General Wheel alignment - After changing droplinks

[everson38]

Hey guys

Just a quick one, but do you need a wheel alignment after changing droplinks on a car?

 

[Moimo]

You shouldn’t need to, I changed mine yearly and it has never affected geometry.

 

[aurick86]

It is not needed assuming it was ok before, and you only changed the droplinks, without taking out the strut or the control arm (not needed normally .. but you never know how stuck a driplink is.

 

[Bernievarian]

NOT needed, and BTW one can only adjust the pinch on a GP ...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

 

[everson38]

NOT needed, and BTW one can only adjust the pinch on a GP ...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

Ok. So here's my question to all. It's a friend of mine but she had her droplinks changed at a kwik fit, as one of them the gaiter (rubber boot) was tore. But other than inspection you would not have known. No clunking etc. She paid for a wheel alignment nut do you think she has been conned abit?

 

[everson38]

Also to add it was for an iterim service at kwik fit, which in what it covers says they do a Pre Alignment check: So would this have flagged why it needed an alignment or is it still "no alignment not needed on droplinks change".

 

[everson38]

It is not needed assuming it was ok before, and you only changed the droplinks, without taking out the strut or the control arm (not needed normally .. but you never know how stuck a driplink is.

Appreciate response. Would appreciate if you had a look at the further issue and cast opinion

 

[everson38]

You shouldn’t need to, I changed mine yearly and it has never affected geometry.

Appreciate response. Would appreciate if you had a look at the further issue and cast opinion

 

[everson38]

Sorry last thing - it recently had its mot at a council test centre. And nothing was mentioned about alignment etc. Wouldn't they have flagged something if needed?

 

[Moimo]

People have their own views on places like kwick fit and Halfords etc, ultimately they will be target driven and there are things that can always be used to generate income. But individuals moral courage have a lot to play in this sort of thing and maybe there is enough drop in work to keep them going, personally I would always find a local garage that does MOTs and build up a raptor over the years then you always trust their judgement. Still no requirement for alignment unless it was off to start with regarding the drop links though. Either way the geometry would be the same, either right or wrong having only changed the drop links.

 

[aurick86]

Sorry last thing - it recently had its mot at a council test centre. And nothing was mentioned about alignment etc. Wouldn't they have flagged something if needed?

No, they don't check that. it takes 20-30 minutes to set up the car.
Unless it's visibly off (basically undriveable).

Also to add it was for an iterim service at kwik fit, which in what it covers says they do a Pre Alignment check: So would this have flagged why it needed an alignment or is it still "no alignment not needed on droplinks change".

If they checked for alignment and it was off ... then that is why they did it.
Although to be fair... if you perfectly align the geometry angles, then take it off the rack... and the put it back up.. it will be off

Ok. So here's my question to all. It's a friend of mine but she had her droplinks changed at a kwik fit, as one of them the gaiter (rubber boot) was tore. But other than inspection you would not have known. No clunking etc. She paid for a wheel alignment nut do you think she has been conned abit?

Not really conned. But as with all thing you pay "specialists" for.. you have to take their word for it, or you have to learn the stuff and DIY.
The wheel alignment should be done pretty often like once a year.
A droplink with a torn boot will go bad in 300-500 km, so it did need replacing.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

No, they don't check that. it takes 20-30 minutes to set up the car.
Unless it's visibly off (basically undriveable).



If they checked for alignment and it was off ... then that is why they did it.
Although to be fair... if you perfectly align the geometry angles, then take it off the rack... and the put it back up.. it will be off



Not really conned. But as with all thing you pay "specialists" for.. you have to take their word for it, or you have to learn the stuff and DIY.
The wheel alignment should be done pretty often like once a year.
A droplink with a torn boot will go bad in 300-500 km, so it did need replacing.

I can't think of any antiroll bar drop link which plays a part in wheel alignment so no, it didn't need an alignment check because the drop link had been renewed. Of course the person doing the job may have noticed a wear pattern on the tyre which indicated a check was required, see comment later. I completely agree that if the rubber boot was damaged it should be renewed as grit, dirt etc would soon get into the joint and ruin it. (not so sure if it's an MOT failure if no play is evident though? - although I think it should fail on a damaged boot as it won't have much life in it!)

Modern suspension bushes are manufactured to be "compliant" so that they have a certain amount of give in them to soak up bumps in the road without transmitting noise and vibration through to the passengers. The result of this "give" is that, as aurick86 has pointed out, you can set up your alignment as perfectly as possible. Drive the car round the block a couple of times. Put it back on the alignment jig and you'll find it's not perfect anymore, although it will be " close enough". You can certainly make a case for frequently checking your alignment but, for it to be worthwhile, some time and therefore money, needs to be spent each time it's checked to achieve accuracy. I find that a pretty good " rule of thumb" check is to observe tyre tread wear patterns frequently. In theory all tyres should wear evenly across the width of tread. Usually rear tyre will do this unless the suspension has suffered damage. (A few cars do have fully adjustable rear suspension so there are always exceptions. Japanese manufacturers used to favour these designs). Front wheels are more likely to suffer uneven wear in my experience and you can usually visually observe this. Turn the steering to full lock in the direction of the wheel you want to check. The full width of tread should now be exposed for you to see. First look at the tread pattern. It is made up, ussualy, of bands of tread around the tyre. Now look at individual tread blocks and especially at the inside and outside of each block. The wear should look identical. If one side is rounded and the other sharp and "lipped" then the tyre is not rolling straight down the road. You need to get the suspension and steering checked for defects and if ok then realigned. Check also for excessive wear on inside and outside tread shoulders which can also mean something is wrong, although some cars do tend to induce shoulder wear more than others even when they are set up perfectly. Driver abuse can cause "funny" results too. For instance a taxi which is forced to do max lock turns a lot will wear the outside shoulders badly. Of course these observations will only be meaningful if the tyre has been in that location on the vehicle for some mileage. If it's just been put on from the spare or moved from another position on the car the wear pattern will be meaningless. I keep a regular check on my tyres using this method (probably once a month on average) and I find I get satisfactorily long life from my tyres whilst also, occasionally, getting advanced warning of something going wrong without spending a lot of money on alignment checks.

If you do get a professional alignment done be sure to get a print out of the finished settings. Then you can be sure it's been done properly. (Most settings can be found somewhere on line or just ask your main dealer, most will tell you FOC I have found)

Another "unrepeatable" setting I've found is wheel balance! Take as long as you like balancing up a wheel, take it off the machine, put it back on and spin it up again. You'll be lucky if it checks out as balanced! Keep an eye on the guy doing the balancing too. Why? Well it will sometimes happens that they fail to remove old weights, tar deposits, even ( because modern rims are so wide) a build up of road dirt inside the rim can cause imbalance and so affect a good balance job.