[Gill]

Thanks Nikhil ! I went to tyre shop and asked for sticker weights, the retailer said the sticker weights are for alloys only, can't be used on steel rims.
He told me to get the wheel alignment done after first 500km of new set of tyres, is it really required?

[Gansan]

A colleague of mine says wheel alignment and rotation is done every 5 - 6k KM for his car, but he does balancing only if the tyres are repaired/changed. He says it is not required if the car runs mostly on good city roads. Is his arguement flawed? I feel there is some merit in it.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by Gill

He told me to get the wheel alignment done after first 500km of new set of tyres, is it really required?

Not required, unless you notice any abnormality.

Originally Posted by Gansan

A colleague of mine says wheel alignment and rotation is done every 5 - 6k KM for his car, but he does balancing only if the tyres are repaired/changed. He says it is not required if the car runs mostly on good city roads. Is his arguement flawed? I feel there is some merit in it.

Not necessarily, there are lots of variables involved.

Spike

[headers]

Originally Posted by Gansan

A colleague of mine says wheel alignment and rotation is done every 5 - 6k KM for his car, but he does balancing only if the tyres are repaired/changed. He says it is not required if the car runs mostly on good city roads. Is his arguement flawed? I feel there is some merit in it.

Its a very good practise if wheel alignment done every 5K kms.

Balancing is done if the tyres are removed from the rim/disc for any puntures/repairs or such.

Another theory is to mark the tyre and remove before the punture/repair to eliminate the balancing

[mail4ajo]

Please explain if there is an relation between wheel alignment and steering free play.

I recently got my Jazz's alignment checked. There was a correction on the steering centering to be done. After correction, I feel there is more free play on the steering than earlier. Am I assuming or is there a relation?

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Please explain if there is an relation between wheel alignment and steering free play.

I recently got my Jazz's alignment checked. There was a correction on the steering centering to be done. After correction, I feel there is more free play on the steering than earlier. Am I assuming or is there a relation?

Didnt see any response, so bumping the thread. Any help?

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

^^ Yes, it has although indirectly. If the tie rod ends are worn , damaged , improperly torqued free play changes. Improper wheel bearing, worn / improperly torqued Intermediate shafts also result in free-play. First determine if the current free-play is within the recommended limit.

Spike

[Monaro CV8]

@ Nikhil - if my car's steering wheel starts feeling heavy, does it mean that wheel alignment has anything to do with it?
I've checked the type pressure also.

My car is Ritz VDi.

Thanks in advance.

[anujmishra]

Today I done Tyre rotation of my Safari at 10K Kms at Tyre Plus, Varthur Road, Whitefield, Bangalore. What I find after rotation is camber is little more than prescribed limit. I have not asked for alignment but look like I need to do it tomorrow. They did little settings but said it requires shim replacement. Two parameters are out of range

Camber

Specification both left & right: -0 deg 30 min to 0 deg 30 min

Left: -0 deg 30 min
Right: -0 deg 36 min

Right one is wrong by -06 minute. Also after their little adjustment steering wheel look misaligned.

SAI

Also I see SAI is way beyond the specification: it is
left 10 deg 14 min
right 10 deg 10 min

What is this SAI parameter?

What should I do?

[PPS]

Since the past 1 week my Swift has started to feel a bit wobbly at high speeds. This happens only on the Sealink when i cross speeds of 100kmph. I feel as if somebody is trying to push the car from one side and it doesn't feel all that stable. I do not know if this is due to the gusty winds or something else! Has anybody else experienced this, especially those who use the sealink? Is it something to do with the wind or maybe the steel wheels ?

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Gill

Thanks Nikhil ! I went to tyre shop and asked for sticker weights, the retailer said the sticker weights are for alloys only, can't be used on steel rims.
He told me to get the wheel alignment done after first 500km of new set of tyres, is it really required?

Sticker weights are opnly for alloys.

If you got alignment done when you got the tyres changed, then there is no need to get it done again unless you feel a change (which could be due to you hitting a pothole, etc...)

Originally Posted by Gansan

A colleague of mine says wheel alignment and rotation is done every 5 - 6k KM for his car, but he does balancing only if the tyres are repaired/changed. He says it is not required if the car runs mostly on good city roads. Is his arguement flawed? I feel there is some merit in it.

