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OK so had the car tracked up a while back and this has been bugging me for far too long, what are these special tools you need to track the back end up?
As far as I can tell they are called spanners
Why do companies try palming us off with sh** like this
Bathwick tyres in Devizes charge £48 to adjust all four wheels. Just spray the nuts/rods with wd40 before.
I had the four corners done three times and I am still not happy.
Yesterday I went to a different garage and they said in the worst case scenario this will cost 125+vat. The good thing about this garage was that they got the car on the ramp to give me the price and also they have tested all bits of pieces responsible for successful alignment. Not only they found two (3 year old) front bilstens leaking but also worn balljonts and wishbone bushes.
So before you go and spend money on alignment make sure the suspension is in good order.
Rear ball joints are the original, but re-booted and perfect.
Front are replacements, but re-booted as I fitted new arms.
Front and rear wishbones poweflex.
Polybushed subframes front and rear.
Rear tie rods re-booted but perfect.
New front track rod ends.
If there is a shock gone I didn't notice it, but pretty sure I replaced the front ones ~5 years ago and only about 10-15,000 miles, rears are still the original to my knowledge ( I bought it 9 years old), but not felt anything out of sorts
Replacing a shock shouldn't knock the alignment out though should it? If going to be precious about it, I suppose you could mark round where the strut mounts to the hub.
Anything will be better than currently, not had an alignment in my ownership(!)
Replacing a shock can put the alignment and camber out by a long way if really clumsy about positioning the strut, even 0.5 mm at the hub can translate to over a degree higher up. To avoid hassle in future I like to set the hubs to either the max negative or max positive camber relative to the strut before getting it aligned, that way if a strut needs to be removed it can be put back exactly where it was before. I went for max negative with my S2 and it's worked out really nicely with the ball joints, should be the same for a CQ.
1990 B3 2.0 80 quattro.
1992 C4 2.8 Avant quattro
1994 MTM RS2.
1998 B5 TDI quattro Sport.
2000 B5 TQS.
21/22mm, 14mm, 19mm, 17mm spanner, 17mm socket and ratchet, extension bar(s), lever bar.
I think the workshop manual states there's a special tool for holding the rack central, but that's not REALLY required, make sure your wheel halfway between locks and it's all good.
Sorry Rikki, I also meant to say there are special tools for adjusting the camber on both the front and rear, however these are not 100% necessary to do a proper job they just make a little easier. There are no special tools required for the tracking apart from the rack locking tool which again is optional really, just make sure there's an even amount of turns lock too lock as Bowie suggests.
1990 B3 2.0 80 quattro.
1992 C4 2.8 Avant quattro
1994 MTM RS2.
1998 B5 TDI quattro Sport.
2000 B5 TQS.
Well I intend to watch it while he works, to make sure it is OK, and have a copy of the figures from s2central.net ready to shove under his nose when he can't find the car
Well I intend to watch it while he works, to make sure it is OK, and have a copy of the figures from s2central.net ready to shove under his nose when he can't find the car
They should have access to the proper data, the tolerances are quite wide so don't let them fob you off with 'that's near enough' as long as all your adjusters move freely there's no reason why it can't be gotten right. Really you want to get as much negative camber as tolerances allow, same with the castor just positive, the toe wants to be spot on factory figures not just within tolerances partially on the front.
I'd go back and have a word Rik sounds like they couldn't be bothered, fobbing customers off with BS seems to be standard practice in the alignment trade unfortunately. I have to drive 45 miles to get mine done by someone I trust and I only found them by asking on here.
1990 B3 2.0 80 quattro.
1992 C4 2.8 Avant quattro
1994 MTM RS2.
1998 B5 TDI quattro Sport.
2000 B5 TQS.
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