Tony Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Some cars are like wife's "high maintenance" by design the chassis is expected to deteriorate and calibration compensation is designed into the chassis to recover the performance (not sure the wife's allegory is a good example?) Anyway here are some questions most often directed at wim to why the handling or tyre wear has deteriorated. Q: Does parking off road (up curbs) effect the alignment? A: No... Parking is at reasonable speed, generally the tyre is at a 45 degree lock and the tyre is more than able to absorb the curb. Q: Do speed bumps effect the alignment or suspension? A: No... By design the calming insists you hit the bump with the steering dead ahead, the tyres and the suspension are more than able to absorb this compression Q: The island calming must effect the alignment since the spreads the tyres either side A: No. The tyre sidewall is very able to twist and straddle the island... Laterally no tyre has the ability to exert sufficient energy to the wheel/chassis even the RFT tyre. Q: If i lower my car will this effect the Geometry A: Yes... The reason for this is the cars Geometry is a compilation of the moving chassis components... each part has a strict radii that's controlled between the sprung and unsprung chassis, if the distance is changed then inevitably the radii is changed. Q: I've changed my wheels for wider wheels, will this effect the alignment A: Yes. Many factors to consider here but for example the wider tyre generates more rolling resistance so the toe positions alone would need to be reassessed. Q: If any work is done to the steering/ suspension/ ball joints or so on, do i need to have the alignment checked after? A: Yes. If you "had" worn components then after correction the wheels positions must of changed. Q: I'm a careful driver, why is my alignment wrong? A: Sadly the main reason is the road condition. We all encompass the same trauma of the pot-hole and progressively this will displace the Geometry in varying increments........ If you have any questions please ask and i will add them to the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Great thread Tony that will answer a few questions Regarding the speed humps though, if you drive too fast over them surely this can do something to the geometry or would it just knacker the suspension out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Great thread Tony that will answer a few questions Regarding the speed humps though, if you drive too fast over them surely this can do something to the geometry or would it just knacker the suspension out? You would need to be going "stupid fast" to hurt the suspension..... You think about the length of the coils compression and the fact this would need to be fully compressed before the chassis is damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Great thread Tony that will answer a few questions Regarding the speed humps though, if you drive too fast over them surely this can do something to the geometry or would it just knacker the suspension out? You would need to be going "stupid fast" to hurt the suspension..... You think about the length of the coils compression and the fact this would need to be fully compressed before the chassis is damaged. I've always driven over speed humps slowly for fear of damaging the suspension or knocking the alignment out....so you're saying I don't need to do this? You mention coils, what about those cars that don't use them on the rear? I know someone who had broken a rear shock on a renault driving over humps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I'd like to know why, when my geo is out it always seems to be left hand down on the steering wheel, I'm quite a careful driver and have a keen eye to not hit pot holes. What causes this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I'd like to know why, when my geo is out it always seems to be left hand down on the steering wheel, I'm quite a careful driver and have a keen eye to not hit pot holes. What causes this? Pure chance i would say Pete..... I suppose by percentage most miss-aligned wheels are the NSF and most times the Toe is toed in, this will make the steering LHD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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