Wheel alignment

[jimmy156]

Hi all, i need all four wheels on my car aligned, and have been quoted vastly differing prices for the service, from £20 to nearly £100. So what, roughly, should i paying?

[Deva Link]

Somewhere between £20 and £100?

Some places charge to check and then charge per adjustment. I paid £50 recently, including have the toe adjusted both sides, at Wheel-in-Motion in Bucks.

[Jonny671]

Sounds about right to me.. £20 won't be 4 wheel alignment. It'll be put some gauges on the wheels to see if they're pointing forwards.

£100 will be a good, 4 Wheel Laser Alignment.. This is what you want.

[jimmy156]

Ha ha, thanks! I had assumed that . I guess what i meant was, which end of the scale is more reasonable.

[jimmy156]

Jonny671 said:

Sounds about right to me.. £20 won't be 4 wheel alignment. It'll be put some gauges on the wheels to see if they're pointing forwards.

£100 will be a good, 4 Wheel Laser Alignment.. This is what you want.

okay thanks for that, i dont mind paying the money if it does the job properly, will save money on tyres in the long run

[Jonny671]

jimmy156 said:

Jonny671 said:

Sounds about right to me.. £20 won't be 4 wheel alignment. It'll be put some gauges on the wheels to see if they're pointing forwards.

£100 will be a good, 4 Wheel Laser Alignment.. This is what you want.

okay thanks for that, i dont mind paying the money if it does the job properly, will save money on tyres in the long run

It could be less than £100, I just know for Wheels In Motion to set up the MX5 its £100.

HiQ have 4 wheel alignment machines and its around £65 I think. I think they can be trusted with wheel alignment because the machine tells them everything to do

As a side note, are you Jimmy who was on Surrey Modified back in the day with a Punto?

[jimmy156]

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Nope different jimmy

[Jonny671]

jimmy156 said:

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Nope different jimmy

Ah ok!

Yeah I'd recon between £50-£80 is fine. We charge £20 for a "Dunlop Check" which isn't an alignment, and £75 for a 4 wheel alignment.

[jimmy156]

Jonny671 said:

jimmy156 said:

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Nope different jimmy

Ah ok!

Yeah I'd recon between £50-£80 is fine. We charge £20 for a "Dunlop Check" which isn't an alignment, and £75 for a 4 wheel alignment.

Ah okay, that puts things into perspective.

I just looked at your profile, judging by your profile pic you must be tom waughs friend? He is friends with my sister!

[RobM77]

Just to clear things up, the two main things that four wheel alignment checks look at are toe and camber. A cheap check will be a check of toe and camber on all four wheels (together with other measurements), and usually an adjustment of toe on the front wheels (because it's easy to do). If you pay more then you can get toe and camber not only checked but also adjusted on all four wheels. Make sure what you're getting before you book in or pay, prices do vary!

[aka_kerrly]

Jonny671 said:

HiQ have 4 wheel alignment machines and its around £65 I think. I think they can be trusted with wheel alignment because the machine tells them everything to do

i dont agree with that. The number of times i have had tracking alignment done and not even drive 1/8 of a mile before i turn around and get them to do it again properly. It really winds me up that some people really make such a hash of it and then act like its not a big deal if the car doesnt drive in a straight line. Call me a cynic but my dad got shafted a few times by the same garage before i realised what was going oon but they set his car up with awful tracking and too much camber so it would eat tyres in no time, i bet other garages work the same way!

If i were you id download the factory specs for toe, caster, camber and how to adjust these from a reliable source and take it with you.

You have to realise that getting the tracking and getting the alignment are VERY different. Tracking only focuses on the making sure the front wheels point forward but doesnt take into account the rear wheels at all, nor does it take into account the amount of camber toe or caster angle on the wheel, these are crucial to our the car actually behaves and how the steering feels.

dave

[Jonny671]

jimmy156 said:

Jonny671 said:

jimmy156 said:

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Nope different jimmy

Ah ok!

Yeah I'd recon between £50-£80 is fine. We charge £20 for a "Dunlop Check" which isn't an alignment, and £75 for a 4 wheel alignment.

Ah okay, that puts things into perspective.

