I have had really bad experiences with Pedders personally ony my old car but at the same time, I have to thank them for trying to rip me off. Because of this, I went home and did my own research online (much like you're doing) and looked at technical diagrams, measurements and found out they were talking out of their asses (This is a while ago mind you).
They basically told me my whole subframe was bent and would need to be replaced, my steering rack was shot and would need to be replaced etc etc. All costing 1k+.
I checked it out and sure enough, bs.
Reality - steering rack was not leaking or in need of replacement, boots were simply torn. Subframe was damaged slightly but in no way needed replacing, just a minor weld repair.
All repairs and so far, all of my alignments have been done by Traction Tyres in Mulgrave (
http://www.tractiontyres.com.au/). Spot on work.
These guys are involved in Motorsport and will take the time to ensure that the work they do is quality.
Summary:
- If you get an alignment - request for a print out of their last alignment settings. If they can't give you one and have used an electronic machine to do it... they're not doing a good job or have laziness to hide.
- Some times they will take the car for a test drive around the block to make sure there's no loose bolts and that the car responds correctly.
- As noted, them taking atleast an hour on an alignment is a good thing (unless your alignment settings have magically retained itself over much road abuse...) - the longer means the more accurate they're trying to get the settings to be. Basically it involves, adjusting the relevant arm, checking the reading, adjusting, checking... adjusting... becomes very tedious.
- Depending on how low your car is, they may not be able to achieve the settings you've requested OR depending on the settings you've requested, your arms may not be capable of adjusting that far. Generally all settings are adjustable but to a very limited extent (if you have stock arms/bolts/bushes anyway).
Ie. Stock settings are always usually easy to achieve UNLESS your car has been in an accident then arms could be bent, making this difficult without aftermarket kits or straight control arms.
- Specific settings requested often take longer to achieve especially if they're outside of your usual ranges but if you get these settings all the time, it shouldn't be a major issue unless you've guttered recently...
- Some suspension or alignment shops will sell you kits to achieve more drastic alignment changes but I hate to say this but shop around for prices and do research. Ie. a Whiteline castor rod bush kit for a Silvia has limited adjustment, while an aftermarket castor rod has insane amounts of adjustment... just be wary of your requirements.
- No, your rim size does not affect your alignment. All measurements are done from the hub, not from the bottom of your tyre. -_-;
- Traction Tyres do charge more than your usual tyre shop to get an alignment done but they usually provide a print out of the settings upon request. Most decent shops will be able to do the same. Another shop I know of is R Kent Engineering in Clayton or Centreline in the West.
- Lastly if I find the time I may set up my own personal car alignment service... but that's in the air at the moment
May even provide suggestions depending on personal preferences, what you'd like to achieve, current car characteristics, general suspension setup... etc etc.
/blatant self selling
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by F20C
Bookmarks