View Full Version : Need help reading alignment spec report
Yup. I admit it- I've never asked for a copy of the alignment specs before my Wednesday service visit.
This time I did.
Now I need to know what I'm looking at.
Help.
Scan? No. How about a pic?
http://forums.bimmerevolution.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=73
dredmo
03-04-2004, 08:23 PM
Things in your "after" column which do not match the numbers in your "before" colum have been changed.
You had a lot of toe out it looks like , probably an odd wear pattern was visible.
everything else looks very minimal....
Actually everything looks within limits, what specific questions do you have?
"After" is the current seting, "Before" was the as was condition, and range is the acceptable range for the Actual setting.
Nick M3
03-04-2004, 09:03 PM
Basically, your rear was toed way out... This generates a rather oversteer happy condition and will certainly contribute to instability. Especially under acceleration.
Basically, your rear was toed way out... This generates a rather oversteer happy condition and will certainly contribute to instability. Especially under acceleration.
Which was noted. By all of all.
Thanks for the read.
Anything else worthy of mention?
Nick M3
03-04-2004, 09:57 PM
Not really. Everything looks about right.
dredmo
03-04-2004, 10:16 PM
Not really. Everything looks about right.
Good even, they didn't even have to adjust hardly anything else.
Some toe out isn't bad. I run "0" toe in front and 1/4 out in the rear
clyde
03-04-2004, 11:11 PM
Toe out in the rear on a street car is generally not a good thing.
JetBlack330i
03-04-2004, 11:14 PM
Anything else worthy of mention?I think you're waiting for this...
yes. Your front cross camber is a bit better than before, but still out of spec.
Absolute values for individual wheels need to be within range, but it's more important that they be consistent left and right. The cross values measure that.
[quote=Nick325xiT 5spd]
Anything else worthy of mention?I think you're waiting for this...
yes. Your front cross camber is a bit better than before, but still out of spec.
Absolute values for individual wheels need to be within range, but it's more important that they be consistent left and right. The cross values measure that.
FWIW...
3 years ago when I had my benz aligned at the stealership, I noticed the car pulled to the left significantly. I went back and turns out they had set up the alignment for driving on 2-lane roads, where the crown of the road would make a neutrally aligned car pull to the right. At the time I was doing a lot of highway driving and tended to on the left lane, where a neutrally aligned car would pull to the left. Since the car's alignment made it pull to left from the get-go, driving at high speeds on the left lane of the highway was making it pull left a LOT. I made them align it neutrally and sure enough, on the middle lane it went straight and on the other lanes it would pull to that direction.
Nick M3
03-05-2004, 10:14 AM
I'm not sure I've ever seen an alignment report for a stock Bimmer that actually reported essentially the same camber left to right.
Reember that these figures are thrown off by the left-side/right-side height differential.
you need more negative camber! :)
--Andrew
Mr Paddle.Shift
03-05-2004, 11:28 AM
TD, have you aligned your car since your got it? Or is this the first time? Reason being, having negative rear toe-in do affect your cornering and increase tire wear.
Also, to those who might be interested, I have the full BMW training manual on suspension in PDF. Email me.
My car has been aligned 3 or 4 times since I got it. It was last aligned back in the fall.
Mr Paddle.Shift
03-05-2004, 11:51 AM
Do have the spec sheets from the last few alignments as well? Maybe I am reading into this toe spec too much. But if it's repetitive, then maybe something else needs to be replaced...
Nick M3
03-05-2004, 11:56 AM
Do have the spec sheets from the last few alignments as well? Maybe I am reading into this toe spec too much. But if it's repetitive, then maybe something else needs to be replaced...
Well, a "rear ball joint" was replaced. I'm assuming that means he got new RTABs which are a known weak point in the E36 rear suspension. And which tend to have those sorts of symptoms.
Not RTABS. Rear ball joints, two, one on each side.
I thought it was going to need RTABS but they said they checked them and they were fine.
And I too am not exactly sure what part they are referring to when they say "rear ball joints". All I know is that another shop told me they were shot on an earlier visit, again referring to them as "rear ball joints".
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