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Clio tracking adjustment (am I going mad?)

13K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Dave2007CCtoy. 
#1 ·
Can someone please put my mind straight.

Let me start by saying I have a very good knowledge of chassis geometry adjustment and my 205 has rose jointed wishbones and ast adjustable top mounts so is fully adjustable for toe camber and caster.

Cutting to the chase, I have now had three tyre fitters try to persuade me that my bog standard work hack clio dci requires a full geometry check and adjustment despite my protestations that I've only changed a balljoint and that the toe requires just a quick tweak.

Unless I've missed something the camber and caster are non adjustable on the clio, certainly nothing jumps out at me.

So this being the case, why are they so keen to check and adjust settings that can't be adjusted.

At kwik fit I did ask why companies are making money out of selling items that allow such adjustments if they are already available on the car from the factory.


Am I missing something?
Are the tyre fitters trying it on?
:confused:
Its making me question my basic knowledge of cars.
 
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#2 ·
Are you running standard road wheels and tyres all round? Is the car pulling on the steering? Have you any uneven tyre wear? Are the garages recommending the 4-wheel laser alignment?
How much are they quoting you?
 
#3 ·
Hi, thanks for replying.

Everything on the car is standard and to oem spec. The car has never pulled left or right in the time I've owned it which is nearly two years.

In that time it has only ever had the tracking adjusted using the simple supertracker system.

I have never had any uneven tyre wear either. I got 10k miles out of a set of yokohama parada tyres last summer.

All I wanted was a quick tweak of the nearside steering arm cause having fitted a new balljoint on that side the steering wheel now sits slightly to the right.

I was quoted between £40 and £90 plus vat for a 4 wheel check and adjustment of toe, camber and castor.
 
#4 ·
The prices sound right for a 4 wheel track but it does seem like these fast-fit places are giving you the hard sell ££$$ :drool: Perhaps you could try a small local garage.. I'm sure most would have at least a basic tracking gauge/mirror set and would do it for less.
 
#5 ·
Our local tyre place does a four-wheel check for £25 (it's free,but if it needs adjusting then they charge the £25).The only reason they check all the wheels is that the kit they have fits to all the wheels and can't be used independently from one another.It only takes a few minutes to set up and gives a full print out of all the wheels.

Just because they check the camber etc doesn't mean that they will adjust it,it just means that the checks are done as part of the wheel alignment check/adjust.
 
#6 ·
My local tyre depot does a four-wheel check for free. The kit is installed in a dedicated bay and he charges either £15 or £25 for adjustment depending on how far rusted the components may be.

When my mate took his Lag II Tourer for an alignment check after fitting new front springs the tyre dealer in question was able to spot the rear subframe bushes were knackered just by looking at the figures the test kit spat out yet the car still seemed to drive perfectly.
 
#7 ·
I took my company van into a well known tyre place last week For 1 tyre and tracking.. They are famous for fitting things quickly.

It turns out I needed 3 new tyres (surprise surprise)

2 hours later I left, but I have to say the tracking was perfect. With a VW Caddy its very important as they handle like a pair of ice slates even with perfect tracking.

2 Other garages had apparently sorted the tracking out before with no success. So their new system seems to work. Didn't get to see how much they charged though.
 
#8 ·
When the new ball joint was fitted to the N/S the tracking of the N/S wheel has been tracked slightly toed in compared with the prior position. Adjust the N/S track rod by 1/4 of a turn to shorten the rod ie to toe out the wheel slightly. That will bring the steering wheel into the straight ahead position and return the geometry to the pre-change condition. All this assumes that there is no significant wear or damage in the steering or suspension. Check that the tyres continue to wear evenly after 1k miles or so.
 
#9 ·
You can't guess wheel alignment,it needs to be set up properly as even a 1mm or a fraction of a degree out and it'll start to wear the tyres unevenly or even handle slightly strangely.Even if the alignment costs £50 it's still cheaper than most new tyres so it's worth spending the money surely?.
 
#10 ·
No your not going mad your right, they have been trained to believe the bull. What needs to be done is...
the length of the track the track rods needs to be equal
and the both sides match on the tracking device which should be toe out on a front wheel drive of course.Hope that helps.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Can someone please put my mind straight.

Let me start by saying I have a very good knowledge of chassis geometry adjustment and my 205 has rose jointed wishbones and ast adjustable top mounts so is fully adjustable for toe camber and caster.

Cutting to the chase, I have now had three tyre fitters try to persuade me that my bog standard work hack clio dci requires a full geometry check and adjustment despite my protestations that I've only changed a balljoint and that the toe requires just a quick tweak.

Unless I've missed something the camber and caster are non adjustable on the clio, certainly nothing jumps out at me.

So this being the case, why are they so keen to check and adjust settings that can't be adjusted.

At kwik fit I did ask why companies are making money out of selling items that allow such adjustments if they are already available on the car from the factory.


Am I missing something?
Are the tyre fitters in on it. Yes I suspect they are.🙄😔 Like they sell you £400+ for remapping when you can get a chip box as I did for £50 odd quid to get the same Awesome power
 
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