We keep seeing this alignment chesnut appear in Rennlist and of course we are delighted to share our knowledge with those less experienced in the subject matter.

What exactly is it that seemingly causes so many alignment problems your side of the pond? All you need is a settled 928, a tyre shop, a Hunter Laser alignment machine [or equivalent] and $30 or so? A good set of rubber is $1k upwards so the value proposition is a no brainer. Is it a money thing or a competency thing?

Ensuring the shop does the alignment correctly is easy once you have seen it done and assuming you know the criticality of the settings you want but I would have thought in the good ol' US of A you chaps could manage this relatively simple affair with ease even in the sleepiest of backwaters.

Maybe I'm missing something here.

Yardpro,

The main thing you need to know is that alignment is a bit of an iterative affair- you adjust one parameter the other parameters tend to move a bit. Start with the rear end and then the front. The rear has two settings to adjust, the front has three- caster being the additional one. Toe setting is the most important variable I reckon with respect to tyre wear. The main thing you need to remember is that the tires generally should have a small positive toe in at the front of the wheel. Caster and camber affect the handling characteristics but within reason, less impact on wear. If you are street use only look for front camber in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 degrees. Caster around 5 degrees. For toe settings stick to something mid range unless you want to improve turn in, in which case go min spec. Mos timportntly, demand good matching figures both sides. In my experience front camber does not wear the tires much but excessive rear camber will cause uneven wear with the inside edges taking a beating.

Best wishes

Fred

 

thanks for all the advise.

fred.

it is not a money thing, as an alignment here is about $100.00.. not a huge deal..

I have taken my car to two different shops, and BOTH, after being assured that they know how to align my car, and after i explained how it is critical that the wheels are not unweighted before the alignment.... they lifted the car.

Both places, i look over and the front wheels are hanging... they have jacked the ar up and are inspecting the components.....

i am going to get the hunted machine alignment from sears, then would like to know how to check it myself.

i enjoy working on cars. I have not had anything to work on in many years, so my wrench turning is a little rusty, but i am excited about polishing my skills, and being able to "tinker" with my car.