Those with trackace alignment

[rongagin]

chriz1 said:

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

If you don't roll the car after adjusting and prior to checking, then the car geometry hasn't had chance to 'naturally' settle. Adjusting and checking whilst in a fixed position means you are 'fighting' the tyre grip etc. The perspex and greased paper trick should work. But i would still roll and do final check.
It really does work, with a bit of a faff on.

[chriz1]

That must be where I was going wrong not rolling the car back and forth and recalibrating after each turn of the tie rod ! I've admitted defeat now and taken it to fast fit shop for £15 and got home and checked it with the trackace and its dead on the correct settings so shows I'm setting it up right not when adjusting. Think I will keep it and it will come in handy if not to check alignment only

[e635815]

My local garage explained to me that you should always start by setting-up the rear axle and the front.
Doing the reverse and you screw-up the front setting when doing the back.
I don't understand why but I saw it being done and results which were fine initialy got completely wrong.
This is probably what happened with you.

[brman]

e635815 said:

My local garage explained to me that you should always start by setting-up the rear axle and the front.
Doing the reverse and you screw-up the front setting when doing the back.
I don't understand why but I saw it being done and results which were fine initialy got completely wrong.
This is probably what happened with you.

The standard trackace only does front wheels so this isn't really relevant. I suspect it was the not setting it up again each time that was confusing the OP's results.

That is the problem with systems like the trackace. You cannot just hang them off the wheel and adjust the track rods until you get the right reading. You need to setup/check, adjust, setup/check, adjust, etc etc until you get it right. It can be fiddly and take a long time but it does the job and you are getting an accurate tracking setup for £70.

Personally though, for the very rare times I have to do tracking I use 4 axle stands, a ball of string a ruler and and a spirit level. The advantage being you can do all 4 wheels and camber. Still very fiddly though

[chriz1]

Pretty sure my problem was with the tyres scrubbing while adjusting so I'm going to invest in some turn plates only £30 on eBay

[brman]

chriz1 said:

Pretty sure my problem was with the tyres scrubbing while adjusting so I'm going to invest in some turn plates only £30 on eBay

fair enough, it will certainly make things easier. In fact I might invest in some myself at that price......

[chriz1]

Found these ones

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-alignment-Dished-Tur...

And there's these

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUICKTRAK-wheel-alignment-...

[brman]

chriz1 said:

Found these ones

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-alignment-Dished-Tur...

And there's these

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUICKTRAK-wheel-alignment-...

I love how those two adverts are having a dig at each other:
Please note that you cannot passavate mild steel and any claims that you can are wrong & misleading!
and
Beware of claims that powder coating prevents rusting !! as it clearly DOES NOT

[DKS]

Surely either of those will get scratched to hell anyway?

[brman]

DKS said:

Surely either of those will get scratched to hell anyway?

yes, and given that I would go for the passivated zinc coating as it will be easier to clean up. Powder coating seems a strange thing to put on something that has to rotate on a concrete/tarmac surface.......

[chriz1]

Just to let you know, I received the turn plates and they are indeed excellent. Worth the money

[AntTPIV8]

Ok, so I bought a track ace.

I've read the instructions, then read them again. And again. And again.

I can't fathom this out at all.

How on earth is that set up procedure going to ensure the laster unit is square to the wheel?

In the past I used a kit which had the same method for lining up the laser as this does the mirror, so you knew both were aligned with the wheel correctly.

This I just can't work out. Do you guys have any tips please?

[AntTPIV8]

I managed to work it out. The instructions didn't really explain it as well as a youtube video. But I appear to be getting repeatable results, so will get my car sorted out soon.

[chriz1]

I found it took a lot of practice and swearing

[AntTPIV8]

I'll give the set up a few more goes to make sure I can repeat the results again and again, as I do need to make some adjustments.

[AntTPIV8]

Do you think driveway levels should affect how the Trackace works? I can't be sure, but as the Trackace has a spirit level on it, I initially thought it wouldn't matter if across the width of the car the drive is on a different level, as the level can be corrected when levelling the Trackace again when moving from calibration to reading.

I've been having issues with Tracking adjustment today which I thought was very strange. Calibration checked and redone, but I'm getting results which I just do not believe.

Right hand wheel I know is out by an amount of tow out. Trackace showed 10 minutes out - if I can see the wheel is out, it's out by more than 10 minutes. So I make adjustments to zero, recheck, move the car to reset the geometry, and check again. Now the Trackace shows 10 mins tow in.

This I don't believe as I can still see the wheel is slightly toe out. I believe it needs to be moved in some more. I must say this is odd behaviour from this Trackace but I can't think why.

[GreenV8S]

It's always going to be important that the ground is flat (i.e. all four wheels in the same plane) when checking the geometry. Ideally it would also be level i.e. all four wheels at the same height.

[AntTPIV8]

I've set up the Trackace in my kitchen, experiementing by aligning a chair agains a cupboard door and seeing what difference different levels make.

[AntTPIV8]

This bloody Trackace, I just can't get the same results twice.

I set up, calibrate, then move it over to check the toe.

Then if I move the car to somewhere else on the drive the toe readings are completely different.

Beginning to think I've wasted my money on this. A kit my friend has gives repeatable results every time.

How do you guys ensure the reading is accurate?

[GreenV8S]

AntTPIV8 said:

somewhere else on the drive

Unless you're working on a flat surface, you're wasting your time. This is not something you can just eyeball.