Got a wheel alignment today – Results

[Guest RedLineGTR]

After about a month after replacing my springs for something nicer to lower the ride height a bit and also give my car a better feel around corners which it has, but after this project with the advice of people I knew I needed a wheel alignment after messing with my suspension parts, which I noticed after fitting the new springs and going for a spirited drive.

Some place I went to check out about some prices & places for my wheel alignment and since of the 4 wheel steering system on skylines (mine is a r33) it requires more time and all 4 wheels to be done (more cost)

Some comments I came across from some places I visited:

• There must be something else wrong with the car not just the alignment! (Why Not)

• Too busy at the moment maybe give us a buzz in a week or so! (Yah sure)

• How about it in the morning that’s the only time I am free! (Work 5 days a week)

After driving around for about 80km’s though I would stop by a couple of performance part stores around Moorabbin etc but on the way home popped into “TYREPOWER” and asked them about their wheel alignments and how much it will end up costing me & when I can get it done.

General first up experience:

• Very friendly and welcoming

• Asked what the car was doing in particular (reasons for alignment)

• Advised that it needed 4 wheels to be aligned etc & all info

• Said they could get it done today & stated that they are finishing up a car atm and it will be 10min before my car gets done (took only 5min to finish the other car)

• They took the car for a spin before and after the alignment to make sure everything is fine (they asked if I wanted to come with him)

• Covered the drivers seat in plastic (don’t need anymore dirt)

Car drives like a dream and I am very happy in how it handles and how straight it steers when driving.

Here is a link to the alignment chart that they gave me, the guy doing the alignment he explained it a bit. But I wouldn’t mind peoples feedback if the alignment measurements are correct for my car.

These are the details of the store if anyone wants it:

Tyrepower –Moorabbin

234 Chesterville Road

Moorabbin VIC 3189

Ph. 03 9553 1855

Just though I would share this positive experience with a business in Melbourne.

Cheers Rob :wassup:

[Duncan]

good to hear you are happy with their work!

I noticed that some of the settings are highlighted, did they raise an issue with you?

particularly on the rear, I would normally expect 0 toe, they seem to have set it to 2mm out. This would have 2 effects, 1 is you will probably get a bit more oversteer (sometime you would go 1mm toe in to discourage this), and 2 it will wear out your tyres pretty quickly.....they may have set it deliberatley to minimise the effect of the camber on tyre wear but thats more a family car compromise than a sports car setting....

[Guest RedLineGTR]

The highlighted areas are what the settings were before the alignment and the ones that are in the "actual" column is what the settings are now after the correction. Sorry didn’t explain it at all in my post (as I was puzzled when I saw the sheet first). Cheers Rob

[rs73]

That's great work. Some other places worth to try perhaps are the Centreline Suspension in Thomastown/Reservoir (supplier of Whiteline) and also Fulchrum Suspension in Bayswater area (tuned lots of Targa Tas GTRs)

[Jetdat]

i have just had a wheel alignment done at Traction Tyres in rowville. these guys do a lot of race cars and know skylines as they have done a lot of them in the past. They suggested i fit adjustable castor, which they fitted and the car steers much better and doesnt have the slight pull to the left that it did have since i bought it.

having just got a set of 18's and as i am about to lower the car soon i will be going back there to fine tune the alignment.

[paulr33]

i had similar experienec with bearepairs on nepean hwy, just before moorabbin

[R31Nismoid]

I would have gone to on of our favoured experts that many are now using

Chris @ centreline suspension.

It'll cost you a bit more than a "tyre place" but its well worth the money as is expiriance is worth every penny for a decent job

[skypilot]

RedlineGTR,

how much did the alignment at tyrepower cost??

i might have to go there and get it done.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

it should be about $66 like every other place i think. i went to that tyrepower place and they were alright and the actual service turnover was fast. but they never asked if i wanted to jump in the car with them for the test drive. they just took off without sayin anything. oh did they chek ur battery too? i didnt ask them to check it but when i opened my boot i noticed the middle of my boot cover for the battry and fuses was torn up because they couldnt be bothered takin the centre cap off that holds the plastic lining up. how did i now they checked the battery because tehre was a big sticker saying so!! wasnt too happy about that.

ive been to traction tyres and im definitly goin back there again:D

[Guest RedLineGTR]

RedlineGTR,  

how much did the alignment at tyrepower cost??

i might have to go there and get it done.

