... on those totally rubbish 'quick fit' style establishments this week...
I renewed the track rod ends on my car in advance of fitting the new wheels and rubber - safe in the knowledge that the tracking was a little off and the original rod ends (whilst legally OK) had seen better days.
Took a good hour each side to extricate the old rod ends and free up the adjustment bars with lashings of copper grease before fitting new ends... but I knew there was no way the local 'alignment specialist' would cope with the task otherwise. I made sufficient measurements to get the new rods into the position of the old ones and sure enough the car didn't track so hot with the new tyres on.
A ten mile trip to the local specialist and I ask for a 'Front wheel alignment'. The gaffer had seen me arrive and says - 'On that Audi Coupe - they are a nightmare you know ?' I grinned and told him what I'd done that morning and he said 'OK grand then'.
I gave them specific written instructions to set total toe-out at 10' and make sure the steering wheel was dead straight - I hate it when the wheel is off...
So they proceed to stick their alignment gear on all four wheels, and I say to the **** at the desk - I only need a front wheel alignment. He says - oh thats OK sir - this is how we do it - trying to belittle me - the wee **** whose about half my age - WTF would he know... I tell him that it better be right or they'll be doing it again.
About 20mins passes and the car comes out with the mechanic saying it was really easy and that it was bang-on my spec.
I take it out and the car is pulling to the left *really* strongly - like never before. U-turn and I take it back to tell them it was off. They look perplexed and the mechanic is brought out again. He says its perfect, and I ask him if he had made adjustments for the positive toe settings on the rear of this vehicle. Then I get the blank look.... errrr - yes was the feeble reply. My ****.... I tell them to check it again and its still wrong. Now only for the fact I'm sitting there with the wife and wee-un I'd be out in the workshop with the equipment myself to get them to show me why they think its right. So they gimme some bull about the tyres being so new that they might be 'dragging' and blah blah come back in a day or two if it hasn't settled down.
So the following day I take a look at the track rod ends myself with a view to making some adjustments of my own to correct things. The stupid idiots had only left one of the track rod lock nuts loose on the drivers side. I was livid, the air was blue and they were damn lucky it was Sunday or I'd have been straight round to kick them.
They have a letter coming to them this week instead as I really can't afford the time of work to chase the stupid feckers.
I checked the measurements against my original notes and made a couple of adjustments myself. After about half an hour I had an S2 with a perfectly centred steering wheel and that only *just* pulled to the left - MUCH better than their attempt. Arrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I renewed the track rod ends on my car in advance of fitting the new wheels and rubber - safe in the knowledge that the tracking was a little off and the original rod ends (whilst legally OK) had seen better days.
Took a good hour each side to extricate the old rod ends and free up the adjustment bars with lashings of copper grease before fitting new ends... but I knew there was no way the local 'alignment specialist' would cope with the task otherwise. I made sufficient measurements to get the new rods into the position of the old ones and sure enough the car didn't track so hot with the new tyres on.
A ten mile trip to the local specialist and I ask for a 'Front wheel alignment'. The gaffer had seen me arrive and says - 'On that Audi Coupe - they are a nightmare you know ?' I grinned and told him what I'd done that morning and he said 'OK grand then'.
I gave them specific written instructions to set total toe-out at 10' and make sure the steering wheel was dead straight - I hate it when the wheel is off...
So they proceed to stick their alignment gear on all four wheels, and I say to the **** at the desk - I only need a front wheel alignment. He says - oh thats OK sir - this is how we do it - trying to belittle me - the wee **** whose about half my age - WTF would he know... I tell him that it better be right or they'll be doing it again.
About 20mins passes and the car comes out with the mechanic saying it was really easy and that it was bang-on my spec.
I take it out and the car is pulling to the left *really* strongly - like never before. U-turn and I take it back to tell them it was off. They look perplexed and the mechanic is brought out again. He says its perfect, and I ask him if he had made adjustments for the positive toe settings on the rear of this vehicle. Then I get the blank look.... errrr - yes was the feeble reply. My ****.... I tell them to check it again and its still wrong. Now only for the fact I'm sitting there with the wife and wee-un I'd be out in the workshop with the equipment myself to get them to show me why they think its right. So they gimme some bull about the tyres being so new that they might be 'dragging' and blah blah come back in a day or two if it hasn't settled down.
So the following day I take a look at the track rod ends myself with a view to making some adjustments of my own to correct things. The stupid idiots had only left one of the track rod lock nuts loose on the drivers side. I was livid, the air was blue and they were damn lucky it was Sunday or I'd have been straight round to kick them.
They have a letter coming to them this week instead as I really can't afford the time of work to chase the stupid feckers.
I checked the measurements against my original notes and made a couple of adjustments myself. After about half an hour I had an S2 with a perfectly centred steering wheel and that only *just* pulled to the left - MUCH better than their attempt. Arrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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