dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 So after the ragging my C received last week on the airfield, the tracking was out and the steering wheel was pointing a few degrees left while going straight ahead. No biggie I thought, it's just knocked the camber out. So I booked it in and got it laser aligned today.... oh dear. They managed to straighten up the front apart from the caster, but the guy said that's not a major problem(??), but the rear is quite a lot out on the toe :cry: I had to have a new axle put on it after my tree molesting incident, but the car drove straight when it came back from the bodyshop. My questions are... Could they have aligned the front in the bodyshop to counter the still offset rear? (i.e. making the car drive slightly sideways)? Is is at all possible for me to have moved the axle on the airfield (bearing in mind it was getting some serious stick)? The numbers from the rig are as follows.... Front Caster Left: 2.16 Right: 2.17 Spec: 2.55 - 3.55 Rear Toe Left: -0.09 Right: 0.27 Spec: 0.05-0.15 (All the other measurements are splat bang in the middle of the specs) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 1 Posted October 14, 2004 The funny thing is.. I was wondering if you could do any kind of damage doing hard braking / sideways type action but I didn't want to ask it for fear of sounding stupid - guess I should have asked after all! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazymarcel 0 Posted October 14, 2004 I kinda done that in my last corrado , after locking up and havein too slide on the otherside of the road to avoid a coach, narrowly missing an oncomein car, steering was well out after that. sorry dinkus cant help u in your q's though :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 The funny thing is.. I was wondering if you could do any kind of damage doing hard braking / sideways type action but I didn't want to ask it for fear of sounding stupid - guess I should have asked after all! :) Well in theory I would have thought that there's no way you can move the rear axle, but if the bodyshop didn't tighten it up properly, or if the mounts are slightly bent, then that could explain it. But I'm not 100% sure... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 I'll wager they reused the old stub axles..... the right rear wheel was the one that took the biggest beating if you remember? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 I'll wager they reused the old stub axles..... the right rear wheel was the one that took the biggest beating if you remember? I know that they only replaced 1 of them... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 There's your answer then. Take it back to the Bodyshop and tell them to ring you when the rear is within spec, the flamin morons! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 There's your answer then. Take it back to the Bodyshop and tell them to ring you when the rear is within spec, the flamin morons! That would explain why one wheel is out, but they're both out of spec...? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 Ah yes, sorry, I didn't see the piddly little minus in front of the left wheel's toe. Hmmm... tbh, that one isn't far out enough to cause major handling issues. The offside one is way off tho. Mind you, what are the tyres wearing like? Feathered edges? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Ah yes, sorry, I didn't see the piddly little minus in front of the left wheel's toe. Hmmm... tbh, that one isn't far out enough to cause major handling issues. The offside one is way off tho. Mind you, what are the tyres wearing like? Feathered edges? No idea, as they're pretty mashed up from the air field. I'll go have a look though as they should be showing un-even wear if they weren't aligned properly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Aha... So I called Dr. Vince to ask his opinion. He seems to think that the whole axle is probably twisted, hence giving similar toe offset on both sides. But he says that there is adjustment in the axle brackets themselves which may have been knocked out when I hit aforementioned tree. Chances are that the bodyshop just left the brackets where they are and replaced the axle itself. So in theory it's just a case of slackening the bracket bolts and shunting the axle round a bit. If that don't work, then err oh dear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 If that don't work, then err oh dear. LOL.... love your writing style man... :lol: Yeah Vince's theory is sound actually. He is the man.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 If that don't work, then err oh dear. LOL.... love your writing style man... :lol: Yeah Vince's theory is sound actually. He is the man.... I did my 'not worthy' bowing and grovelling on the phone. I almost want to something that needs doing on my C now so I can take it to him. Mind you, with a Corrado it's only a matter of time :roll: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 Aye.... How did you get on with the fuel pump btw? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Aye.... How did you get on with the fuel pump btw? Couldn't get the f*&%£$g thing out :( It's not helped by the fact that the hole is so small you can only get one arm in and the pump is covered in 10yrs worth of petrol slime. I'm gonna have another attempt at the weekend though... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted October 14, 2004 Take it back to the Bodyshop and tell them to ring you when the rear is within spec, the flamin morons! Exactly, take it back and tell them to sort it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scruffythefirst 0 Posted October 14, 2004 Exactly, take it back and tell them to sort it! Shouldnt have told them about your trackday exploits really..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Exactly, take it back and tell them to sort it! Shouldnt have told them about your trackday exploits really..... Yeah, but when I said the tracking was out they said "well it was striaght when it left here because I road tested it" and as the readout from the alignment rig clearly shows the front was out before they started I can hardly say 'oh err it umm just went like that'. :( I've managed to extract far more money out of insurance companies so far than I've paid them so it's not the end of the world having to pay a few quid to a decent garage to get the tracking sorted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted October 14, 2004 Your toe isn't far out enough to cause any significant problems and your car certainly didn't crab when we followed you a few weekends ago. I would definitely get it done though, if to prolong tyre life more than anything else. Make sure the axle is adjusted rather than shimming the stub axles..... although I suspect they will favour the former approach :? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted October 14, 2004 Your toe isn't far out enough to cause any significant problems and your car certainly didn't crab when we followed you a few weekends ago. I would definitely get it done though, if to prolong tyre life more than anything else. Make sure the axle is adjusted rather than shimming the stub axles..... although I suspect they will favour the former approach :? Yeah I'm gonna get it done and it's going to be done properly :) If the yokel garage can't do it then I'll take it up to Dr. Vince. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
