4 wheel alignment

[Garyf123]

Hi,

I am hoping somebody can advise.

I have just returned from having 4 new tyres fitted to my 2014 3.0 TDI. I requested 4 wheel alignment but they refused to do it and advised me to take it to Audi as specialist knowledge and equipment is needed. Whilst i certainly don't doubt this, i also realise that it will mean exorbitant amounts of folding notes! There was slight abnormal wear to front nearside tyre and after spending just shy of £800.00 on new ones, want it setting up correct. Is Audi my only option or can anybody with the Hunter system do it?

Thanks in advance,

 

Gary.

[Magnet]

Hello Gary,

Others may refute the following, but they may not have indeed treated you to such a negative reaction as you at first think. 

4 wheel alignment is great, but only in the hands of those who fully understand how to correctly use the technology in respect of your particular car. 

You mention Hunter, and quite rightly consider it to be sophisticated, but put it in the hands of a semi- experienced operator, and ( like all other equipment) it can be a disaster area. Yes, I know companies can/should send operators on a half day course, but….

The way forward? You mention that one front tyre has been wearing, so is a 4 wheel alignment check really essential? - as opposed to front wheel alignment. 

Even front-wheel- only alignment adjustment can be a minefield, and you watch with some reassurance while they clamp your steering wheel in position, then proceed to make all the necessary adjustment to one side only! Great, until you take the car on the road and find your steering wheel is now centred around 8/2 o’clock rather than the 9/3 it is supposed to be. 

If it were mine, I would be taking some local advice on recommended places to get the front (only) checked and correctly adjusted, and see how it goes. 
£200 per tyre ? I’d be needing gas and air! 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Garyf123]

Thanks for that! I will do some research. I got concerned when the guy said that they had had a go at doing a Q7 previously and the owner kept bringing it back as it kept pulling to one side!

At least when i arrived, the guy asked if i could put it into jacking mode with the air suspension as they had had problems with levelling previously after not putting into jacking mode and ended up taking it to Audi to correct!

Yes, £178.00 per tyre! Not for the faint hearted and i usually have part worns but with this big bus, didn't want to take any chances! They were quite reasonable all things considered as i got Pirelli P Zero's and looking at previous receipts, the owner bought the same in 2016 and paid £176.00 each then!

[Stevey Y]

5 hours ago, Garyf123 said:

Thanks for that! I will do some research. I got concerned when the guy said that they had had a go at doing a Q7 previously and the owner kept bringing it back as it kept pulling to one side!

At least when i arrived, the guy asked if i could put it into jacking mode with the air suspension as they had had problems with levelling previously after not putting into jacking mode and ended up taking it to Audi to correct!

Yes, £178.00 per tyre! Not for the faint hearted and i usually have part worns but with this big bus, didn't want to take any chances! They were quite reasonable all things considered as i got Pirelli P Zero's and looking at previous receipts, the owner bought the same in 2016 and paid £176.00 each then!

Hi if you go to a wheel and tyre specialist with the Hunter equipment they should be able to do the work without to much drama, the peculiarity with German cars is that both camber and castor can be adjusted at both ends unlike most other brands where its only the camber that is adjustable, if you find a company that actually specialises in wheel alignment they should be able to do what you want without drama, I recently had my car four wheel tracked and it only needed a tweek on the n/s front to make it perfect, after all its principle is to align the front wheels with the rear as the rears never move unless you fit new parts as in when bushes fail on the rear suspension and even then it won't be that far out as manufacturer tolerances on suspension brace arms etc are pretty good.

Steve.

 

[Garyf123]

Thanks for all replies. The tyre place guy told me that Audi put weights in areas of the car to create certain driving situations and adjust alignment accordingly???

Is this true???  

[Stevey Y]

8 hours ago, Garyf123 said:

Thanks for all replies. The tyre place guy told me that Audi put weights in areas of the car to create certain driving situations and adjust alignment accordingly???

Is this true???  

Hi what a load of old flannel, no weights involved if you find a place with the latest Hunter kit it comes with a plug in module that resets the steering position sensor and checks the ride height on the pneumatic side of the suspension, Audi will do all of this but the setting up of the equipment is time consuming therefore most of the charge at the end is labour, the two most major considerations are the correct camber and toe in/out, on the correct Hunter device the manufacturer optimal settings are displayed along side your own real time settings so when adjustment is made if any, your setting block will turn green when the correct measurement is obtained, I am reliably informed that Kwick Fit and National tyre service are equipped with this latest equipment and are somewhat cheaper than Audi who are allegedly currently charging around £500+ for this service, having looked at this I am glad my A6 has standard national health suspension as if you own a top of the pops A5 Q7 or any thing else with adjustable suspension/ride height you are supposed to have this done once a year or whenever you change tyres.

Steve.

[Garyf123]

20 hours ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi what a load of old flannel, no weights involved if you find a place with the latest Hunter kit it comes with a plug in module that resets the steering position sensor and checks the ride height on the pneumatic side of the suspension, Audi will do all of this but the setting up of the equipment is time consuming therefore most of the charge at the end is labour, the two most major considerations are the correct camber and toe in/out, on the correct Hunter device the manufacturer optimal settings are displayed along side your own real time settings so when adjustment is made if any, your setting block will turn green when the correct measurement is obtained, I am reliably informed that Kwick Fit and National tyre service are equipped with this latest equipment and are somewhat cheaper than Audi who are allegedly currently charging around £500+ for this service, having looked at this I am glad my A6 has standard national health suspension as if you own a top of the pops A5 Q7 or any thing else with adjustable suspension/ride height you are supposed to have this done once a year or whenever you change tyres.

Steve.

Hi Steve, it was National where I took it! I called my local Audi independent who said that what National told me was ‘partly true’! I explained that as I only had slight near side front abnormal wear, could it be just tracked at the front? He advised against it and said it would be better to do a 4 wheel alignment as one adjustment might affect another. He also said to make sure fuel tank was 1/2 to full!!!

£110.00 + vat

Really confused now!

[Stevey Y]

1 hour ago, Garyf123 said:

Hi Steve, it was National where I took it! I called my local Audi independent who said that what National told me was ‘partly true’! I explained that as I only had slight near side front abnormal wear, could it be just tracked at the front? He advised against it and said it would be better to do a 4 wheel alignment as one adjustment might affect another. He also said to make sure fuel tank was 1/2 to full!!!

£110.00 + vat

Really confused now!

Have you tried Quick Fit, my local branch have the latest Hunter kit with the specialist cables for VAG cars I asked the question about anything special about Q7s and he said not most VAG models fitted with adjustable /pneumatic suspension are all the same, as for one adjustment affecting another how does that work! if the rears are in the green zones measurement and only one front is out why would they have to adjust the backs if its only the front needs doing, as long as all the wheels are in the green zones at the end it does not make sense, I.E. the backs are ok which is the datum point how does adjusting the fronts into the correct parameters make the backs suddenly go out of alignment especially when you consider the bolts on the rear are very tight so what moves, Quick Fit are about the same price but I would say find an outlet thats not terrified of its own equipment, in the final analysis they should only adjust the wheels that are out.

Steve.