wheel alignment

GT60

Hi we have a 4X4 and looking at replacing the tyres and last time the tyre place tried selling all wheel alignment or something like that
I always have my front tracking done so do I need the 4 wheel thing?
The tyres on the car look ok no sign of odd wear
Thanks

AdrianC

"Need"? Probably not.
Good idea? Probably.

Simple question - how much are the set of four tyres, how much is just getting the tracking done, and how much is the four-wheel alignment? Checking the tracking on the front alone will tell you if that's out, but it won't tell you anything else about the suspension setup's adjustment.

facade

If all 4 tyres have worn completely flat across then there is nothing wrong with the alignment.
If the outer edge of any tyre wears more than the middle, get it checked.


My 4x4s with proper live axles always used to wear the tyres flat, when I moved to a MK1 RAV4 with this new fangled "independent suspension" the edges used to wear, and you could mess with the alignment front & back with adjusters everywhere, so I got it 4 wheel aligned. Didn't make much difference tbh, but they said it was "miles out" at the back....


Gone back to proper live axles again now Apparently, they are far superior to independent, as if one wheel goes up over a bump, the opposite one pushes down to maintain traction.

Now there is some positive spin from the manufacturer

AdrianC

facade wrote: »

Gone back to proper live axles again now Apparently, they are far superior to independent, as if one wheel goes up over a bump, the opposite one pushes down to maintain traction.

More a question of not finding ground clearance under the diffs reducing as one wheel goes up.

System

GT60 wrote: »

I always have my front tracking done so do I need the 4 wheel thing?

Judging by how many cars I've seen crabbing down the road an occasional 4 wheel tracking is a good idea. Doing only the front will ensure that you have the correct angles for toe but doesn't guarantee that this has anything to do with front to rear alignment hence seeing the more extreme examples where you look at a car and can swear it is going sideways down the road whilst travelling in a straight line.

One of the reasons people find that when they've just had their car tracking done and the steering wheel is slightly off straight when going in a straight line is because they only had 2 wheel tracking so the tracking on the front in reference to the rear wheels wasn't checked.

Many cars like my MX5 also have alignment adjustable on the rear as well.