Any idea what the usual cost for tracking is?
IIRC ATS charge £25, which seem a bit high.
What do people here normally pay?
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£22 at National, £15 at a local garage near my parents' in Wales. I think Kwik Fit might be cheaper.
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I think I paid £18 last time I had a comprehensive alignment check in the Micheldever Tyre Services laser bay.
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Don't go to Kwick Fit whatever you do. National tyres work for me.
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Wherever you have it done, make sure that they adjust both tie rods equally so that your steering wheel stays central. If your wheel's already off-centre they can adjust more on one side to bring it back. They often can't be bothered unless you are watching...
Also, they should set it to the true factory setting - there's usually a tolerance of maybe + or -10 minutes of a degree but even that much out can make quite a difference to how the steering feels as well as long-term tyre wear.
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take it to your local racing engineers, they will do the job better than anyone, they will check camber, castor, tracking - all to the most precise standard - and buy the guy his lunch and a packet of fags - he'll be happy as can be !!!
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The big difference that I don't think has been made absolutely clear is that simple front end alignment should cost very little, perhaps £10-£15, but a full four-wheel laser check is likely to be much more expensive because the equipment needed to do this can cost £25,000+.
If the tyres are wearing fairly evenly, and the wheels haven't recently received a bash, I'm sure simple front-only tracking will be sufficient. My local BMW dealership agreed with this despite initially trying to persuade me to pay £125+ for a full check/adjust!
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Where are any of these "local racing engineers" in the South east or near Newcastle?
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My local garage uses a system that clamps onto the rear wheel and shine a laser onto a scale fixed to the front. Therefore each side is done independently, minimising errors. Turn it all round and you can check the rears if necessary.
No Charge for checking, but around £15 to adjust if required.
Had it done at K**** F** once, what a disaster.
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Tried ATS, think I was a victim of the "just adjust one side" routine, three visits later and they still hadn't got it back to normal. I gave Rapid Fit one go at it and they fixed it first time, free of charge!
Blue
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I'd always been of the opinion that places which offer 'free' checks invariably find that adjustment is required.
Until, that is, I took an elderly Rover SD1 (ah, what a car!) for a free tracking check at Halfords, after replacing the power steering rack. Fifteen minutes later the guy came back and said, "it's spot on"! You could've knocked me down with the proverbial feather :-)
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I took my Ford Capri into the local tyre shop to have the tracking checked for free after having renewed both the steering rack gaiters.
The chap set up the laser tracking equipment and then informed me that it was only half a mm out, well within limits. He was right, too, because I was able to take the reading myself.
I couldn't believe it either!
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VW recommend that they check "alignment" not just tracking on my 2000 polo as both camber and toe in/out are adjustable.
Dealer 1 quoted ~50
Dealer 2 quoted ~150
Guess which one adjusted mine?
Joe
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Jo,
I've made the point before -- in another thread -- that I feel a full and expensive alignment check isn't necessary unless the tyres are showing signs of uneven wear or the wheels have recently hit an obstacle like a kerb.
I'm not trying to say that VW are wrong, just that their advice may be a 'cover all' that the careful / knowledgeable Polo owner can treat with some reservation (unless Polos are prone to unprovoked camber misalignment of course).
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Dizzy,
I clipped a kerb, so I got it checked. They did find the camber was out, but not the tracking. I just couldn't believe how much my local dealer charges!
Joe
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I've just been quoted £80! But then again, it was an Audi dealer and my car is a quattro!
That'll teach me!
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