Warranty Advise re : 3200

[maserati3200gt]

Having one of the lower suspension arms replaced under the Trident warranty this week.

Have just been told the Geometry will need to be checked as a result of replacing.
The Geometry cost is £95 + vat but this part of the work is not covered under warranty.

If the arm is to be replaced surely the Geometry check should also be covered in situations like this ?

And what is involved with this check that Justifies £95 + vat ?

Thanks Guys in advance for any info.

[mr_tony]

Hey mate - I wouldn't quibble that cost for allignment - used to cost me about that on my MG 5 years ago!

Get your point about the allignment not being covered by warranty, in the limit its a bit tight, but walking away from a garage with a bill that small for anything on the 3200 is not something I ever managed!!

[maserati3200gt]

Hi Rich,

I was more curious to find out why that cost was not covered by the warranty company.

Is the geometry check similar to have the car Tracked ?

Thanks mate
Pete

[mr_tony]

Err yes - the geometry (or tracking) is checked to see which way the wheels on the car ar pointing.

Naturally one assumes that 'forward' is the ideal way, but you'd be suprised at the number of variations on forward there are. (Toe in toe out camber etc all ahve a very big impact on tyre wear and the way the car will handle...)

Anyone have the correct camber settings for the 3200 - and anyone got any other (better / more neutral) settings?

[bad loser]

Nigelo posted them some time back but I'm hopeless with the search on here.

[spicy]

This is what my garage said

Maserati 3200GT '98-'02 Primary Angles

Front
Caster min 4.3 max 4.7
Camber min -0.7 max-0.3
Toe min 0.05 max 0.05

Rear
Camber min -1.2 max -0.8
Toe min 0 max 0.3

Had mine done recently front right toe was 0.25 drove much better until clutch plate went waiting on parts from Italy at least it's under warranty.

>> Edited by spicy on Thursday 1st September 17:26

[maserati3200gt]

spicy said:

This is what my garage said Maserati 3200GT '98-'02 Primary Angles Front Caster min 4.3 max 4.7 Camber min -0.7 max-0.3 Toe min 0.05 max 0.05 Rear Camber min -1.2 max -0.8 Toe min 0 max 0.3 Had mine done recently front right toe was 0.25 drove much better until clutch plate went waiting on parts from Italy at least it's under warranty. ---------------------------------------------------- When you say your car drove much better, was the handling improved for example ? or what else did you notice when the Geometry was carried out ? >> Edited by spicy on Thursday 1st September 17:26

[spicy]

Car drives much better I'm not fighting it now. It goes where I want it to and doesn't pull to the side. I feel much more confident to give it some revs and it feels much smoother and more of a pleasure to drive. It's more planted on the road. I changed the tyres at the same time and even on brand new tyres it felt much more stable on corners.

[nigelo]

maserati3200gt said:

Having one of the lower suspension arms replaced under the Trident warranty this week. Have just been told the Geometry will need to be checked as a result of replacing. The Geometry cost is £95 + vat but this part of the work is not covered under warranty. If the arm is to be replaced surely the Geometry check should also be covered in situations like this ? And what is involved with this check that Justifies £95 + vat ? Thanks Guys in advance for any info.

Sounds like the lower wishbone which has the lower steering swivel pressed in necessitating the complete renewal rather than just the swivel.

In short, the wishbone can be replaced without disturbing the track rod end adjuster and therefore will not affect the tracking - Ergo, the warranty will not respond for a geo check.

However, if the tracking (and possibly camber) was last checked/adjusted with the lower swivel having excessive play, the check / adjustment would have been inaccurate by the amount of excess play. Therefore the correct advice must be to have your geo checked (tracking and camber to be safe) albeit at your own expense. I'm guessing maser3200, but this could just be the reason why your car's handling has not overly impressed you in the past.

I'll post the geo settings later but those quoted above do not look quite right, though admittedly from memory. IIRC the camber is slightly positive at least on the front rather than negative. I do recall that the front toe-in is 0.7mm +/- 0.2mm (at the rim) but do not remember the equivalent computed angles.

HTH

[spicy]

I'll be interested to know what angles you've been advised. I've just checked my print out with advised and actual primary angle and I've not made any typos.

[maserati3200gt]

Well My Rear Suspension Arm was Replaced under warranty and the Geometry was also covered.

I may be Wrong but the Car Handles so much better now and the Response from the Sterring Wheel is more improved.

I will receive the figures over Monday / Tuesday re : geometry and will post upon receipt.

Thanks for the Technical Support Guys.

[Nigelo]

Maser3200

Quite right - Rear wishbone replacement does require a rear geo check as the adjustable link is supplied with a new item and therefore fitting must involve geo adjustment.

Apologies to Spicy - my recollection was not what it should have been and the camber is indeed negative both front and rear. Full details straight from my factory Workshop manuals as follows:

FRONT
Toe-In
0.7mm +/- 0.2mm at wheel rim which computes to 0º 05' 30" +/- 0º 01' 30"

Camber 0º 30' 00" negative +/- 0º 10' 00"

Castor 4º 30' 00" +/- 0º 10' 00"

REAR
Toe-In
2.0mm +/- 0.2mm at wheel rim which computes to 0º 15' 30" +/- 0º 01' 30"

Camber 1º 00' 00" negative +/- 0º 10' 00"

FYI, the Manuals are in both Italian and English - The English text shows "-" instead of "+/-" for all settings as shown above. The Italian text (on the same page) clearly shows "+/-" and must therefore be correct. If workshops are quoting just a negative tolerance, respectfully suggest they refer to and use the Italian version

I use an ART (Advanced Racing) laser guage for Tracking/Toe and an ADA degree plate for Camber / Castor. The above Toe angles are computed using ART's manual.

HTH




>> Edited by Nigelo on Saturday 3rd September 11:36