macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted April 30, 2006 I recently fitted some Bridgestone re720s to my xs and noticed that the old Yokohamas were unevenly worn so I asked the tyre place, who fitted the tyres, to check the tracking. The said they couldn't as it was too low at the back for them to fit their 4 wheel geometry equipment on. So, I went to Kwik Fit, who could meaure the tracking, with a fancy laser powered device, and told me it was 5 degrees toeing out, but they couldn't adjust any Peugeot tracking because their wall chart told them so. So, I went to Freeways who measured it the old-fashioned way of resting the tracking gauge against the front wheels. This method claimed the tracking was spot on! I don't want to ruin my shiny new Bridgestones if the tracking is out, so what should I do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leon C 1 Posted April 30, 2006 Personally I'd take it to a Peugeot garage just to make sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willxs 0 Posted April 30, 2006 tanvics should be able to sort it for you... £20 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest smokinslim Posted April 30, 2006 Talking bout tracking... ...was having a slow puncture sorted the other day. I asked about having my tracking done as i've just about finshed updating the front suspension; the cheeky twats asked me to loosen the track rod ends for them before i took it in Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted April 30, 2006 That is cheeky! Say yes, if I pay half price. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
base-1 17 Posted May 1, 2006 Try going back to the tyre place, they can use cable ties or something to attach the rear gauge jobs instead of hooking them over the wheels 5 out is quite a bit, factory figures for GTi's (all 205s I think but not 100%) is 1-3 in so really you need a figure off the guy with the optical gauges. I run mine parallel for better turn-in although tyre life will suffer slightly. You need another figure really from somewhere that is reliable Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted May 1, 2006 They say they can't do that as the hooks themselves would foul the wheel. According to Kwik Fits chart, the castor should be set at zero +/-1 degree. They also said that it should be measured with about 70kg in each footwell - I have never heard of such a thing! I guess Peugeot themselves should be the most reliable, but then again... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony 1,003 Posted May 2, 2006 Take the car to someone who knows what they're doing and have a set of old Dunlop type gauges - that's what I do, and the car is always setup spot on afterwards Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahl 4 Posted May 2, 2006 Take the car to someone who knows what they're doing and have a set of old Dunlop type gauges - that's what I do, and the car is always setup spot on afterwards As above, in fact i've got some myself! Its no surprise that the clowns in s*itFit can't help you. You can have all the fancy laser guided stuff in the world, but if you can't use it properly and don't understand how things work then theres no point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonah 1 Posted May 2, 2006 They say they can't do that as the hooks themselves would foul the wheel.According to Kwik Fits chart, the castor should be set at zero +/-1 degree. They also said that it should be measured with about 70kg in each footwell - I have never heard of such a thing! I guess Peugeot themselves should be the most reliable, but then again... Well Kwik Fit are talking complete bollocks in more than one way because: 1. 5 degrees toe-out would make the car completely undriveable 2. Tracking CAN be adjusted on Peugeots (derr ) 3. Castor should not be zero +/- 1 degree, it should be about 3 degrees 4. Putting 70kg in each footwell could be a genuine spec as the angles do change slightly as the car is weighted down, but nowhere near enough to explain 5 degrees! But, i think I have an idea what's wrong. What they might have measured as being 5 degrees could have been CAMBER not castor or toe. It's true that it's not adjustable, and it's true that it should be zero +/- a degree or so. It would also explain why another garage said the tracking was correct, if they had gauges that only measure toe and not camber. And it would certainly explain the uneven tyre wear. (I assume by that you meant that they're worn more on one edge than the other?) 5 degrees is still a hell of a lot though, should be easily visible. That much camber can pretty much only be caused by one thing - a bent strut. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLPoomobile 958 Posted May 2, 2006 About 10 or 11 months ago I posted a topic on here whinging about tracking after having mine done. My complaint was that after having my tracking corrected (ir was way out) I noticed the track rod ends had been adjusted completley un-evenly, and in Haynes it says any adjustments should be made evenly to both sides. I queried this with the garage and the guy gave me a long lecture about how 4 wheel allignment works (even showed me as he was doing a car at the time) but it all went over my head to be honest. Basically, after differing opinions were stated on here, I eventually had to agree with one member (cannot remeber who) who said that most garages have thousands of pounds in laser tracking equipment but the staff are not properly trained in how to use it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted May 2, 2006 (edited) Well Kwik Fit are talking complete bollocks in more than one way because:1. 5 degrees toe-out would make the car completely undriveable 2. Tracking CAN be adjusted on Peugeots (derr ) 3. Castor should not be zero +/- 1 degree, it should be about 3 degrees 4. Putting 70kg in each footwell could be a genuine spec as the angles do change slightly as the car is weighted down, but nowhere near enough to explain 5 degrees! But, i think I have an idea what's wrong. What they might have measured as being 5 degrees could have been CAMBER not castor or toe. It's true that it's not adjustable, and it's true that it should be zero +/- a degree or so. It would also explain why another garage said the tracking was correct, if they had gauges that only measure toe and not camber. And it would certainly explain the uneven tyre wear. (I assume by that you meant that they're worn more on one edge than the other?) 5 degrees is still a hell of a lot though, should be easily visible. That much camber can pretty much only be caused by one thing - a bent strut. This sounds very much like the problem. The garage who said the tracking was OK used a set of old-style Dunlop gauges. The problem was that my nearside tyre ONLY had worn on the inside. Also, the steering felt stiffer to turn right, than left. All this would point to a bent strut I guess, and 5 deg of camber. I haven't noticed a visible difference in camber, but I will have another check. I could do with some some front struts anyway. To be fair to Kwik fit, they didn't say tracking couldn't be adjusted, just that they couldn't do it. Thanks very much for the help. Antony Edited May 2, 2006 by macaroni Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonah 1 Posted May 3, 2006 They couldn't adjust the tracking? Why not?? You only need two spanners ffs!! Anyway yes the wear confirms that it is definitely negative camber on the n/s, not the toe setting. As another check you could measure the gap between the inner edge of the tyre and the strut just below the spring seat. If it's closer on the nearside then it confirms that the strut is bent where it enters the hub carrier (I've done a few that way!)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted May 3, 2006 Well, as I said before, he couldn't adjust the tracking because his wall chart said "refer to a dealer". It is Kwik fit after all! I will do that check. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
