Wheel Alignment question
Wheel Alignment question
Author
Discussion

belfry

Original Poster:

1,031 posts

208 months

Friday 6th November 2009
quotequote all
After having had the front wishbone replaced, I though that I should get the wheels aligned (wear on inside of front tyres). OPC quoting £245 for alignment. Can this be right???

ATS don't have the alignment info for a 2006 997 C4S. Can anyone on here help?

£245 implies more than a usual ATS type alignment. Is this a much larger job on a 997 than I might have been on my 964?

HRG.

72,863 posts

265 months

Friday 6th November 2009
quotequote all
centre gravity!!!

yellowgriff

1,429 posts

208 months

Friday 6th November 2009
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Ring mark at wheel power at Brockley done my 996tt for less than half that,,,,

HRG.

72,863 posts

265 months

Friday 6th November 2009
quotequote all
CG will probably cost that and more, but you'll never drive a more sorted handling car thumbup

mrdemon

21,146 posts

291 months

Friday 6th November 2009
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cg is the same price as that.

so I would go there

HRG.

72,863 posts

265 months

Friday 6th November 2009
quotequote all
Depending on what else Chris finds, whatever it is money well spent.

ACEparts_com

3,724 posts

267 months

Friday 6th November 2009
quotequote all
OPC's have the equipment to do the job but don't have the time / enthusiasm / capability to actually do it right. Ask me how i know!

dan1502

686 posts

241 months

Friday 6th November 2009
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How do you know?

belfry

Original Poster:

1,031 posts

208 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
I think that I must be missing something. I've had my front wishbone changed and I now need the front wheels aligned. I'm not after a full geometric set-up. There are some signs of wear on the insides of the front tyres.

On every other car I've owned (including 3.2 and 964 Porsches) this has been something that was done when the the tyres showed any signs of uneven wear. It usually costed £30 at the local tyre place as opposed to the £250 that I have been quoted.

Am I thinking about something else maybe? I thought that this was called wheel alignment. Are 997's completely different in the way that alignment of the front wheels is carried out? I was just hoping for a minor adjustment (toe in xxmm, or toe out xxmm) using a usual ATS type laser machine.

jackal

11,251 posts

308 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
belfry said:
I think that I must be missing something. I've had my front wishbone changed and I now need the front wheels aligned. I'm not after a full geometric set-up. There are some signs of wear on the insides of the front tyres.

On every other car I've owned (including 3.2 and 964 Porsches) this has been something that was done when the the tyres showed any signs of uneven wear. It usually costed £30 at the local tyre place as opposed to the £250 that I have been quoted.

Am I thinking about something else maybe? I thought that this was called wheel alignment. Are 997's completely different in the way that alignment of the front wheels is carried out? I was just hoping for a minor adjustment (toe in xxmm, or toe out xxmm) using a usual ATS type laser machine.
tierods would remain in place surely ?
isn't it the caster that needs doing ?

although i dont know 997s ... is the wishbone a one piece affair ?


give Tognola a call. They have the same machine that OPC use. They charge 150 for full geo but hopefully they will just do just one adjustment for a lot less than that.

also promax will do it for 70+vat for the geo and then labour time on top of that for any adjustments


ETA: opps.. just looked it up, you cant set caster on a 997 or so i gather

Edited by jackal on Saturday 7th November 10:07

HRG.

72,863 posts

265 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
belfry said:
I think that I must be missing something. I've had my front wishbone changed and I now need the front wheels aligned. I'm not after a full geometric set-up. There are some signs of wear on the insides of the front tyres.

On every other car I've owned (including 3.2 and 964 Porsches) this has been something that was done when the the tyres showed any signs of uneven wear. It usually costed £30 at the local tyre place as opposed to the £250 that I have been quoted.

Am I thinking about something else maybe? I thought that this was called wheel alignment. Are 997's completely different in the way that alignment of the front wheels is carried out? I was just hoping for a minor adjustment (toe in xxmm, or toe out xxmm) using a usual ATS type laser machine.
You are missing something, the pleasure of driving your car when it's handling as it should. When properly set up it will hit bumps, dips, you name it and never behave in an unexpected manner. It will have more grip than you think possible yes

Sure, you can get a 4 wheel laser geo done for £50 at your local tyre place but it's not the same thing as having your car set up properly.

I would go so far as to say it's the best money you can spend on improving your cars performance.

ACEparts_com

3,724 posts

267 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
dan1502 said:
How do you know?
Took car for alignment - came out with steering wheel 45 degrees off center! How they didn't spot that i'll never know.

GreigM

6,740 posts

275 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
Castor will be fixed (as it is on most cars).

