Hunter alignment advice please
Discussion
I use the same independant tyre bloke for all my tyres, preferring to buy at the right price online & go to him.
He now has a Hunter 4 wheel alignment set up & I have asked him if he can do it for me, what he said next surprised me. He said, (talking about my e36 track car) you know your car & what you want better than me, come down when I am quiet, I will get it set up & you can play with it yourself!
What can they do, are they easy to use, the car is fully adjustable for track & camber at least, so what advice would you give me in my ignorance, as I do not know what to expect?
He now has a Hunter 4 wheel alignment set up & I have asked him if he can do it for me, what he said next surprised me. He said, (talking about my e36 track car) you know your car & what you want better than me, come down when I am quiet, I will get it set up & you can play with it yourself!
What can they do, are they easy to use, the car is fully adjustable for track & camber at least, so what advice would you give me in my ignorance, as I do not know what to expect?
It depends on your level of intelligence, or at with least angles, geometry and trigonometry etc. If you're as thick as a brick then it's going to be a long day, but if you've got some settings which you can work to, an understanding of the above and a day to work it out give it a go. Make sure everything is adjustable (ie not seized) before you go. Sounds like a good opportunity to learn if you're that way inclined.
Edited by 227bhp on Thursday 19th May 18:06
That is my whole idea for the day, to come up with a set of angles that others say work, or at least a consensus of readings that appear to work for others, and to work towards these & how much adjustment does what in case the results aren't as expected to maximise my learnings & usefulness going forward.
He's assumed you know what you want
He's unsure whether those figures can be acheived with the hardware the car is fitted with
He wants you there so that when the final adjustment is not on exactly the figures you have plucked from some unknown on an Internet forum, he can show you why.
He's probably had problem customers in the past who have no idea what they want and whether it can be achieved.
Probably an instance where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
He's unsure whether those figures can be acheived with the hardware the car is fitted with
He wants you there so that when the final adjustment is not on exactly the figures you have plucked from some unknown on an Internet forum, he can show you why.
He's probably had problem customers in the past who have no idea what they want and whether it can be achieved.
Probably an instance where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
It's not just about geometry
To reduce oversteer
Therefore increase understeer
Increase front spring rate
Decrease rear spring rate
Stiffen front damper
Soften rear damper
Increase rear tyre width
Decrease front tyre width
Increase rear tyre pressure
Decrease front tyre pressure
More positive front camber
More negative rear camber
Stiffer front anti-roll bar
Softer rear anti-roll bar
More weight to the front
Less weight to the rear
To reduce understeer
Therefore increase oversteer
Decrease front spring rate
Increase rear spring rate
Soften front damper
Stiffen rear damper
Decrease rear tyre width
Increase front tyre width
Decrease rear tyre pressure
Increase front tyre pressure
More negative front camber
More positive rear camber
Soften front anti-roll bar
Stiffen rear anti-roll bar
Less weight to the front
More weight to the rear
Not all at once obviously
There are many ways to get the handling and feel you want
To reduce oversteer
Therefore increase understeer
Increase front spring rate
Decrease rear spring rate
Stiffen front damper
Soften rear damper
Increase rear tyre width
Decrease front tyre width
Increase rear tyre pressure
Decrease front tyre pressure
More positive front camber
More negative rear camber
Stiffer front anti-roll bar
Softer rear anti-roll bar
More weight to the front
Less weight to the rear
To reduce understeer
Therefore increase oversteer
Decrease front spring rate
Increase rear spring rate
Soften front damper
Stiffen rear damper
Decrease rear tyre width
Increase front tyre width
Decrease rear tyre pressure
Increase front tyre pressure
More negative front camber
More positive rear camber
Soften front anti-roll bar
Stiffen rear anti-roll bar
Less weight to the front
More weight to the rear
Not all at once obviously
There are many ways to get the handling and feel you want
When I started my track car build I saw what looks like the same list & have referred to it before when I have had issues, now I just want to do a bit of "normalisation" & make sure both sides are the same & at a logical setting.
From there maybe weeks/months down the road I may be able to revisit what I do (assuming he is ok with that) and dabble some more.
From there maybe weeks/months down the road I may be able to revisit what I do (assuming he is ok with that) and dabble some more.
Everybody here is fixated on Hunter alignment gear for some reason. Other alignment equipment is available. A lot of race cars are set up with alignment equipment comprising a few bits of scrap steel, some string and a steel rule.
Go to a motorsport place. A tyre fitter for road cars, generally, won't have a clue about track cars.
Go to a motorsport place. A tyre fitter for road cars, generally, won't have a clue about track cars.
He doesn't have a clue, he said that to me, I only need him to operate the equipment, I will be doing everything else.
My plan is to set it up as per a "generic" set of angles for the e36 in track guise & mark everything up, then to come back to experiment with other angles to hone the settings.
My plan is to set it up as per a "generic" set of angles for the e36 in track guise & mark everything up, then to come back to experiment with other angles to hone the settings.
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