Posts by snowwy66
1 - 13 of 41 Posts
It's one of many things you learn in automotive class. Along with tire rotation.
There's a lot of firsts the general public don't know about.
Think about it. Why would you keep driving and not maximize your tire wear. Every bump and pot hole you hit. Knocks your car out. And you all know that parts don't last forever. Including your steering components. Part of having an alignment is making sure your components are still tight. You don't get an accurate alignment with worn out parts.
If you want your car to last. It needs to be maintained. If you want your tires to last. They need to be aligned and rotated.
ONly problem with alignments. Tough to find a guy that knows what he's doing. As evidenced in one post on here with the guy who now has a crooked steering wheel and a alignment pull.
Over time it all adds up.
My car came from the factory at the outter edge of alignment.
And here's something most of you probably don't know.
Alignment flexes out as your driving down the road. The faster you go. The farther the flex.
My car came at the maxed spec. Now take in to consideration the flex. I"m basically driving down the road out of alignment. From the factory.
Probably not now as I already took care of it.
2000 miles for it's first alignment.
Ummm no. It won't. Unless you plan on waiting till it's too late.
The machine will tell you long before tire wear. To which most people won't even notice the beginning stages.
Yearly maintenance is completely founded.
An alignment can be slightly off. And take a few thousand miles to notice tire wear. Without the slightest pull.
Tire rotations are recommended for a reason. Alignment checks are also recommended for a reason.
Don't wait till tires show. That just cuts down on the lifespan. And tires aren't cheap.
Alignments around here are $60.
Disagree all you want. You can wait till your tires tell you it's time. That's your choice.
I went to school. Attended moog and Borg classes. Done 100's alignments.
I went to school and learned lots of things you won't find in a manufactures manual. Earned my degree and various licenses.
Do you disagree with mechanics at shops too?
Somewhere on this forum someone posted a article for periodic alignment checks.
But it's your disagreement. Carry on as you will.
50 years ago zirks were going bye bye. But replacement parts still came with em.
Here you go
Your mechanic will typically recommend doing the wheel alignment every two-three years. Often, the wheel alignment is recommended when new tires are installed. The alignment should be done more often if your car has wider tires or if it's a sporty car, e.g. Audi, BMW, Mazda 3, Nissan 370Z, etc.
And other reasons why
https://www.testingautos.com/car_care/when-should-wheel-alignment-be-done.html
Your mechanic will typically recommend doing the wheel alignment every two-three years. Often, the wheel alignment is recommended when new tires are installed. The alignment should be done more often if your car has wider tires or if it's a sporty car, e.g. Audi, BMW, Mazda 3, Nissan 370Z, etc.
And other reasons why
https://www.testingautos.com/car_care/when-should-wheel-alignment-be-done.html
Not hungry. But you can have some.
Sorry. My bad.
Waiting for the tires to tell you to align the vehicle is insane. Once you wear the tires uneven. You can't get it back to normal. And now you've shortened the life of the tires.
A 2wd alignment only measures the front. As you all know. And it's not a very fine tuned alignment. But it'll get the job done.
A 4wd alignment would be more finely tuned as the machine considers the front measurement along with the back measurement. How all 4 tires are tracking with each other instead of just 2. Granted, the backs more then likely won't need adjustment. But the alignment will be more precise. Less chance of crooked steering wheel also.
But never say backs will never be out of whack. I see cars all the time where teh backs aren't angled the same as the front. Pay attention to cars around you. Some are really easy to spot.
HOWEVER. never say that the rear tires can't be adjusted. Some cars do have an adjustment. Or at least they did. And for those that don't. Google ALIGNMENT SHIMS. The round ones and not the horse shoe shaped shims. There's a pic of a shim being inserted in the back hub assembly.
My favorite customers were those that didn't believe in alignments on a regular basis. Instead of a standard $60 alignment. They ended up with a repair bill. Because parts RUST. And freeze up. And no matter how much heat is used to try to free the adjustments. They just don't budge. Now you get new parts to get your vehicle back in to spec. May not be a big problem in the south. But in the north. It rains. And it snows. And there's salt on the ground.
A 2wd alignment only measures the front. As you all know. And it's not a very fine tuned alignment. But it'll get the job done.
A 4wd alignment would be more finely tuned as the machine considers the front measurement along with the back measurement. How all 4 tires are tracking with each other instead of just 2. Granted, the backs more then likely won't need adjustment. But the alignment will be more precise. Less chance of crooked steering wheel also.
But never say backs will never be out of whack. I see cars all the time where teh backs aren't angled the same as the front. Pay attention to cars around you. Some are really easy to spot.
HOWEVER. never say that the rear tires can't be adjusted. Some cars do have an adjustment. Or at least they did. And for those that don't. Google ALIGNMENT SHIMS. The round ones and not the horse shoe shaped shims. There's a pic of a shim being inserted in the back hub assembly.
My favorite customers were those that didn't believe in alignments on a regular basis. Instead of a standard $60 alignment. They ended up with a repair bill. Because parts RUST. And freeze up. And no matter how much heat is used to try to free the adjustments. They just don't budge. Now you get new parts to get your vehicle back in to spec. May not be a big problem in the south. But in the north. It rains. And it snows. And there's salt on the ground.
Here's my factory aligned car after 2,000 miles. Notice the alignment says FAILED. This was tested by the dealer when they warranteed the battery in December.
![Green Text Diagram Line Font]()
This is the car sitting still on the machine. Now imagine driving down the highway. With your alignment flexing outward at 70 mph. How much further it would be out.
Thank you for that informative post. @Eddy Cruze. I didn't think about the sensor
This is the car sitting still on the machine. Now imagine driving down the highway. With your alignment flexing outward at 70 mph. How much further it would be out.
Thank you for that informative post. @Eddy Cruze. I didn't think about the sensor
I didn't drive over the machine. And vehicle info can be entered in to machine. This machine also does braking performance.
Regardless. When I aligned cars. I adjusted for slightly negative toe. So at 70 mph. Toe would be traveling at 0 or slightly positive. Specs came in mostly camber and caster. Most didn't come with toe.
This may be useless information for most of you. It's highly valuable information to me. I like maximizing my tires. I like knowing where my tires are angled. I like knowing how the brakes are performing.
That machine makes it very easy to show and explain to the customer. Because. Customers have no idea how to read and interpret the old day printouts.
BTW. The dealer didn't try to sell me anything. That printout was just handed to me with my receipt.
That machine is also used for safety inspections. The state allowed the use of that machine as a braking performance. At all the express shops that only do safety and emissions. They have nothing to gain in selling repairs. They don't perform repairs.
1 - 13 of 41 Posts