Cost me $77 bucks at that time i didnt want to down to anything cheaper i just wanted it done.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

it should be about $66 like every other place i think.  i went to that tyrepower place and they were alright and the actual service turnover was fast.  but they never asked if i wanted to jump in the car with them for the test drive.  they just took off without sayin anything.  oh did they chek ur battery too?  i didnt ask them to check it but when i opened my boot i noticed the middle of my boot cover for the battry and fuses was torn up because they couldnt be bothered takin the centre cap off that holds the plastic lining up.  how did i now they checked the battery because tehre was a big sticker saying so!!  wasnt too happy about that.

ive been to traction tyres and im definitly goin back there again:D

At the time I don’t think they were going to ask me about hopping in the car with them but since I asked them if they needed to drive the car for the alignment in a prior conversation (don’t trust many workshops) he suggested that I go with him.

Pretty sure they didnt check the batt, but i will have a look in my boot and see what i find hopefully nothing has been touched!!

[Guest RedLineGTR]

i had similar experienec with bearepairs on nepean hwy, just before moorabbin

Had quotes from bearepairs (dont sure which one) but it was close to $80 bucks to get it done.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

In general i got prices from $50 bucks to $80 or so dollars. At the time i went to a couple of shops and no one could get it done on that day (11AM) when i popped in. In the end i didnt mind the price but i just wanted a good job done without stuffing around or needed to take a day off work just for 40min worth of work.

[NismoR34]

so you didnt checkout the place i sent you? or did you?

[Guest RedLineGTR]

so you didnt checkout the place i sent you? or did you?

Yep sure did buddy. Will talk to you later tonight. Cheers Rob

[INASNT]

Had quotes from bearepairs (dont sure which one) but it was close to $80 bucks to get it done.

I got my 4 wheel alignment and 2 front wheel balanced at bearepairs for $77 2 weeks ago.

Any place with a 4 wheel alignment machine can do it as it is not so complicated to do as skylines aint the most complex cars in the world.

[heartbrkr]

My mechanic suggested i have a wheel allignmetn the other month. The car has always pulled slightly left, due to camber of the road i presume.

Went to Pedders, as i had heard usual tyre places were staffed by incompetant apprentices. whoops.

$110 later, they told me there is nothing wrong with my car. Admitted it pulled slightly left, but said, camber kits were shit, and since nothing was obviously damaged, they could spend half a day adjusting shit to offset the problem, but told me to live with it pretty much.

I was mainly relieved i didnt have to spend any big bucks. Wasnt very impressed with the price, but was still a decent consellation, considering what my imagination was running away with =)

Anyone want to comment on these settings? Before & After. o=degree '=minute

Camber - Left : -1o -> 1o

Camber - Right : -1o30 -> -1o30

Castor - Left : +6o40 -> 6o40

Castor - Right : +6o -> +6o

Toe : +30' -> +10' ; changed

Rear Camber Left : -30' -> -30'

Rear Camber RIght : -1o30 -> -1o ; does this make sense? o vs ' ?

Rear Toe Left : +15' -> +5' ; changed

Rear Toe Right : +5' -> +5'

[rs73]

Castor - Left : +6o40 -> 6o40

Castor - Right : +6o -> +6o

I assume u have R33? U'd probably need more castor on the front.

Mine was set to Front Left 7o00 and Front right 6o30

but that's with whiteline kit, dun think the stock can

be adjusted that much.

Not much point adjusting rear castor as they dont have anything

to do with steering much. Checkout Whiteline's recommended

setting to give u an idea: http://www.whiteline.com.au/yourcar.htm

[heartbrkr]

Cheers.

Aside from that, my steering wheel likes to pull hard when i stop at the lights. Usually uneven surface at the Red. Freaks me out.

[rs73]

Check your brake, u may have uneven brake bias left and right.

not sure how to fix it, talk to brake and suspension specialists.

Another factor is if u have aftermarket wheels fitted with wider than

stock tyres, they can cause tramlining in uneven surface like what

you're experiencing. Braking hard shifts weight onto the front tyres

and the effect would be heightened. Wide tyres on GTRs are known

to cause tramlining effect on rough surface particularly on low speed.

(You may wish to argue this but many auto journalists claimed the

same findings in various magazine articles). It's a side effect of having

wider tyres. They're good for cornering on circuit's smooth surface,

but may not be as good on the street.

If it's not your brakes pulling to one side then I perhaps its the tyres.

I personally wouldnt' fit anything larger than 225 at the front due to

this side effect. But again, each car is different, even tyre's tread pattern

can heightened/reduce tramlining effect.