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Thread: Au2 wheel alignment

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    Default Au2 wheel alignment

    Had new tyres on & wheel align a month ago, they said I need a camber kit. I did lower control Arms 18 months ago & decided to do the the top ones thinking it may help correct the align issue. No different. It's the camber angle.7/2012 Left -0022' right+0022'. 3/2017 Lh -0040' rh -0040' Lh +0040'. He's said that equates to 30mm of change needed. F guys.

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    Has the car been in an accident anytime in its life time ..... and or been to a smash repair shop ?

    If so the car chassis frame may not be in alignment ...... if not the problem may be in the suspension parts ..... how long has the car had this problem ?
    Last edited by OSIRUS; 18-03-17 at 12:43 PM.
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    Has been in a couple of small slight panel damage prangs. I noticed that on right turns it's harder to straighten from the turn from about 6 months ago.

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    Sounds like you need a new wheel alignment operator.

    Camber AND caster is adjusted by adding and removing shims on the upper arms where they bolt to the body, 1 or 2mm plates are like $2-3 each, its the time involved to do the job that drums up the costs.

    For camber they add and remove from both leading and trailing points evenly, for caster they remove from either leading or trailing depending on which way they want to go and add what was removed to the opposite point.

    Now if your lower arms where rebuilt wrong, there is your problem.

    The bushes need to go in a certain way (clocked), if the person doing it didnt know this it may explain the problem.

    Ive seen many Chinese aftermarket replacement arms clocked wrong from new too.

    Its one of the reasons i stopped selling those arms......and the supplier just stares at you when you tell him and keeps selling them......

    Yep i found out after a customer went for a wheel alignment and told me they couldn't bring it into specs, luckily i had just rebuilt a pair of my own old ones with Nolathane bushes so i sort on knew they were supposed to go in one way, then i pulled a left and right Chinese made one out and compared them and discovered what the fault was.

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    I've replaced the bottom one's 18 months ago with I assume with Chinese ones. Though I'm sure I checked the off set with the bushes & they were similar. I hope I hadn't bought them off you Mr G as I have bought a bit. Bought them from someone else & didn't think I had bought them from you. Cheers.
    Last edited by hogwort; 19-03-17 at 04:54 PM.

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    I have not sold them in over 2-2.5 years so it wont be me, its the next sucker who took them on board and probably is Chinese and most likely does not know what a Ford even looks like or where they are fitted.

    They just read off a catalog given to them and regurgitate the information onto a listing without a clue about parts, engineering or fitting. (like most of that suppliers resellers)

    I only got caught out once by those lower arms after that customer came to me with his issue and i pulled out a new pair to check and spotted the issue with that batch (normally the bushes are covered with bubble wrap so you dont see them), after that one time i personally opened and checked everything as it was dropped off.

    From memory it was only his left arms that were wrong. (not 100% sure though but it was only one side)
    Last edited by Godzilla; 20-03-17 at 04:59 AM.

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    so , just to understand , are Ford control arm bushes not able to be replaced ? why whole new arms?

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    I have had an AU for over 10 years and have had no problems with the steering even after being hit square on the Drivers Front wheel (my fault) and had to replace the power steering box etc but I had a Valiant wagon that refused to align correctly no matter what was tried.
    It turned out the previous owner had hit the gutter more than a few times and caused the bottom suspension arm to distort (twist) just a few degrees but it wasnt detectable until I replaced it for some reason and that fixed it.
    I took that arm to the mechanic who had tried his damdest to get it aligned before to redo it after I replaced the bottom support arm and he said although he was a Valiant mechanic and owned one himself, he had never struck this happening before.
    One thing I have found with this Ford is that as the alignment goes out, the steering wheel goes from the 'T' position to about 5 degrees to the right (clockwise).
    Last edited by gordon_s1942; 20-03-17 at 03:03 PM.
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    Default Cost

    Quote Originally Posted by VroomVroom View Post
    so , just to understand , are Ford control arm bushes not able to be replaced ? why whole new arms?
    Cheaper to replace the arm than getting bushes, getting them pushed out then in. Plus you get new ball joint & all other bushes that are on the arm I can get reasonably goo quality AU/BA arms $120 ea.
    Last edited by hogwort; 20-03-17 at 05:23 PM. Reason: additional info

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    The bushes are a total pain to replace.

    Imagine a chicken wishbone, the 2 bushes are on the 2 sides that meet.

    Both are pushed from the outside in.

    To remove them both bushes have a large outer lip that you cannot use to rest on a press, you need to remove the metal lip just to sit it on a press.

    Then you have to deal with the "Y", you need some really long extensions to go through one bush to press on to the other bush to push it out.

    And thats just the removal.....

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    update. Tomorrow I'm off to another aligner (recommended by a panel beater mate) so hopefully It'll be sorted

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    Well kinda sorted. He was fairly scathing in his apinion of the previous align. They hadn't checked ride height, 20mm difference for a start. Jacking it to same hight altered the alignment​ in the right direction. Conclusion was, not enough out to be of concern. He spent over 30 min in checking & wouldn't take a cent. Thanks Swansea tyre & battery service

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    Thanks Swansea tyre & battery service
    Well done! They do deserve credit for their efforts.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    Having watched my AU aligned a few times at the same place to see how the machine they used could be programmed to suit the make and model to be done makes you wonder just how anyone using it could make a Dogs Dinner of it unless they are totally useless and based on your posting, you got the one who came first in his class in 'How to Stuff it up' !!!
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    I do my own alignments to the GTR and my sons S2000, both cars need rear alignment also, using just my sat inclinometer, some builders string, a ruler and a straight edge.

    Thats caster, camber and toe on all 4 wheels.

    I once took my GTR in for a professional wheel alignment after fitting 4 new tyres after being offered it for free with the tyres, i mentioned to the shop owner that i do it myself and he laughed and said their computerized system will make it spot on.

    We both walked into the workshop as they fitted the alignment equipment to the car and the alignment guy just took one look at the screens readings and said its so accurate he has never seen a car hit every parameter dead on without a whisker to be moved, not only withing range but dead on in the middle.

    Owner of the tyre shop turned to me and said he just spent $120,000 on this latest machine and training of his staff, he then turned to the staff and started going off at them saying this guy did this alignment at home with just strings and a spirit level and it out did what their machine could do.

    He then asked me if i wanted a job......i just laughed at him.

    My sons S2000 had many professional alignments through the years, always wearing tyres unevenly, a year ago i did his for the first time, its on its third set of semi slicks in 1 year, each set wore perfectly evenly and flat.

    If you look at motorsport, even at the highest levels, they still use strings and incinometers......

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