Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

[LimPeh]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Can tyres really last average 40kk in sg road? Almost everytime when I rotate tyres at the 20kk, the guy will tell me cannot use already

Depends on how you drive and type of tires. I have a heavy right foot and my tires were usually bald around 25K.

 

[Red_Bean_Bun]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Calibrating the steering angle before alignment makes a lot of sense .....

Why change tyre every 20k? That's every YEAR for typical SG mileage. Do you know that tyres that are 50% worn give better performance because the shorter/worn thread blocks flex less? I'd be glad to buy your used tyres...

Tyres can easily go 40k on SG roads. Going back to the agent will get you factory settings -- good in a way. If you are the slow poke easy going driver, the factory specs are going to give you a car that drives straight and stable at speed.

Agree with Meek that there are good alignment shops out there. Going to one outside means you can tell him what you want. I had a 3rd party alignment shop dial out some toe-in on the front wheels and reduced the rear camber of my Z4. It is so much more responsive to steering inputs now. The downside is that the car feels a little nervous at high speed. And yes, the old alignment rear toe was way off spec, causing the car to drag its rear wheels around. After the realignment, I'm getting 9.6km/l on my Z4 (N52B25), almost 1km/l improvement.

--

For my F10 it was not purely an alignment issue but also a steering issue, so I left it to MA to deal with the problem since it was under warranty. I am quite anal when it comes to how my car drives, otherwise I wouldn't buy a BMW. What is a BMW when it can't drive straight? Even my old beat up Impreza and my parent's old E class that hasn't got a tyre alignment in years drives straight as an arrow -- I can go hands free for several seconds on the expressway.

The 3rd party alignment shop said it's a common/known problem with F10 and cannot be resolved by an alignment. It seems to be an electronic steering related issue, that's why MA had to reset my steering position sensor numerous times and fit shorter upper A arms to my front suspension to increase the camber on one side to counter that effect.

F series cars with electronic power steering (actually the Z4, E90 LCI and X1 LCI also has EPS) has a mechanism to return the steering to center. I am not an expert here. Maybe one day I will ask Rodney how it works, but I am guessing there should be a motor of sorts to enable active steering return. If the center point of the steering is calibrated wrong then the steering return mechanism will cause the steering wheel to return off-center, indirectly causing the car to drive to one side.

I have sold my F10 since and won't discuss that further. When I test drove my Z4 I made sure it drives straight as an arrow before I bought it and I'm frickin glad it DOES.

 

[naan1974]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Depends on how you drive and type of tires. I have a heavy right foot and my tires were usually bald around 25K.

Me too... cs3 20kk, cs5 25kk currently on PSS cos was told PSS can last 30kk. Currently 22kk.

 

[LimPeh]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Me too... cs3 20kk, cs5 25kk currently on PSS cos was told PSS can last 30kk. Currently 22kk.

I'm on PSS and I am quite impressed that they gripped the road very well despite being almost bald. It was the wet weather hydroplaning that scared the hell out of me. I didn't wait for 30K km.

 

[towerking]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Hi all,

Hope for some advice on realignment. My E90 FL/09 was pulling to the left since a few weeks back so went for realignment yesterday at a place near CCK/Woodands Road which is using the well-known Hunter machine. Done in 20mins, went on the expressway and the pulling is still there. Today went back to workshop and all the mechanic did was to rotate my front tyres, saying alignment already done yesterday. On the expressway the pulling to the left is still there but lesser.

So my question is, is the pulling in my case mostly due to the tyres? Should i do another realignment? My front tyres already having some outer wear. Thing is i changed my rim 4 months back using 2nd hand tyres which was still 90% but didnt do alignment back then. No problems on pulling for past 4 months until recently.

Reading the posts here this left pulling looks fairly common? Not really a problem for me when driving, just that I want to correct it since i dont want to prematurely wear out my tyres.

Will going back to the shop and asking to do another alignment help? Yesterday, the uncle/owner? was all nice and all that but the mechanic didnt bother to share information and just said all done and in a hurry to see me go. I would appreciate some feedback on the alignment but the mech didnt bother to answer my 2 simple questions, just saying 'all done'. Today he said pulling is normal and can be due to other things like suspension and tyres, which i can understand. But still i did expect the alignment to be corrected the first time.

Should I go and look for other reputable places to do another realignment? Or will my tyres get used to the new alignment and 'be better' in a few days? Or can I only hope of no more pulling when i change to new tyres?

Appreciate your advice!

 

[Vansoh]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Go back, to the shop and ask for the alignment print out! Tell the mech that talk is cheap, the machine print out will show if the alignment is ok or not.

 

[Red_Bean_Bun]

Re: Wheel Alignment - Fact or FUD?

Reminds me of a mech that did my alignment a few years ago .... totally bochap type.

After the alignment was done - It was still veering left. So went back and told them to do it again which they did.

Then the bochap mechanic suddenly becam friendly and volunteered to bring my ride out to test.

Came back 15 minutes and told me its ok.

Then my TPMS started to sound its alarm - left front tire over inflate - 49 PSI.

So that mech took my ride out and pumped it to 49 psi ....... as we all know - tyre pressure does play a factor but to do alignment like that is really crazy.

Anyway - check your tyre pressure and see if your steering wheel is properly centred during the alignment process.

Hi all,

Hope for some advice on realignment. My E90 FL/09 was pulling to the left since a few weeks back so went for realignment yesterday at a place near CCK/Woodands Road which is using the well-known Hunter machine. Done in 20mins, went on the expressway and the pulling is still there. Today went back to workshop and all the mechanic did was to rotate my front tyres, saying alignment already done yesterday. On the expressway the pulling to the left is still there but lesser.

So my question is, is the pulling in my case mostly due to the tyres? Should i do another realignment? My front tyres already having some outer wear. Thing is i changed my rim 4 months back using 2nd hand tyres which was still 90% but didnt do alignment back then. No problems on pulling for past 4 months until recently.

Reading the posts here this left pulling looks fairly common? Not really a problem for me when driving, just that I want to correct it since i dont want to prematurely wear out my tyres.

Will going back to the shop and asking to do another alignment help? Yesterday, the uncle/owner? was all nice and all that but the mechanic didnt bother to share information and just said all done and in a hurry to see me go. I would appreciate some feedback on the alignment but the mech didnt bother to answer my 2 simple questions, just saying 'all done'. Today he said pulling is normal and can be due to other things like suspension and tyres, which i can understand. But still i did expect the alignment to be corrected the first time.

Should I go and look for other reputable places to do another realignment? Or will my tyres get used to the new alignment and 'be better' in a few days? Or can I only hope of no more pulling when i change to new tyres?

Appreciate your advice!