Alignment

[Zero]

Hi guys,

 

Anyone got any cheap & good recommendation for car alignment?

 

thks in adv

zero

[Octopus]

Car alignment??? Do you mean wheel alignment?

[Zero]

Not very sure whats the actual term for it... perhaps its the wheel. But thats not what im refering... im refering to the steering alignment as my steering wheel is not straight at the center anymore after i did my lowering.

[El69]

The wkshop that did yr lowering should have done the alignment. Its standard practice unless you only opt for installation charge.

 

What is cheap? $50-60 is quite standard.

[Zero]

had done the lowering in msia and they do not have the device/facility to do the alignment as told by them.

 

What is cheap? I was told in SG, it cost ard SGD80. So 50-60 is quite cheap then.

[El69]

Really depending on car as some cars more complicated to adjust. I'm talking SGD 50-60.

 

Sorry if I misled u, did not realised its under Malaysia Talk.

[Zero]

eh.... no u didnt. I was quoted 55RM - 80RM in JB, and ard 80SGD in local here.

 

my ride is a proton.

[Golfer]

Tampines Motorgard. $40 for wheel alignment. Didn't go there anymore as they always try their luck to do other things.

 

How they do it:

 

a) Remove a cover on the floor. A roller mechanism expose.

b) Drive the car slowly on the roller mechanism. (front right wheel on roller)

c) Look the overhead display. If >0.5, reverse car and adjust right wheel nut.

d) Do (b) again. If hopeless, adjust left wheel nut.

e) once completed. Tightened both nuts.

 

Mech will then bring the car for a spin. Rule of thumb is to drive at 80 km/h on a straight road. If steering does not drift, then it is ok. I think this is not a good gauge as if you just completed a wheel rotation, drifting to left or right is normal as it will take a while for the wheels wear evenly and balance out the drift.

 

This is what I saw and I also understand alignment is done when you seriously mounted kerb or after doing wheels rotation. Need not have to do it too often as $40 is painful to the wallet.

 

Regards,

[Hihi]

I also having this drift problem after i changed my rims from 14" to 15" recently. Also changed my tyres... Now in the process of running in my tyres and see how... if still no use, then gotta bring my car in for wheel alignment liaozzz

[Zero]

thanks bro! but what do you mean by "Didn't go there anymore as they always try their luck to do other things."?

[Octopus]

Not very sure whats the actual term for it... perhaps its the wheel. But thats not what im refering... im refering to the steering alignment as my steering wheel is not straight at the center anymore after i did my lowering.

 

Normal wheel alignment (front) should be able to straightened the steering wheel, but need to inform the person doing the wheel alignment that your steering wheel is off-center.

 

Previously my steering wheel was about 5 ~ 10 deg off-centre, but wheel alignment brings it back to centre position. But after I've changed the rims and wheel to a different size, its now off-centre slightly.

[Zero]

thanks bro~ have done my wheel alignment and it is more to center bu the car will stil go more to the right. Guess i have to go back to my tyre shop for balance the tyres & rims.

 

Although this has been fixed, theres another new prob! When traveling at 90-110 and above, doing a brake will make my car to jump up & down repeatly til the speed of about 70-80 then smooth.

 

anyone else knows why and what should be done to solve it?

[Gadgeter]

dun understand when you say "braking will make your car jump up and down.."

[Fortress]

Hi Zero,

 

For the first part on the alignment, it might be due to our express way, which has a slight camber for water drainage, which will cause a slight deviation towards the inside lane. Do also look into the wheel pressure, during crusing whichever side it goes, reduce a little on the opposite side, without compromising too much of the pressure.

 

As for the braking of your car "jump up & down repeatly", it can be due to the following

a. wheel hop, which means suspension is worn, which is unlikely.

b. Assumming it is ok under heavy braking, and this happens only on light braking, it is due to uneven wear of brakes (check the front pad visually) or the brake differential between front and back (less likely).

c. If heavy braking and it vibrates, then it got to do with the brake discs, it has warped.

 

Hope these help and do let share which is the cause.

 

Ivan

Edited April 12, 2005 by Fortress

[Zero]

eh... dont really know what is the correct word to use. But like a huge jerking and trebling on the brake paddel.

[Zero]

Hi Fortress, Thanks for all the infos but what do you mean that "then it got to the brake discs has warped.?

 

my ride is a 3weeks old brand new wira, had to do alignment because i added a rear struct bar and change my spring(to make my car look lower). Before i did my alignment this morning, it wasnt trembling so much, but only after my car has been aligned.

 

The shop have asked me to go to my tyre shop to have my types and rim checked again, claiming that alignment DO NOT cause the trembling when doing a heavy braking.

 

Now i feel so lost.

[Golfer]

Attraction was cheap synthetic oil change. Some of the change is not cheap. If possible, get from Stockist and pay a norminal fee to install e.g. brake pad, brake disc.

 

When you are there, they will ask you to do this and that. Some change is not cheap as compared to other place.

 

Finally, didn't go there anymore since I traded in my B14 for a new FL Sunny EX in Nov 04. Cannot resist the attractive "made in Japan, Nissan" With 2 yrs maintenance program and 3 yrs warranty, no more maintenance headache until after 100,000 Km.

 

Still looking out for Tan Chong service standard and price and maybe will continue with them after warranty if $ is reasonable.

 

Regards,

[Fortress]

Hi Zero,

 

The warping of the disc is extremely unlikely if your car is 3 weeks old.

 

Suggesting to you some possible causes, you might just want to eliminate them one at a time.

a. The may the tyres and rims might be a problem. Try to balance both front and back. This happened to my 164, when 2 back wheels are not balanced.

b. Your car is too light for the hard suspension, assuming shorter suspension, hence a possible wheeh hop.This happened to some formula cars which aerodynamic braking is not enough.

c. The road portion which you braked might be warped

d. Poor workmanship from the workshop (worst scenario). The suspension is not align or parallel between the pairs.

e. Your brake disc pad(usually front in your case) has uneven wear, it does happened sometime due to brake caliper failure or biased brake. My guess is this, check and measure the pads on both sides.

 

Personal advice is to avoid doing such things to your car, does void your warranty, and the workmanship here is sometime very crappy. Lastly, our Asian "not my fault" mentality does not help.

 

Ivan

Edited April 13, 2005 by Fortress