Car help please!

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board ARCHIVE' started by barrywhitesbarmyarmy, Mar 18, 2012.

  1. barrywhitesbarmyarmy

    barrywhitesbarmyarmy Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2008
    Messages:
    581
    Likes Received:
    134
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    a
    Style:
    Barnsley
    Hi chaps,

    Other week I was turning my car around and accidentally hit the curb with quite a lot of force. Ever since my steering as felt out so I took it for the tracking done yesterday however, it doesn't seem to have fix it as I'm still have to hold the steering wheel 5 degrees to the right to go straight.

    Anyone got any ideas what could be wrong? Is wheel alignmnent different to tracking? I was wondering if it could be that...
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2012
    barrywhitesbarmyarmy, Mar 18, 2012
    #1
  2. Euroman

    Euroman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2005
    Messages:
    6,666
    Likes Received:
    801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Training and Development Consultant retired
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    Wheel alignment and tracking are the same thing.

    Will the car go in a straight line on a level road, is it pulling to one side if you let go of the steering wheel?

    Did you have 4 wheel or 2 wheel alignment? Laser or optical?

    If you hit the curb you could have damaged the suspension.

    You may need a suspension check which includes checking the wheel camber.
     
    Euroman, Mar 18, 2012
    #2
  3. barrywhitesbarmyarmy

    barrywhitesbarmyarmy Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2008
    Messages:
    581
    Likes Received:
    134
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    a
    Style:
    Barnsley
    Re: Wheel alignment and tracking are the same thing.

    Yeah. When you let go of the steering on a straight road it veers to the left. When he did the tracking yesterday it looked like it was a laser alignment kit he was using.
     
    barrywhitesbarmyarmy, Mar 18, 2012
    #3
  4. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2005
    Messages:
    34,611
    Likes Received:
    24,110
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Farnham
    Style:
    Barnsley
    Re: Wheel alignment and tracking are the same thing.

    2 possibilities
    and possibly a combination of both

    If you have been driving round for a few weeks with the wheels not aligned you will have worn the tyre in an uneven way -if the tracking is now sorted the car will still drift but the opposite way to before.

    Its also possible that you bent the suspension - that wont get fixed by a mere tracking alignment

    I did the same thing years ago needed to replace a bent rod but took us another couple of weeks to figure out the tyres one
     
    Farnham_Red, Mar 18, 2012
    #4
  5. EastStander

    EastStander Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2005
    Messages:
    29,883
    Likes Received:
    24
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Upper tier, Gangway 11
    Home Page:
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    That just means that when they did the wheel alignment and tracking, that the steering wheel wasn't in the "level" postion. That happened to me once, annoying but not an issue.
    As Farnham said though - the car could pull if you've worn the tyres unevenly.
     
    EastStander, Mar 18, 2012
    #5
  6. barrywhitesbarmyarmy

    barrywhitesbarmyarmy Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2008
    Messages:
    581
    Likes Received:
    134
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    a
    Style:
    Barnsley
    Took the car back and they redid the alignment and seems fine now. See how it drives this week. Thanks for the advice.
     
    barrywhitesbarmyarmy, Mar 18, 2012
    #6
  7. Euroman

    Euroman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2005
    Messages:
    6,666
    Likes Received:
    801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Training and Development Consultant retired
    Style:
    Barnsley (full width)
    That's very poor service if they had to do it twice. Wheel alignmant is a simple job.

    I visit anything up to 10 garages a week in my Day job and I have been in a lot of garages where the staff don't know how to use their own tracking quipment correctly.
     
    Euroman, Mar 18, 2012
    #7

Share This Page