How much to reset tracking

233 · 31 Dec 2010 at 08:39

go to nationals website, print our voucher for half price tracking.

enjoy alignment for £15

that said the LCR gets treated slightly different to the taxi's and always gets a full alignment when she's getting MOT'd last years was a pricey one though as she got a full geo and height setup(totally transformed her)

233 · 31 Dec 2010 at 08:44

there you go

http://www.national.co.uk/images/alignmentvoucher.jpg

dont let it be said us taxi drivers are a miserable lot

my mistake its £14 not £15

blueboy2001 · 31 Dec 2010 at 08:47

"Tracking" is often a waste of time and money. They simply line up the front wheels with the rear which is no use whatsoever if the rears are not in line.

What you want is a proper 4 wheel alignment done. It'll cost more, £60+ at most places, but if you want to get all the wheels pointing in the right direction it's the only way to do it. Hunter kit is generally well regarded and you can find your nearest place on www.alignmycar.co.uk

WJA96 · 31 Dec 2010 at 08:47

maccapacca said:
IMO unless you have a serious problem with tyre wear or your running something quite special it makes no difference, it's when they sell you the 'you need your tracking done sir' when you have 1mm difference of tyre wear over one tyre, side to side after 15 - 20k of driving.

I always ask why I need new valves? and if your charging me to dispose of the tyres I'll take them and give them to my local banger track or farmer thanks

I don't consider that I drive anything 'special' but I do roll along the road at anything up to a genuine 70mph in the UK and I like my cars to drive straight in a straight line. Is there anything more annoying that tugging steering or a steering wheel that doesn't point straight ahead when going straight?

4-wheel alignment on a Hunter set-up should cost about £80 plus any parts required and it generally makes a subtle but important difference to how your car drives.

As for new valves and disposal charges - well, only you know what impact those have on your life. For me, safety is more important than a couple of pounds on a valve and you always paid a disposal fee, it's just that now you can see openly how much it is.

realscot · 31 Dec 2010 at 09:14

We have a 4 wheel laser allignment machine and charge £25+vat for doing all 4 corners (dispite the rears usually being fixed/unadjustable on most cars). When tyres wear unevenly isn't the only time you'd need to do wheel allignment, what about when fitting new track rod ends, steering rods, steering racks or other components that affect your geometry.

dalin80 · 31 Dec 2010 at 09:45

blueboy2001 said:
"Tracking" is often a waste of time and money. They simply line up the front wheels with the rear which is no use whatsoever if the rears are not in line.

Usually tracking its just the front toe angle and it checks wheels on the same axle against each other, rear wheels are pretty much never touched as its very rare they can be adjusted.

Simon · 31 Dec 2010 at 10:38

They can be off due to bent rear suspension though.

WJA96 · 31 Dec 2010 at 11:55

realscot said:
We have a 4 wheel laser allignment machine and charge £25+vat for doing all 4 corners (dispite the rears usually being fixed/unadjustable on most cars). When tyres wear unevenly isn't the only time you'd need to do wheel allignment, what about when fitting new track rod ends, steering rods, steering racks or other components that affect your geometry.

Yes, but a Hunter set-up is quite a bit more than a laser alignment. On laser alignment you still just align the front wheels to the rear wheels which doesn't actually help if the rears are off-centre. I belioeve only two angles are measures on 'laser-alignment'.

The Hunter alignment sets everything up based on the centreline of the vehicle and it takes quite a while to do it, even on cars that can't have the rear adjusted without shimming. The minimum Hunter set-up measures 8 angles, the full set-up measures 15.

And if your car is running staggered rims or offset spacers then setting up the alignment from the rear wheels can be catastrophic.

The Beissbarth setup used by VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda is nearly as good as Hunter for standard cars, but for modified vehicles you really need to use a Hunter setup. And then of course, you should have the car balanced on a Hunter GSP9700 as well. That sorts out any vibration issues through the steering/chassis that you can't sort by balancing the tyres.