4 wheel alignment

[Sagnac]

I had the front tyres on my Legacy Spec B replaced last week after it was pointed out during the routine service that they were feathering badly on the inside edges (almost down to the braid on the drivers side and nearly as bad on the other). My local Subaru dealer wanted a ridiculous amount of money for new tyres so I had them replaced elsewhere (with like for like Bridgestones). The tyre fitter pointed out that the suspension bushes seemed worn and advised to have them replaced at the next service. Since I'd just had it serviced, I decided to take it back to Subaru specially and, to their credit, they replaced the bushes (the rear set on the front axle) under warranty. What wasn't covered under warranty was an alignment and so I decided to have that done at the dealer (at my cost but on their recommendation).

Looking over the alignment report last night I noted two things. One was that the vehicle is identified as an Impreza WRX rather than a Legacy in the vehicle type (presumably the vehicle type brings up the appropriate settings in the system). The dealer tells me that the specifications are the same, but I'm not sure whether to believe him. Should I be concerned, or should I just get over it and worry about more important things (like why the worn tyres and bushes weren't spotted during the "extensive checks" which were done before the vehicle was delivered to me as part of the "Subaru Proven" program ~3K miles ago)?

The second issue refers to the camber settings on the rear axle. The left hand camber measurement is miles away from the specified value (about a degree and a half) and actually outside of the (wide) tolerance. I'm told that a. it's not that far out of tolerance (it's actually about 40 minutes outside of the allowed range and, as noted above, a degree and a half away from the actual spec) and b. the rear camber can't be adjusted anyway.

Has anyone else had experience of such issues? What sort of effects does the rear camber have? Is it true that it can't be adjusted? And if it can't, what's the point of measuring it?

Ta muchly
-- S

[Toecutter]

sagnac,

I dont have an answer but know of a company who may:

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/

CONTACT

Address
WIM @ Kipling
Redbourn Road
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP2 7AZ

Telephone
01442 400461 - WIM Office
0870 165 1132 - Centre

Email
For general enquiries, please email [e-mail]

Speak to a guy by the name of Tony (I think) very knowledgeable

There is a forum on the web link may be a good idea to ask on there and possibly post the figures from the alignment report?

Hope that goes some way of helping out

Tim

Edited by Toecutter on Wednesday 25th July 19:45

[Sagnac]

Thanks Tim. Wheels in motion looks like a really interesting resource.

Cheers
-- S