I'm having new fronts put on the 172 on Saturday and will be taking it for tracking afterwards due to uneven wear on the current tyres. Looking at the website for one of the garages I'm considering taking it to, they offer either 4 wheel alignment, or laser alignment depending on which depot you go to. What then is the difference between them both, and is either one better than the other?
4 wheel alignment or Laser alignment?
- Thread starter Trojan
- Start date
The two shouldn't really be exclusive 
But - a standard alignment will align the front wheels to the back - they will assume that the rears are in line.
The 4 wheel alignment checks the backs against each other first, then lines up the front with them.
Alignment can be done by sight (old-style, with mirrors/lines), bars of light onto boards, or by laser (which can be more accurate due to the smaller beam) onto the same boards.
But - a standard alignment will align the front wheels to the back - they will assume that the rears are in line.
The 4 wheel alignment checks the backs against each other first, then lines up the front with them.
Alignment can be done by sight (old-style, with mirrors/lines), bars of light onto boards, or by laser (which can be more accurate due to the smaller beam) onto the same boards.
Watch out though, a lot of places especially the normal garages or fitters (like kwik fit, ats etc) claim '4 wheel laser alignment' but it ends up that all they actually do is align the front wheels to the back. A proper 4 wheel alignment will cost you £50/60.
Go to an alignment specialist
Go to an alignment specialist
I went to Just Tyres and they laser-aligned both front and rear wheels for £30.
Mind you, they wouldn't have been able to do 2 wheel alignment if they wanted to, as my wheels were all over the place, almost every one was pointing a different way
Had something like +9, -7, +5, -3 or something like that. No wonder my cat was driving funny 
No wonder my cat was driving funny
I noticed my cat has chronic power oversteer on laminate floors. I'm suspecting it's got a bit of toe out on the rear legs, but I can find no adjustment?
Laser alignment is overrated, at the Ferrari dealership I'm working at they have the hugely expensive laser kit but in fact it isn't that good so they resort to the standard Hunter gages. The same thing happens at the ride and handling specialists I use, they said that when the laser kit is put back on the rack the jolt makes them inaccurate so they don't use it.
