Those with trackace alignment

[chriz1]

For anyone who has used a trackace alignment tool, I've been doing the alignment on my mrs 206 and I can't for the life of me get consistent results I have set steering straight, copied instructions on setting it up I set the alignment to what I want tighten everything up. Re calibrate the tool and set up again with and without moving the car and then I get a reading at the other end of the scale completely off! What the hell am I doing wrong

[steveo3002]

is the ground smooth? make sure the leg things contact the same bit of wheel rim each time and not catching on the tyre or wheel weight

[chriz1]

It's concrete garage floor, but I always make sure the gauge mirror is level each side. It's so annoying, but I hate to be defeated when I read all the excellent reviews on how everyone is getting in so well with

[rongagin]

I have used my own on several cars and the most impressive bit is the repeatability.
You do need to be quite gentle with it.
Have you tried it on somethings other than a car? Something with parallel sides, this will show the repeatability. And may be easier to practice with?

[chriz1]

That's a good idea, I really can't see where I'm going wrong, I had the alignment done on my 320d few weeks ago and printout shows total toe 14 minutes. I checked with trackace and indeed it's exactly the same
So I don't understand what I'm doing wrong,
I don't move the car back and forth between adjustments is this correct?

[SystemParanoia]

I can reach my track rod adjusters without going under or taking the wheel off.

so i like to put the car on 4 perspex squares with grease sandwiched between the pieces.
i then have the adjustability to make very fine adjustments without the endless rolling back and forward and re-setting up the trackace.

[steveo3002]

you mention its in a garage , do you have to shunt about to park there? i prefer to find a smooth car park and coast along to a stop without braking hard or steering

[chriz1]

Not really I just drive in on a bit of an angle from outside but steering straight to have the meter distance on the offside to place the laser.

[chriz1]

I don't think you need to roll the car after each adjustment and I think this would be bad. Do any of you guys adjust the trackrod then Reset the trackace to take a new reading ?

[Fastpedeller]

Are you jacking it up to when you make adjustments?

[chriz1]

Nope

[brman]

If the bmw measures ok but the 206 is all over the place then I would guess it is something odd with the 206.
- Bent wheel(s) and you are putting the device on the bent bit sometimes?
- wheels loose?
- suspension joints dodgy?
- rack inner ball joints dodgy?

It is fiddly but could you try the 206 with a string box as a comparison?

[brman]

chriz1 said:

I don't think you need to roll the car after each adjustment and I think this would be bad. Do any of you guys adjust the trackrod then Reset the trackace to take a new reading ?

Just noticed this. I don't know the trackace but in principle I would say yes, you do need to roll the car each time you adjust the tracking. Otherwise you will likely have side stresses on the wheels which could push them slightly out of line (flexing in suspension bushes etc).
That said, if this give massively different readings then it would point to knackered suspension anyway.

[steveo3002]

id roll the car unless using turning plates

[chriz1]

I'm going to try and make some home made turn plates to see if this helps, thing is if I move the car then getting back exactly correct would be a problem and cause more issues I think

[brman]

chriz1 said:

I'm going to try and make some home made turn plates to see if this helps, thing is if I move the car then getting back exactly correct would be a problem and cause more issues I think

I thought the idea of the trackace was you set it up from scratch each time? You need to do this anyway as the far wheel (ie the one you are not measuring from) has probably moved.
So I am struggling to see how moving the car will cause a problem unless you change the steering angle between tests. Unless of course you have worn suspension but in that case your adjustments are probably fairly random.......

[chriz1]

God really ? I can't see anywhere in the instructions that say this maybe this is the problem can anyone else confirm

[steveo3002]

yeah set it up each time

[chriz1]

ok so after each turn it needs to be reset up

[ivorbigun]

chriz1 said:

God really ? I can't see anywhere in the instructions that say this maybe this is the problem can anyone else confirm

There's some videos on youtube showing how to set it up to zero with the mirror on the left wheel and the laser right of the right wheel, then move the mirror to the right wheel and take the reading.

I've found it to be consistent (even if I do initially adjust the track rod ends the wrong direction far more often than I really should!). Can even check with the mirror and laser on the rear of the wheel (but says toe out as toe in and vise versa).