Lovejoy

Thanks Tony. So if the castor is wrong that would give the setback (reading) difference? or will knowing the castor angles indicate whether it is a sprung or unsprung problem? Why do so few places read castor angles? According to John beam literature it only requires turning steering wheel fully to the right and fully to left. (they have an arago) Not sure if extra work is required on other set ups but surely it's in the garage's interest to investigate all it can from the machine? May go back and ask them why they didn't read castor and if they could please.

Not the usual sort of vehicle you deal with but had the tracking set on my Frontera by a local company. They have a John Bean set up which is a good unit but the printout shows setback of: Setback Front: -23mm Setback Rear: -25mm Wheelbase difference: 2mm Now with that amount of setback the N/S wheels should be visibly different in the arches to the O/S. I would expect the wheelbase to be different by a large amount if there was anything bent to that extent as well. The car drives ok, seems more responsive since the tracking adjusted as well and doesn't pull. The thrust angle is listed as -0 degrees 7 minutes. What I'm wondering is how the setback is measured and how can it be nearly an inch out without noticing anything obvious. The steering wheel sits at about 20 past 10 when travelling straight but other than that it seems reasonable for the type of vehicle. I am a retired mechanic so do understand a bit about geometry and cars in general and there is no sign of damage or excessive wear anywhere. I put four new balljoints on it and had it MOT'd before the alignment. I used a system called optoflex when I was working in the trade; huge projectors attached to the wheels, mirrors, crosshairs and sliding boards! The new systems are far more advanced but I don't understand it all so any clarification would be great. Frontera Sport (swb) 1995 Coil rear suspension 16 inch wheels. Print out: