Stealth geometry

[VRTrickster 0]

Hi guys !

 

Just a quick one. Ive recently forked out on new suspension for my rado and was going to take my car to stealh to get aligned . The car is driving quite bad at the moment so I would like to get it done right and soon! i have booked in to stealths for the 25th as I know they know their stuff and will do a smahing job . The only thing is the distance I have to travel,fuel costs etc + alignment!

I am gettin a full set of Kumho ku31 fitted before hand on the cheap from a freind of a friend at a ATS service centre. When I popped down there yesterday I noticed their 4 wheel laser alignment setup mmm.

The question is do I really need to go all that way to get the job done, or get it done on the cheap 5 minutes down the road ? Is getting done at stealth going to make that much difference as long as this chap does a propper job with his laser setup ?

 

Thanks for any advice ! :)

VRT

[PhatVR6 0]

if you can trust ATS to do it right, then get it done there.

[andy 0]

I only paid £50 ish for local tyre place to do 4 wheel laser allignment, I'd try that and see how you like it, mine drives ok and wears the tyres perfectly evenly well happy with the local job. I'm sure Stealths gear is very good, but like you I couldn't justify the hundreds of miles round trip.

[W3RKD 0]

Hi guys !

 

Just a quick one. Ive recently forked out on new suspension for my rado and was going to take my car to stealh to get aligned . The car is driving quite bad at the moment so I would like to get it done right and soon! i have booked in to stealths for the 25th as I know they know their stuff and will do a smahing job . The only thing is the distance I have to travel,fuel costs etc + alignment!

I am gettin a full set of Kumho ku31 fitted before hand on the cheap from a freind of a friend at a ATS service centre. When I popped down there yesterday I noticed their 4 wheel laser alignment setup mmm.

The question is do I really need to go all that way to get the job done, or get it done on the cheap 5 minutes down the road ? Is getting done at stealth going to make that much difference as long as this chap does a propper job with his laser setup ?

 

Thanks for any advice ! :)

VRT

 

There is also a good tyre fitters in littlehampton where John Mitchell (16vg60) used to work that will make a cracking job on setting up your geometry.

[STORM 2 0]

Anyone got an idea of how much Stealth would want to fit some Silverline coilies and do the geometry after? Assuming I supply the coilovers

[Supercharged 2]

3 hours labour for the coilovers + 2 for the allignment I would think...

 

5x40 = £200 +vat

 

Also remember you'll need front top mounts and you may also want to get the ball joints changed while you there as these affect allignment...

[PhatVR6 0]

£40 an hour!!!!!!!!?!?!

 

JEEEEEEESUS.

[dinkus 10]

Taking the trip all the way up to Stealth just to get an alignment done sounds pretty excessive just for a 4-wheel alignment.

 

You want to make sure that they do a proper 4-wheel alignment, not just 2 and that they adjust the camber too.

 

If you think your mate at ATS will do a good enough job, take it there - if not then have a look in the Yellow Pages for a local bodyshop. Most of the bigger ones have their own 4-wheel alignment rig and should know what they're doing.

 

I think Stealth charge £60 for the alignment (could be wrong), but it generally costs between £50-£75 or so to get it done somewhere decent.

[Jim 2]

£40 an hour!!!!!!!!?!?!

 

JEEEEEEESUS.

 

Worth every penny too!

[Shilakadaddy 0]

Stealth charge £80 + VAT for the 4 wheel alignment. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but seemed a bit over the top when taking the cost of petrol into account too :?

[Jim 2]

Well at the end of the day its an official VAG tool - and my friendly local Audi dealer quoted me 2 hours labour at.. wait for it.. £80/hour for a full laser geometry setup. So its cheap in comparison.

 

I'm not necessarily defending the cost though as I do think its still expensive - but just putting it into perspective :)

[Tekara 0]

Having been through a similar situation using local places and not getting a decent job. I considering using Stealth, everyone recommends them which left me in no doubt they'd get the job done right. However the drive kind of put me off as its a day off work really.

