geometry setting - basic question
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I've got an Ariel Atom which I've slowly adjusted and tweaked the geometry settings over a number of years and now have it at a point where I'm happy with it. Originally, a friend and fellow Atom owner set it up for me with his equipment, and I went straight to a local tyre place I use and got them to do a printout on their Hunter kit so I had the "base settings" as shown on their kit for comparison, and I've gone back to them each time I've wanted it checked or to make adjustments.
I believe in order to do a geometry check (at least on my local tyre place Hunter equipment), you have to first "tell" the machine what the car is so that it loads up default factory geometry settings. Because my car isn't "main stream" it isn't listed, so originally they had to faff around to get a template to work from (think they picked a random vehicle but not 100% sure). Why do you have to start with a template (unless its purely to do a comparison as to what the car SHOULD be set up as per factory spec)? I have the readings I want (i.e. camber, toe etc), can I not take it to any (decent) place with alignment kit and get my car set up, or do they need a factory/baseline template before they can do readings/adjustments etc? I might be wrong, but surely a camber reading of, say, -1'30' is the same on any wheel on any car, as its just a measure of the wheel position relative to being perpendicular, and the actual car make/model is irrelevant? Or am I being ridiculously thick and missing something obvious?
Cheers
I've got an Ariel Atom which I've slowly adjusted and tweaked the geometry settings over a number of years and now have it at a point where I'm happy with it. Originally, a friend and fellow Atom owner set it up for me with his equipment, and I went straight to a local tyre place I use and got them to do a printout on their Hunter kit so I had the "base settings" as shown on their kit for comparison, and I've gone back to them each time I've wanted it checked or to make adjustments.
I believe in order to do a geometry check (at least on my local tyre place Hunter equipment), you have to first "tell" the machine what the car is so that it loads up default factory geometry settings. Because my car isn't "main stream" it isn't listed, so originally they had to faff around to get a template to work from (think they picked a random vehicle but not 100% sure). Why do you have to start with a template (unless its purely to do a comparison as to what the car SHOULD be set up as per factory spec)? I have the readings I want (i.e. camber, toe etc), can I not take it to any (decent) place with alignment kit and get my car set up, or do they need a factory/baseline template before they can do readings/adjustments etc? I might be wrong, but surely a camber reading of, say, -1'30' is the same on any wheel on any car, as its just a measure of the wheel position relative to being perpendicular, and the actual car make/model is irrelevant? Or am I being ridiculously thick and missing something obvious?
Cheers
TD,
Like OBD codes, this is part of the deskilling that technology imposes on the technician.
There are simple instruments, DiY even, that will measure your camber directly.
Some garages may have simple laser kit that will measure toe directly too, or else the old Dunlop gauge where you squint down an eyepiece
Castor is rarely adjustable - can you do that on your Atom?
Colleges have the simpler kit. maybe ask them?
JOhn
Like OBD codes, this is part of the deskilling that technology imposes on the technician.
There are simple instruments, DiY even, that will measure your camber directly.
Some garages may have simple laser kit that will measure toe directly too, or else the old Dunlop gauge where you squint down an eyepiece
Castor is rarely adjustable - can you do that on your Atom?
Colleges have the simpler kit. maybe ask them?
JOhn
Cheers for the replies fellas, much appreciated.
As far as I know, castor isn't adjustable.
I've heard good things about Northampton Motorsport but they are a bit of a trek from me.
I'd still like to know from any experts on here, if you can just hook any car up to a Hunter alignment system and just set the camber/toe to what I "want" without having any base template etc? If I know I want the camber set to X on the back, Y on the front, and the toe set to A on the front and B on the rear, can they do it? Or are my current readings somehow linked to the garage/alignment kit where I originally got them and you can't transpose them?
I hope that makes sense?
Cheers
As far as I know, castor isn't adjustable.
I've heard good things about Northampton Motorsport but they are a bit of a trek from me.
I'd still like to know from any experts on here, if you can just hook any car up to a Hunter alignment system and just set the camber/toe to what I "want" without having any base template etc? If I know I want the camber set to X on the back, Y on the front, and the toe set to A on the front and B on the rear, can they do it? Or are my current readings somehow linked to the garage/alignment kit where I originally got them and you can't transpose them?
I hope that makes sense?
Cheers
To answer the question - yes, the type of car is irrelevant to where the wheels point. It just gives you manufacturers recommended settings, plus adjustment data for a specific vehicle. You can start with a blank template on a hunter but i couldnt tell you how without looking (and i use one most days!).
I'm quite sceptical about these hyper accurate lazer aligners.
Once watched a guy align an NSX on top of 4 oil drums. How the f
k it knew they were level is beyond me.
Tbh too much is read into the base or factory settings. Generally its a safe predictable set up that gives a compromise. You wouldn't drive across Europe with 4.5 deg of neg camber and expect to have much tyre left when you return. Yet fire the same car round a circuit and it will feel great.
Horses for courses, as long as the tyre wear and temps are ok (check across the tyre in 3 places ideally no more than a 10% difference) and the car is stable then you've found somewhere near a set up.
In the last 17 years I've used bars, string and a digital camber gauge on every car I've worked on. Stringing a car up is fairly simple and gives exactly the same results without needing £30k of equipment that can lie if you have someone that's not totally competent using it.
Once watched a guy align an NSX on top of 4 oil drums. How the f
k it knew they were level is beyond me.Tbh too much is read into the base or factory settings. Generally its a safe predictable set up that gives a compromise. You wouldn't drive across Europe with 4.5 deg of neg camber and expect to have much tyre left when you return. Yet fire the same car round a circuit and it will feel great.
Horses for courses, as long as the tyre wear and temps are ok (check across the tyre in 3 places ideally no more than a 10% difference) and the car is stable then you've found somewhere near a set up.
In the last 17 years I've used bars, string and a digital camber gauge on every car I've worked on. Stringing a car up is fairly simple and gives exactly the same results without needing £30k of equipment that can lie if you have someone that's not totally competent using it.
Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff