Just been told my tracking can't be adjusted!

[Error404]

Changed my front wishbones and need to get my tracking done as it is out by a LOT.

left my car with my local tyre place to do it this morning.
Come back to pick it up at lunch time and they told me only Audi can adjust thetracking on these cars He said you have to take the wheels off to do it, to which i replied "********* you can't do the tracking with teh wheels in the air, becasue the geometry is completely compromised."
So now i have a car i can't drive, no way to get ot work tomorrow and have been charged £15 for some prink to lift car car up on some ramps and scratch his head at it

Basically i think he was a complete muppet and couldn't be bothered to do it because the track rods are difficult to get to

Has anyone else ever had this?

If anyone can advise me of a way to adjust it very basically myself at least i can get it so it drives in a rough straight line and won't kill my new tyres in the 50 miles i'll need to drive to get it done by a proper alignment place.

At the moment i've got that camber set to max +ve, is this likely to be anywhere near equal on either side?

[bob69]

try this http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/ got mine done at a quickfit of all places but the lads were Ok and let me see the values they were using with the laser (not cheap though).

[mcandmar]

Get out a tape measure and measure the distance from the middle of each tyre on the front and rear side of the wheels, it will be close enough so you can drive it.

If it were me i wouldnt have paid the ******* a penny for wasting your time

[S2central.net]

Changed my front wishbones and need to get my tracking done as it is out by a LOT.

left my car with my local tyre place to do it this morning.
Come back to pick it up at lunch time and they told me only Audi can adjust thetracking on these cars He said you have to take the wheels off to do it, to which i replied "********* you can't do the tracking with teh wheels in the air, becasue the geometry is completely compromised."
So now i have a car i can't drive, no way to get ot work tomorrow and have been charged £15 for some prink to lift car car up on some ramps and scratch his head at it

Basically i think he was a complete muppet and couldn't be bothered to do it because the track rods are difficult to get to

Has anyone else ever had this?

If anyone can advise me of a way to adjust it very basically myself at least i can get it so it drives in a rough straight line and won't kill my new tyres in the 50 miles i'll need to drive to get it done by a proper alignment place.

At the moment i've got that camber set to max +ve, is this likely to be anywhere near equal on either side?

Are the track rod end adjusters seized solid ?
Garages hate that or will happily charge you royally to replace them.

They should have been able to ignore the rear adjustment points to at least get your steering pointing vaguely the right way.

You should aim for max -ve camber really... You want the bottom joints to be adjusted as far OUT as possible for that.

Tracking is hard to do without some sort of guage, a means to lock the steering wheel straight ahead and spinning plates below the wheels to allow for adjustment. Its impossible if the adjusters are seized up though.

The least you can do is remove / renew the track-rod ends and apply loads of copper grease so they can move OK. Remember there are some left-hand threads here too.

Paul

[S2central.net]

Oh meant to add though - you should get it booked into a proper 4-wheel alignment place that understands quattros - Audi dealers can do it though its sometimes locally contracted out to a bodyshop. Good luck. Expect to pay about £100 for such an alignment on Bierrsbath or similar machine.

Paul

[Error404]

thanks for the advice guys.
the bloke got his back right up when he couldn;t fob me off by making stuff up
Wouldn't give me my car back without me paying him £15 for "attempting" to do it.

I think i'll take the wheels off and make sure the adjusters are free and then try and take it somewhere where they know what they're doing. Pee'd off now as i have now got to spend 3.5 hours a day on public transport the rest of this week to get to work
One of my track rod end boots is looking a bit tired so i may just replace both of them on Saturday. I'm sure it won't be that simple as is always the case with my cars.

yes i have the ball joints as far out as they go Paul - this is my fwd coupe so not really prepared to spend the money for professionals to do the alignment on it TBH

[S2central.net]

Oh if its a 2-wheeler then just about anywhere should be OK to do it... as long as the adjusters move. When they seize up its pretty bad and don't round them off !

[Error404]

just ordered two now track rod ends to be sure - i'll change them this weekend then theres no excuses for anyone not being able to do it

[EspenW]

As has been mentioned, the adjusters are most likely stuck. They were so on both the RS2 and the 80 Avant. Had to use penetrating oil, "freeze spray" and heat in order to get them loose.
I align my own cars to (close to) perfection by using nothing more than a flat garage floor, digital level, wax paper and two tape measures.

[Error404]

can you elaborate at all on your method?

[Flat on my back]

.

If there's Pro Tyre outfit near you they should do it for under £30 for a fwd car and give you a full printout.

[Error404]

there is in Alcester Carl - thanks

need to check if the muppet from earlier has rounded off the adjusters first..
i suspect he has and thats why he couldn't do it

anyway, got new track rod ends coming tomorrow so i'll fit them first and perhaps try and get a rough adjustment myself before taking it elsewhere.... its really not safe to drive above 20mph at the moment.

[DJones]

As has been mentioned, the adjusters are most likely stuck. They were so on both the RS2 and the 80 Avant. Had to use penetrating oil, "freeze spray" and heat in order to get them loose.
I align my own cars to (close to) perfection by using nothing more than a flat garage floor, digital level, wax paper and two tape measures.

I do the same. I level in four perfectly level pads and use a cheap camber gauge for camber. I find the center of the car front and rear, run two parallel fishing lines down both lenghths of the car and measure back from this to the wheel.

Works for me..

[blurtmagnet]

i asked audi and they wanted my car for a full day with a full tank of juice and £250 for it

[blurtmagnet]

i took it to richtoy in winterton they did the back but i need new track rod ends at the front because they are siezed, but for the cost i'm just going to get new track rods