[sagarpadaki]

Nikhil, was the humming noise due to the tyre defect or was it due to the upsize done?

[Nikhilb2008]

I honestly dont know. The upsize is a very common one. People use 195/60-15 on their ANHCs all the time. Dont know why this was making a sound.

[nandans2005]

Originally Posted by anachronix

@Nandan,

1. Did the humming noise get amplified with speed?
2. Whats the overall mileage of your car?

No, the humming noise never got amplified whatsoever. the pattern of humming was - It used to start close to 39kmph, at about 42kmph it was very audible in cabin and start reducing till 45kmph. No humming after 45kmph was found.

When the speed reduced, humming used to return at 45kmph, very audible at about 42kmph and vanish at about 39 kmph or so. This pattern was very consistent and never changed.

We replaced only left hand side wheel with OE size and tried , the humming remained with the same pattern.

In the service center, it was just amazing. The Manager asked his guys to just fix 4 wheels of OE size. With this, the humming just vanished.

After the new OE size tyres were fixed, the humming vanished.

During these issue, the car had done about 55kms or so. I wasnt really bothered about the mileage it was returning then. I am never bothered about the mileage anytime.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by nandans2005

No, the humming noise never got amplified whatsoever. the pattern of humming was - It used to start close to 39kmph, at about 42kmph it was very audible in cabin and start reducing till 45kmph. No humming after 45kmph was found.

Tires

When the speed reduced, humming used to return at 45kmph, very audible at about 42kmph and vanish at about 39 kmph or so. This pattern was very consistent and never changed.

Tires. I have a set of tires which I used while the wheel bearing was busted which I never noticed for a long time because of loud endcan that I had fitted in my car at that time. Effect, the tires developed a wavy tread pattern on the inside of the tires. I used to have the exact same symptoms which was gone when I replaced these tires. This was 195/55 R15 on a Fiesta 1.6S

We replaced only left hand side wheel with OE size and tried , the humming remained with the same pattern.

It might be too late, but you should have tried a different brand in the same size to verify if it was really your car that was at fault!

In the service center, it was just amazing. The Manager asked his guys to just fix 4 wheels of OE size. With this, the humming just vanished.

After the new OE size tyres were fixed, the humming vanished.

During these issue, the car had done about 55kms or so. I wasnt really bothered about the mileage it was returning then. I am never bothered about the mileage anytime.

May be when you want to change the tires the next time, you can try the 195/60 R15 with a different tire and see if there is humming.

Mileage... I was asking about the ODO readings of the car

[nandans2005]

Yep, i think so i should try with different set of tires & make altogether. I was really feeling great with those wide ones. Missing it very badly.

Compared to those wide ones, the OE size (Michelin) now are quite noisy.

Sorry,i mistook you. The odo is 51k and odd.

[Jaggu]

Last weekend i had taken Swift for usual balancing, rotation and wheel alignment. While the balancing and rotation went fine, i am not very happy with the alignment. When i went in itself, i had told the familiar face aka the technician attending the car, that there seems to be some outter wear in the front LT wheel.

As usual the process started, and click click click they go. Most often they do not wait for the readings to be completed or the adjustment to be finished before next click. I can understand they are the experts, but am not sure that is the RIGHT way of doing things. Anyways i momentarily saw a glimpse a big RED one at that, but somehow the guy was not bothered to glance also. As if only toe in and out readings are the only thing they are bothered with.

When i got the print, i noticed that SAI reading for front LT is out. Now, no one bothered to tell me if this is a problem or can be corrected in Swift, neither did i ask since i was running to pick my wife.

@Madhu's: Devil is always in details, please take this feedback or you will soon land up as any other shop. Just my 2 pence.

[sagarpadaki]

I second jaggu in this matter. If the alignment values are not proper or out of range they should inform the customer about the same and suggest how it can be rectified.

After one of my car alignment session the caster was out of range for the left front and the technician did not inform me about the problem. It was when my dad got the alignment done at a different place that the technician over there informed that there is a problem and it needs to be corrected by changing the lower arm.

Such small things will make your service stand out from others.

[motorguy]

Madhus is really the best - I also bring my i10 every 5000 km for the whole works - rotation, balancing, and wheel alignment. Wouldn't trust an A.S.S with these services, since I have had bad experiences with quite a few.

Nikhil - would like to meet you sometime when I'm there!

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Last weekend i had taken Swift for usual balancing, rotation and wheel alignment. While the balancing and rotation went fine, i am not very happy with the alignment. When i went in itself, i had told the familiar face aka the technician attending the car, that there seems to be some outter wear in the front LT wheel.

As usual the process started, and click click click they go. Most often they do not wait for the readings to be completed or the adjustment to be finished before next click. I can understand they are the experts, but am not sure that is the RIGHT way of doing things. Anyways i momentarily saw a glimpse a big RED one at that, but somehow the guy was not bothered to glance also. As if only toe in and out readings are the only thing they are bothered with.

When i got the print, i noticed that SAI reading for front LT is out. Now, no one bothered to tell me if this is a problem or can be corrected in Swift, neither did i ask since i was running to pick my wife.

@Madhu's: Devil is always in details, please take this feedback or you will soon land up as any other shop. Just my 2 pence.

Thanks for the feedback. Will look into it. Also, the click-click-click is because these people are pros. If you need them to go slower or want to see how it's done in detail, please feel free to ask!

I assure you NO ONE will say no to your request to know more about how it's done. If needed, let me know when you are coming in and I will try to be there myself and walk you through the process..

This is not just for Jaggu or only for TBHPians but for any customer. There are somethings our boys are not capable of. They may not be able to understand why a customer would want to know more or why a customer is asking for "stupid" details. However, if you want them to go slow and read what the aligner is displaying, please speak to the service manager and they will help you out.

