OK ... a show of hands: who has gone for an alignment to include a Kinematic toe adjust check .... and been refused that component because you did not have a cheesy $7 plastic cover clipped to the underside of the rear toe link? .... and be still docked full tariff ...

This happened to me recently - and I suppose that it was a comedy of errors: I was astonished when the tech and foreman ( who took ample time @ $100/hr to study the appropriate WSM pages I supplied) came into the waiting room with the $12,000 gauges and asked where I had put the cover ( 993 331 315 01). I've never seen such a trinket on either car I've worked on nor in any pics of others suspensions. Furthermore, I would be surprised if a 10 year old piece of plastic, deformed by riding inches above the road in the slipstream of mud & stones - provided the reference point in hanging such an expensive gauge .... Anyway, without it, they could not do the measurement.

Do you guys have these covers installed on your cars, or keep one in a security box for such occasions ?..... or is it the responsibility of the Dealer to clip one onto the toe link when doing the kinematic toe adjustment?

 

mine are still on there, but did not realize it was a necesary component for alignment!

 

When I bought my car, there was one that was missing. It was on my list of things to purchase for the car.

One day while washing a cleaning the undeneath of the car it came to my attention that the missing piece of plastic was now misteriously in place. I had taken the car for an alignment a couple of weeks before. They must have put the piece of plastic there to hang the Kinematic Toe tool on it and forgot to remove it aftewards.

I called the shop and told them that they may be missing one of those pieces and they said "Keep it"

 

I would be very surprised if those lower a-arm plastic bits had anything to do with the kinematic toe adjustment. In fact, I removed these covers while doing my suspension install and watched the tech set the kinematic toe without. Seems really odd too, as the covers are not screwed in place, just snapped.

Andreas

 

Andreas, according to the manual you must use those plastic covers...you may want to talk to your tech

 

Cabrio,
Hmm. Interesting. I'll worry myself to sleep with this new-found knowledge.

Andreas

 

I would have thought likewise; however, the Porsche Dealership maintained that they would not attempt this measure without the cover in place - and that it was my responsibility to have supplied the cover. None were in stock ....

Reading the technique in the WSM 44-13 to pg 18 ( which I also supplied to the dealership ...), it appears clear that the cover is only a guide to keep idiots from locating the gauge on the curved (radii) ball joint end of the link as it enters the shock.

At this point, I feel as if a $300 training session was donated to the dealership on my ticket ... and I left with a standard $60 alignment available anywhere: my interest in actual experiences of others is to confirm or deny my suspicions. If confirmed, my intention is to revisit and receive the alignment - including kinematic toe - that had been agreed on prior to the appointment .... but I will toss in the $15 for a pair of covers .... just not another three bills.

 

I feel better.

Andreas

 

LOL...not to worry. I think that the plastic covers is called if the $12,000 posche tool is used as it snaps onto those plastic pieces as a guide for the proper placement of the tool. Maybe your tech uses the one that most independant use which hang directly to the arms.

I didn't want you to lose any sleep!