pressures at upper 30's psi it will prolong tyre life by preventing the outer edges of the tyres wearing prematurely , and make the car more pleasant to drive too .

[hancym]

Thanks! Do you have any official alignment specs from Volvo? The ones on the printout are only accurate if the bloke picked the correct variant of car on the machine. I trust nobody, especially on a cold Saturday in a tyre centre.

[timh30]

I posted them here previously: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=108080