Could you post the alignment report here just for my information? Would like to see if there were some other factors affecting your front left tyre. Could you also let me know the exact day you had gone there?

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I second jaggu in this matter. If the alignment values are not proper or out of range they should inform the customer about the same and suggest how it can be rectified.

After one of my car alignment session the caster was out of range for the left front and the technician did not inform me about the problem. It was when my dad got the alignment done at a different place that the technician over there informed that there is a problem and it needs to be corrected by changing the lower arm.

Such small things will make your service stand out from others.

Thank you for the honest feedback. I'll look into it personally. Could you let me know the date of your visit?

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Thanks for the feedback. Will look into it. Also, the click-click-click is because these people are pros.
===============
Could you post the alignment report here just for my information? Would like to see if there were some other factors affecting your front left tyre. Could you also let me know the exact day you had gone there?
===============
Thank you for the honest feedback. I'll look into it personally. Could you let me know the date of your visit?

Point of contention

When you are setting toe, when you tighten the check nut the reading changes a bit (maybe a very small bit, still it changes). What i have seen is most of them don't wait for this and jump to next.

Report is at home, will post when i get to it in the evening. IIRC SAI (Steering Axis Inclination?) for Left is 18 where it should be within 1 or closer to 0, right? Ok for right side and total also in red due to left reading. The senior person at bill counter had marked this with pen also in the print.

Sat around 11-12 noon, rush was not much when i went in.

Point is not that i want to know what is what from them, but little more patience would make it more accurate. Also an explanation if SAI can be corrected at alignment or at a workshop with parts replacement.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Point of contention

When you are setting toe, when you tighten the check nut the reading changes a bit (maybe a very small bit, still it changes). What i have seen is most of them don't wait for this and jump to next.

Report is at home, will post when i get to it in the evening. IIRC SAI (Steering Axis Inclination?) for Left is 18 where it should be within 1 or closer to 0, right? Ok for right side and total also in red due to left reading. The senior person at bill counter had marked this with pen also in the print.

Sat around 11-12 noon, rush was not much when i went in.

Point is not that i want to know what is what from them, but little more patience would make it more accurate. Also an explanation if SAI can be corrected at alignment or at a workshop with parts replacement.

What you say is true theoretically. However, in practice, it is negligible. Of course, as a customer, you can demand that he wait till he finishes tightening that particular bolt before moving on to the next component. However, I will go there tomorrow morning and have a word with my staff. I agree 100% with you.




SAI is Steering Axis Inclination.

Wheel Alignment A Short Course Axis Inclination (SAI)

SAI is the measurement in degrees of the steering pivot line when viewed from the front of the vehicle. This angle, when added to the camber to form the included angle (see below) causes the vehicle to lift slightly when you turn the wheel away from a straight ahead position. This action uses the weight of the vehicle to cause the steering wheel to return to the center when you let go of it after making a turn. Because of this, if the SAI is different from side to side, it will cause a pull at very slow speeds. Most alignment machines have a way to measure SAI; however it is not separately adjustable. The most likely cause for SAI being out is bent parts which must be replaced to correct the condition. SAI is also referred to as KPI (King Pin Inclination) on trucks and old cars with king pins instead of ball joints.

This will not have any effect on tyre wear. If this is out, the only major difference you might feel is a slight change in the force the steering exerts on you when powering out of a turn.

Camber and Toe are the main readings to worry about with respect to tyre wear.

And yes, I agree that they should have a little more patience and to explain the readings. I apologise for that right away. That is not done.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

And yes, I agree that they should have a little more patience and to explain the readings. I apologise for that right away. That is not done.

No need to apologize and all, go advice them (dont pile on em please ). Just a feedback thats all.

Reg the problem i was getting a slight left pull before alignment, which seems to have gone/fixed afterwards.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Thanks for the feedback. Will look into it. Also, the click-click-click is because these people are pros. If you need them to go slower or want to see how it's done in detail, please feel free to ask!

I assure you NO ONE will say no to your request to know more about how it's done. If needed, let me know when you are coming in and I will try to be there myself and walk you through the process..

This is not just for Jaggu or only for TBHPians but for any customer. There are somethings our boys are not capable of. They may not be able to understand why a customer would want to know more or why a customer is asking for "stupid" details. However, if you want them to go slow and read what the aligner is displaying, please speak to the service manager and they will help you out.

Could you post the alignment report here just for my information? Would like to see if there were some other factors affecting your front left tyre. Could you also let me know the exact day you had gone there?




Thank you for the honest feedback. I'll look into it personally. Could you let me know the date of your visit?

I dont remember the exact date. It was during the second week of Jan that i last visited . Will check the alignment report if i still have it.Can you tell the name of the service engineer so that the next time i need the details of the procedure ,i can contact him and have a look over the process carried out

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

No need to apologize and all, go advice them (dont pile on em please ). Just a feedback thats all.

Reg the problem i was getting a slight left pull before alignment, which seems to have gone/fixed afterwards.

No no! Definitely no piling on them! Generally feedback has been good. We arent perfect and the feedback by you guys helps us remain on our toes!

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I dont remember the exact date. It was during the second week of Jan that i last visited . Will check the alignment report if i still have it.Can you tell the name of the service engineer so that the next time i need the details of the procedure ,i can contact him and have a look over the process carried out

If you show me the alignment report, I can tell you the name of the technician who did the alignment.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

No no! Definitely no piling on them! Generally feedback has been good. We arent perfect and the feedback by you guys helps us remain on our toes!



If you show me the alignment report, I can tell you the name of the technician who did the alignment.

Ok will search for the alignment report.What is the name of the service engineer whom i can approach?