In the end i decided to take a gamble and venture to the local stealership. They did a top job i might have been lucky as the guy who did it was an ex Rado owner. Cost just short of £160 in the end, that included the loan of Polo for the day.

[ben16v 0]

my dealer charged me 60quid for alignment inc camber

 

got a printout of the readings before and after

[dr_mat 0]

Important to note the difference here:

 

Local ATS/Kwik Fit "laser alignment" is nothing more than a tracking setup. Ok they put laser thingies on the back wheels too, so at least the front wheels are aligned to each other and to the rears (so if the rears are off track, the fronts will match, bonus!). They don't check ANY caster/camber angles using this equipment. To do that, you MUST have the full kit that Stealth or your local dealer has.

 

If you've had the front suspension changed, ever, you really should consider getting a full caster+camber check.

 

If you can get your dealer to do it for £60+VAT that's a bargain, my dealer wouldn't check your tyre pressures for less than £85 + VAT!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

In the case of a lowered VR, ignore the factory 1.2 deg negative and get it set to 0.8 deg negative, otherwise the insides of the tyres will feather up if you do a lot of motorway miles. -1.2 is just about acceptable on standard height suspension.

 

If you've got wide wheels and are very low, you might not have much choice on the matter as you'll need to tuck the wheels in to clear the outer arch.

[H8RRA 0]

.....as ben16v points out, most people seem to ignore the fact that dealers have very good gear and are very reasonable - i've had various vr's done and been charged £60-70 quid. Aftermarket / performance places take your eyes out by comparison - the dealers have always been my first and only point of call for this.

 

You get a full print-out and everyting but do tell them you want a different setting to standard as Wires says, if your lowering. Depends how low you're going and what size wheels etc.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

£60 from a dealer is a very good price. I wouldn't and don't trust my dealers to do a good job, so I take it to Stealth. At least there we can look at the computer and tuck the wheels in or out as required, take it for a spin and then redo it if necessary. VAG wouldn't entertain that.

[H8RRA 0]

dodgy southern dealer, wires - i don't mind the "honest" northern chaps ;)

[ben16v 0]

i trust mine, my mate (rado G60 And a Rallye) and another lad on here (H2VEW) both work there

 

btw what different setting should there be for lowered on 15" and koni/H&R on a valver???

[H8RRA 0]

its down to the drop you have and not that easy to work out but kevs guidelines are reasonable...

[ben16v 0]

cool thanks, its about 30mm, when i got new tyres recently the guys were shocked at the amount of EVEN wear on the fronts so i`ll prob leave it as is 8)

[VRTrickster 0]

Cheers for the help guys !

 

Does this 0.8 - apply to a car lowered only 35mm kevHaywire ?

I am thinking of getting it done at ATS as the fella seems to know his stuff,but I would like the full monty caster camber etc! Ill find out what his rig can do. He done a great job on my tyres, 4 fitted, stumpy valves and balanced for a score! Not bad cosidering some places trying to charge me that per tyre!! :shock:

 

Probably get a good deal on the alignment too ! :wink: VRT

[Bendy 0]

hey guys just a bit of a general question about the stealth alignment kit, how do they attach the bits to your wheels? as im running really low id like to know, my alignment is way out and has screwed my inner tyre on the passenger side so it needs to be done when i get some new tyres. Ive seen places where the bits sit on top of the tyre but that would be no good to me, well unless i take my front wings off :wink: thanks in advance

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, same method employed at stealth, but theirs are adjustable so can clamp round the sides of the tyres rather than the tops.

 

VRTrickster, yeah 0.8 seems best at most heights....but this is for the VR6 though, which has more neg camber than the G60/16V platform, but the factory setting is too much when lowered. 1 degree negative and over will give you a sharper turn-in but at the cost of tyre wear....but there are other issues with too much neg camber, namely understeer in the winter if you're stiffened, lowered and using ARBs.

[VRTrickster 0]

Ok kevHaywire just quickly if I get the fella to set the fronts up at

CAMBER - 0.8

TOE +0.5Would this be a good setup ?

VRT