If you know what the values for toe and camber then any respectable garage with decent equipment will be able to set it for you - most Porsche are straightforward to quickly adjust (benefit of racing heritage), and given its really one corner it should be cheap to do.

If you know the settings you want then the geometry is straightforward and anywhere charging over £100 is taking the piss. If you are paying over £200 then you should be expecting custom configuration based around a discussion on your requirements with an expert in setting up your specific type of car. Unfortunately many cowboys operate in the £200+ bracket and don't have a clue.

yellowgriff

1,429 posts

208 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
i own a 4 camera system brand new cost a few quid under 20K. geo set up which is quiet basic £125.oo you get a print out before & after settings, People charge what they want,BMW Charge £350.00 plus vat, Range rover charge £480 plus vat. so £225 aint that bad if they recon they can make you a better driver,,
If your only want tracking any back street tyre bay about 35,00 ,,,

belfry

Original Poster:

1,031 posts

208 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
Does anyone on here know the settings?
2006 C4S

HRG.

72,863 posts

265 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
GreigM said:
Castor will be fixed (as it is on most cars).

If you know what the values for toe and camber then any respectable garage with decent equipment will be able to set it for you - most Porsche are straightforward to quickly adjust (benefit of racing heritage), and given its really one corner it should be cheap to do.

If you know the settings you want then the geometry is straightforward and anywhere charging over £100 is taking the piss. If you are paying over £200 then you should be expecting custom configuration based around a discussion on your requirements with an expert in setting up your specific type of car. Unfortunately many cowboys operate in the £200+ bracket and don't have a clue.
£200 bracket, cowboys? rofl I'm afraid it's you who are clueless. Do a bit of reading up on Centre Gravity and be prepared to admit you are mistaken. I went in for geo at about 10:00, I left at 21:30 (yes, we spoke about how much I wanted to push the front and what did I want a benign or lively setup etc.) and mine was a quick 'un. Chris is nothing short of a perfectionist and even though it cost getting on for £400 (well under his published rates) it is the best money I spent on handling.

Do not underestimate what a good geo setup can do for your car.

PS, my castor isn't fixed.

bertelli_1

2,408 posts

236 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all

yellowgriff

1,429 posts

208 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
bertelli_1 said:
This is the new system ive just had fitted in my bodyshop not far short of 20K.. if 1 of my staff took 8 hrs to set a car up he would be looking for another job..
F1 cars smashed to pieces put back together over night. 9 hrs to set up geo.... Dont think so.. If you put the car on the system there isnt that much to adjust, Some car such as BMW have weighted bags for all the seats & have to have full tank of petrol,, all 4 wheels camber caster all adjusted about an hr tops...Sorry but cant agree

Richard Hamilton

525 posts

287 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
belfry said:
Does anyone on here know the settings?
2006 C4S
Drop me a PM with your email address and I'll send you the section of the workshop manual.

GreigM

6,740 posts

275 months

Saturday 7th November 2009
quotequote all
HRG. said:
GreigM said:
Castor will be fixed (as it is on most cars).

If you know what the values for toe and camber then any respectable garage with decent equipment will be able to set it for you - most Porsche are straightforward to quickly adjust (benefit of racing heritage), and given its really one corner it should be cheap to do.

If you know the settings you want then the geometry is straightforward and anywhere charging over £100 is taking the piss. If you are paying over £200 then you should be expecting custom configuration based around a discussion on your requirements with an expert in setting up your specific type of car. Unfortunately many cowboys operate in the £200+ bracket and don't have a clue.
£200 bracket, cowboys? rofl I'm afraid it's you who are clueless. Do a bit of reading up on Centre Gravity and be prepared to admit you are mistaken. I went in for geo at about 10:00, I left at 21:30 (yes, we spoke about how much I wanted to push the front and what did I want a benign or lively setup etc.) and mine was a quick 'un. Chris is nothing short of a perfectionist and even though it cost getting on for £400 (well under his published rates) it is the best money I spent on handling.

Do not underestimate what a good geo setup can do for your car.

PS, my castor isn't fixed.
I've set up my own GT3 and now my westfield race car myself - by hand, using bits of string, spirit levels and a calculator - then had the settings confirmed on some very expensive equipment to be accurate (by an ex WRC mechanic) - I do this regularly depending on where I am driving. Read my post again, I never said £200+ isn't worth it - but ONLY with those who know precisely what they are doing and there are many cowboys who will charge in this bracket and not know a thing about your car or almost as importantly how well you can drive. Spending £400 and raving about a company taking 11 hours does not make you knowledgeable. Did did they do the work with you in the car and properly corner-weight it? And on the TT the castor IS fixed! Yours isn't, so please enlighten us why you changed it and what it did for your handling, and how YOU felt the benefit?

Edited by GreigM on Saturday 7th November 22:32