Tracking...what tracking?

[ibérico]

Hi earlybayers! After lowering my van with a red9 kit I tried to follow their instructions:"have your tracking profesionally checked"... And guess what... No "professionals" would tackle the job in my area...of course in these computer days if they dont have the data in their computer for a vehicle, they dont want to take risks
Anyway, I tried to do it myself ,just some guesswork, no tyre screeching, but steering still required a lot of concentration :lol:
Only today I found a friendly guy that tried to do it with his "hi tech gear" and using the vanagon (that is what we saw on the computer screen) values. It has improved a lot, I feel confident driving the van again but it isnt spot on really..
I have been looking for the camber, toe in, etc values for our vans(mine is a crossover) and cant find them :? If I knew then I coud just tell the mechanic
Ozziedog mentions -5 in one of his posts.... :?: but I dont know what it means...
Sorry for the long post but Im sure others are finding this kind of trouble with all the lowering that seems to be getting done in this forum all the time :lol:

 

[Mr Brightside]

Hi Ibérico.

I had a similar problem, fitted the RED9 kit, took it for tracking at a "Professional" centre, they were given the data required (0.5 degree Negative Camber, 4 to 6 minutes total Toe In), No problem they said, but I was worried when they took quite a while to get it sorted, but they came back with the answer "All Sorted".

500 miles later I was seeking an old school VW Specialist to fix the Tyre Monkey's work. The Camber was set at 2.5 degrees Negative 1 side & 1.8 degrees negative the other side, tracking was OK. Not happy as it totally screwed up the tyres (Concentric nuts were not that tight either, so could have moved).

I have had new tyres fitted & I will be visting Wheels In Motion Chassis centre in Chesham, I have used them before to sort out a VAG car (new) that the dealership could not sort out. The owner Tony Bones, sets up race cars & is seen as an authority on Vehicle Alignment. I think he still trains other garages for the Tracking equipment manufacturers. He is not the cheapest (around 100GBP) but he will not let a car go that is not setup perfectly, my last car came with the "keep an eye on the tyres, any sign on uneven wear, bring it back & we will tweak as required" guarantee.

He uses the manufacturers settings as a starting point & adjusts according to the individual vehicle & his experience. I spoke to him & described the RED9 kit & he has said he will work with me to get the best setup.


Will keep you posted when done

PS Have a look at the Wheels in Motion Forum (you will need to register) they have a section there called "Horror of the week", its truly unbeleivable what some people are driving around on :shock:

 

[ZedBed]

This is so important, I'd like to add a personal experience. Many years ago, I had a bus lowered a spline and drill the dimples twist at the front by a well known company. I had new ball joints, track rod ends etc. It cost nearly as much as the bus.

Afterwards, it drove so badly in any sort of mild crosswind I had to keep below 40mph for fear of swerving off the road. If I was driving straight, it would be trying to steer left so I'd apply pressure to the wheel to keep it pointing straight ahead. At the point it was steering just nearly straight ahead, it would suddenly veer off to the right, towards the oncoming traffic.

If you want to achieve this result, set the camber to max +ve on the n/side front wheel, and max -ve on the o/side, then set the tracking correctly.

Seriously, after I corrected it I could let go of the steering wheel at 65mph no probs and the fact there was a bit of slop in the box didn't matter a jot as it wanted to go straight on it's own. Happy days.

 

[ibérico]

Hi Graham and Zed!
Sorry for not replying before...But I have had a few issues with my internet connection lately...
Thanks a lot for all the input! I have bought another adjustable track rod for the other side so now I have 2 adjustable track rods, which shoyld make perfect wheel alignment "feasible"! :lol:
My red9 kit is the ez rider kit, not the state of the art wishbone one :roll: but I hope I can achieve a decent ride...
And by the way, I spent last night reading all about Mr Brightside's mutation... :shock: I was soooo impressed at the care and attention to detail taken with this van ... Of course it made me jealous (the same for a lot of members in this forum, I saw!) but it made me realise that at the end of the day, doing things right in the first place, and not cutting around corners , gives
The best and most enjoyable results in the end, saving a lot of grief and wasting time. And hey, I like your philosophy, it is a van meant to be used! I totally agree, and I see you have started collecting some brass inthe meantime!

And as for Zed, I checked your website, and I can only say I am impressed at the sort of work undertaken in your garage... Top notch! Specially the crash repair.... :shock: impressive!

 

[ZedBed]

Cheers mate, and it's Soooo out of date. We now have a paintshop. I really should update the site...

 

[Hampole]

I tracked mine myself after lowering my bus. I used a system called TrackAce that you can buy off ebay for about £90. It's quite simple to use and it works. I set mine to 10 minutes toe in, as rear wheel drive vehicles are always trying to push the front wheels outwards. ( I always aim to end up parrellel when moving). Later I took the bus to T2D for some other work. As part of this work they checked the tracking and said it was spot on. So I was happy the the TrackAce was accurate and I'd set the toe to the correct position.

 

[bambam]

Anybody can check the tracking with a tape measure. measure across the van from tyre to tyre both front and back of the axle and compair readings if they measure the same its parrellel wellllll its simple in my mind
KPI is a different kettle of fish

 

[ZedBed]

Anybody can check the tracking with a tape measure. measure across the van from tyre to tyre both front and back of the axle and compair readings if they measure the same its parrellel wellllll its simple in my mind
KPI is a different kettle of fish

. Granted you'll be able to check if it's miles out like this, but I doubt you'd be able to set it accuractely...

 

[andyh]

Anyone know of anywhere closer to Newbury than Chesham who'll do this properly on an EB?

 

[Toad]

Yet another reason for not lowering a bus

 

[Loxy]

Yet another reason for not lowering a bus

The tracking needs to be set correctly on any bus not just a lowered one?

 

[Loxy]

Try reading this, did mine after replacing the front end (narrowed beam, dropped spindles, porker hubs/disks & wilwood calipers).
Drives better than it ever did before!
The rear end still needs some work though, that'll have to wait til I fit my horseshoe plates....

Edit: added the link :lol:
http://elantragtclub.tripod.com/elantra/id554.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[andyh]

Erm, read what?

 

[andyh]

Yet another reason for not lowering a bus

Hmm, not sure that rebuilding the garage would have been that much easier, or indeed leaving it outside in the rain...

 

[ZedBed]

Yet another reason for not lowering a bus

Hmm, not sure that rebuilding the garage would have been that much easier, or indeed leaving it outside in the rain...

...and as said above the height of your suspension matters not one jot to the need to set the tracking and camber correctly.
This goes for the rear wheels as well if you're lowering (tracking). I wait with some trepidation to see if I can get the rear tracking in limits with boomerang plates...if not they're coming straight back off. Driving 100's of miles with full concentration on aiming along the straight road is very tiring. When everything is set correct it's no more tiring than a modern car, apart from the noise and the seats of course. :lol:

Bee? Bonnet? Why yes I have. :evil:

A little **** stirring - check out the adds/websites of the lowerers. Tracking gets a mention on most, but camber? I stand ready to be corrected, but I don't recall any of them expressly offering this as part of the service. As said above, mine was screwed big-time by incorrect camber after lowering.

 

[ZedBed]

Anyone know of anywhere closer to Newbury than Chesham who'll do this properly on an EB?

Pick the smallest back street garage you can find. Ask them if they have tracking guages. Take your haynes and show them the figures. Show then the adjustable rod. I got my guages from a car boot sale for £80. It's not rocket science. Quick-fit did mine quite happily many years ago.