[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Hi Nikhil
Here's the wheel alignment report. (attached pdf)
The guys at Darshan Tyres told me that the WA is 3D.

Do let me know if there's anything that can be done..

Yes. That is a 3D wheel aligner.

The front camber seems to be completely off! Please get it checked at the service centre and ask them to rectify it. They may charge you 1000/- or so but please get it rectified.

Also, check out this video. It's quite informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ZZ_U_Fl1Y

[bala80]

Dear Nikhil -

I recently changed over to BS Turanza 195/60/15 on my vento since I wasnt happy with C-drives. While I'm now happy with the steering response, I noticed the following behaviour today.

Steering vibration around the center observed when cruising at speeds around 90-100kmph, a little bit of googling tells me this kind of behaviour points out to imbalance of the front wheels. I'm unable to understand why, since the wheels were balanced when the new tyres went in. But then, I also had a complaint of steering being a little off center though the alignment values were in desired range. They tried to correct it, but were unable to do so, finally it was decided that the steering tilt correction has to be done at the VW workshop. While I'm not certain that they tried fiddling with something which caused the wheels to go off balance, but couldn't help trying to relate both these incidents. Earlier the steering used to be rock steady at cruising speeds, Can you advice me on what could be the probable issue here?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

This is due to the C drives. I felt the same thing in our old NHC Vtec. The C drives are mainly comfort tyres and the steering feels a little vague sometimes. It has nothing to do with the alignment. The contact patch has increased by 10mm but 10mm is very small. In reality, there may not have been an increase at all! When a tyre says 185mm, it may not be exactly 185mm. It may be a little more or a little less.

[Nikhilb2008]

Vibration in the steering means the wheels are imbalanced. For sure. 100%. If it isnt that, it will be much more serious, probably some suspension issue. I'm 99% sure it's your wheels. Maybe the weights fell off, maybe the person didnt do a good job of balancing, whatever...

Steering being off-centre can be due to many reasons. If the alignment readings are really accurate and are within specs, then maybe VW should help. Get the alignment check up done somewhere else and compare the readings.

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Hi Maverick

Re: nitrogen; have you noticed that the ride gets a bit bumpier?
I think its maybe due to Nitrogen being more denser than air, absorbs less shock than a tyre filled with air.
Am I right Nikhil ?

Yeah, thats true. My doubt further got strong with your comment.
Need to check the same on a similar route with normal air to confirm this.

Also, thinking of filling it at Autolines next time, to check the quality of Nitrogen filled at Anand Tyres.

[Monaro CV8]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

The front camber seems to be completely off! Please get it checked at the service centre and ask them to rectify it. They may charge you 1000/- or so but please get it rectified.

Hi Nikhil,

Thanks for your advice.

Is the problem only in the Front Left Camber setting>?
Now, can the camber error be rectified by the WA guys?

[Nikhilb2008]

The problem is both left and right. The right front camber isnt too badly off but the left is waaaay off. WA guys usually cannot do camber. Some alignment shops do some jugaad but I suggest you get it done at the servicecentre.

[bala80]

Thanks Nikhil, Would it suffice to only get the front wheels balanced or do you suggest all 4?

My experience with the alignment reports is that with each place and equipment the value differs, What do you think is the reason? Is it based on the equipment used? One place that I went to had only adjustments for the front wheels, whereas the other place had machines attached to all the 4 wheels. Is there a advantage/disadvantage with this? Both places charged me the same amount though.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Vibration in the steering means the wheels are imbalanced. For sure. 100%. If it isnt that, it will be much more serious, probably some suspension issue. I'm 99% sure it's your wheels. Maybe the weights fell off, maybe the person didnt do a good job of balancing, whatever...

Steering being off-centre can be due to many reasons. If the alignment readings are really accurate and are within specs, then maybe VW should help. Get the alignment check up done somewhere else and compare the readings.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by bala80

Thanks Nikhil, Would it suffice to only get the front wheels balanced or do you suggest all 4?

My experience with the alignment reports is that with each place and equipment the value differs, What do you think is the reason? Is it based on the equipment used? One place that I went to had only adjustments for the front wheels, whereas the other place had machines attached to all the 4 wheels. Is there a advantage/disadvantage with this? Both places charged me the same amount though.

Get all 4 balanced.

The value should NOT differ. Sometimes, the readings will vary because some machines will show you the specs and measured readings in Degrees and Minutes and some machines show it in mm. But otherwise, the readings should be identical.

The place which attached something only to the front wheels will be less accurate. It will be an older machine and that place will not actually be doing 4 wheel alignment. Google for 4 wheel alignment or go through the previous pages in this thread to understand what exactly it is and how it differs from 2 wheel alignment.

[rohitm]

I recently got the wheels of my Skoda Laura aligned at a Wheel Alignment Center in Jayanagar. The car had done 11000 KMS then.

See report from the first iteration of alignment



No sooner i pulled car out of the center I realized the car is pulling on right side. Drove back to the center and had to wait for about an hour for my cars turn. See report from the second iteration of alignment.



Given the quality of workman ship in first iteration i am not fully convinced that a good job has been done.

Please suggest if I should do alignment yet again?

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by rohitm

Given the quality of workman ship in first iteration i am not fully convinced that a good job has been done.

Please suggest if I should do alignment yet again?

Shouldn't the 'before adjustment' values of the second alignment and 'after adjustment' values of the first alignment be the same?

[Nikhilb2008]

I think the aligner is completely screwed up. Calibration seems to be off.... As Santosh has posted, the after adjustment of the first alignment has to be the same as the before adjustment of the second alignment.

Also, the required manufacturer specs for the front and rear toe is missing. Something seems to be badly wrong.

[rohitm]

Thanks Santosh and Nikhil. I am going for another round of alignment at a different dealer.

[rohitm]

Thanks to your tip guys. I have got the wheels aligned again. Trust this looks better:

[Nikhilb2008]

It looks fine now. Is your car behaving properly now?

[rohitm]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

It looks fine now. Is your car behaving properly now?

Yes it is!