I just looked at your profile, judging by your profile pic you must be tom waughs friend? He is friends with my sister!

I am, ah right cool!

aka_kerrly said:

Jonny671 said:

HiQ have 4 wheel alignment machines and its around £65 I think. I think they can be trusted with wheel alignment because the machine tells them everything to do

i dont agree with that. The number of times i have had tracking alignment done and not even drive 1/8 of a mile before i turn around and get them to do it again properly. It really winds me up that some people really make such a hash of it and then act like its not a big deal if the car doesnt drive in a straight line. Call me a cynic but my dad got shafted a few times by the same garage before i realised what was going oon but they set his car up with awful tracking and too much camber so it would eat tyres in no time, i bet other garages work the same way!

If i were you id download the factory specs for toe, caster, camber and how to adjust these from a reliable source and take it with you.

You have to realise that getting the tracking and getting the alignment are VERY different. Tracking only focuses on the making sure the front wheels point forward but doesnt take into account the rear wheels at all, nor does it take into account the amount of camber toe or caster angle on the wheel, these are crucial to our the car actually behaves and how the steering feels.

dave

I only have experience of when my car was in there for alignment, it did cost me £0 due to my brother working there, and him doing it for me with me watching, so I guess it was done correct because of this.

I don't know what other experiences are like, but from yours doesn't sound brilliant.

[jimmy156]

Thanks all, judging by the comments i think its worth paying the extra for a full, quality, alignment service. All 4 tyres have worn unevenly so i want to get it right!

[RobM77]

Ask for a printout and check that they've done your car. I took my E36 328i Sport in for an alignment at a local place last year and got given the settings for an E46 328i. So I took it back and got given the settings for a non-sport E36, then an M3 and finally a 328i Sport. Equally, my girlfriend's Yaris went back about five times trying to get the steering wheel straight.

I use Micheldever now (near Winchester). They have a massive throughput but usually seem to get the tracking right and the steering wheel straight.

[Deva Link]

jimmy156 said:

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Use the Centre Locator here: http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

[spaximus]

you really do need someone who knows how to use the machine before parting with the cash. Ask a few questions as to what they know. I have had tracking done on company cars and before moving off the forecourt you can see it is wrong as the wheel is off centre. That is caused by adjusting one track rod end. I have also seen cars crabing after adjustment. This is where the front and rear wheels are toeing in or out correctly but not with the lineage with front to rear. If it is an expensive car or the tyres are do ask questions as once they have started you are committed

[bertelli_1]

Deva Link said:

jimmy156 said:

okay, well i will make a few more calls and get some more quotes.

Use the Centre Locator here: http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

I was going to suggest that site aswell! Generally the guys using the hunter equipment are trained, plus its expensive kit so tends to be in 'decent' garages.

[RWD cossie wil]

Hi mate, where abouts in the country are you, and what car is it? A lot of cars will have no adjustment at all on the rear, and minimal on the front, most just having toe adjustment on the front with nothing else. No point in being stung for everything if your car is unadjustable!

[BlueMR2]

Go to https://www.blackboots.co.uk/

This will allow you to choose geometry only and then you can choose a centre. The cars will be aligned to WIM settings where needed and it is a scheme watched over by Wheels in Motion the people doing the geometry can get backup information if they need it.

You can join the forum http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ if you have any questions, the owner is regularly on the site as well as some of his staff at the main branch. So if you have any questions you can ask there.

[jimmy156]

RWD cossie wil said:

Hi mate, where abouts in the country are you, and what car is it? A lot of cars will have no adjustment at all on the rear, and minimal on the front, most just having toe adjustment on the front with nothing else. No point in being stung for everything if your car is unadjustable!

Hi mate, im in surrey near Guildford and the car is a Alfa 156 2.0TS Veloce (so lower sports suspension then standard) I had assumed it would need 4 wheel alignment as all 4 tyres have worn unevenly.

I have found a place that will do it for £60, and were already known to me anyway. The also happen to be a black circles partner so its tied in rather nicely.

Thanks for the links and advice guys, PH always comes through!

Edited by jimmy156 on Monday 20th September 20:03