Balancing if not done every 5k kms is ok. The point on imbalance will change but if there is no vibration or wobbling, it is fine to ignore it. But I would suggest get it done at least once in 10k kms.

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Please explain if there is an relation between wheel alignment and steering free play.

I recently got my Jazz's alignment checked. There was a correction on the steering centering to be done. After correction, I feel there is more free play on the steering than earlier. Am I assuming or is there a relation?

Spike Arrestor has given a fantastic answer. Cant add anymore to that!

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

@ Nikhil - if my car's steering wheel starts feeling heavy, does it mean that wheel alignment has anything to do with it?
I've checked the type pressure also.

My car is Ritz VDi.

Thanks in advance.

It could be alignment. If you have checked the tyre pressure and it is fine, then get the alignment checked.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Today I done Tyre rotation of my Safari at 10K Kms at Tyre Plus, Varthur Road, Whitefield, Bangalore. What I find after rotation is camber is little more than prescribed limit. I have not asked for alignment but look like I need to do it tomorrow. They did little settings but said it requires shim replacement. Two parameters are out of range

Camber

Specification both left & right: -0 deg 30 min to 0 deg 30 min

Left: -0 deg 30 min
Right: -0 deg 36 min

Right one is wrong by -06 minute. Also after their little adjustment steering wheel look misaligned.

SAI

Also I see SAI is way beyond the specification: it is
left 10 deg 14 min
right 10 deg 10 min

What is this SAI parameter?

What should I do?

SAI is Steering Axis inclination. Dont worry. The deviation is miniscule.

The camber is also negligible. However, this 6 minute difference shouldnt make the steering look misaligned. Get it done again and ask them to correct the steering.

Camber settings are usually not adjustable. You need to get it done at the car service centre. A normal tyre shop is not able to do this. Some of them use camber shims and things like that.

Originally Posted by PPS

Since the past 1 week my Swift has started to feel a bit wobbly at high speeds. This happens only on the Sealink when i cross speeds of 100kmph. I feel as if somebody is trying to push the car from one side and it doesn't feel all that stable. I do not know if this is due to the gusty winds or something else! Has anybody else experienced this, especially those who use the sealink? Is it something to do with the wind or maybe the steel wheels ?

It most likely is due to the gusts of wind. If you have started it noticing it recently, it could be because Bombay is getting some rains and the breeze has picked up!

If there is a problem with the balancing, you will feel the wobble at 100 kmph on ANY road. Not just the Sealink.

[Monaro CV8]

Hi Nikhil,
Could you please enlighten me about 3D wheel alignment?
What is the difference between an ordinary one and the 3D one?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers.

[Gansan]

The WA/balancing for my car was done two months ago. While cleaning the underbody of the car recently, I noticed a wheel weight on the inner side of the wheel (apart from the one on the outside) in a couple of wheels. This I had never noticed before. Is this normal?

[ronin]

Originally Posted by Gansan

The WA/balancing for my car was done two months ago. While cleaning the underbody of the car recently, I noticed a wheel weight on the inner side of the wheel (apart from the one on the outside) in a couple of wheels. This I had never noticed before. Is this normal?

Yes. it is. And is done to get a uniform balance of the weight on either side.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Hi Nikhil,
Could you please enlighten me about 3D wheel alignment?
What is the difference between an ordinary one and the 3D one?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers.

3D wheel alignment is much faster than the regular alignment. Also, it needs calibration less often than the regular Aligners. This means as a car owner you are more confident that the alignment is being done with a calibrated machine. If the targets are dropped, there is no effect on accuracy.

3D wheel aligners also help to get various other readings apart from Tow, Castor and Camber. However, this is not of much use to you as an end consumer.

The main advantages for an end car user is that the repeatability is much more in a 3D wheel aligner and is quite a bit faster than the regular aligners.

Originally Posted by Gansan

The WA/balancing for my car was done two months ago. While cleaning the underbody of the car recently, I noticed a wheel weight on the inner side of the wheel (apart from the one on the outside) in a couple of wheels. This I had never noticed before. Is this normal?

As Ronin has replied, completely normal.