Wheel Alignment In Kent - Any Recommendations

[chris9809]

Hi. I've just bought some 18 inch Sprotline look a like wheels and booked my T6 in for B14's to be fitted. Not sure how much to bring it down by yet, but looking at other threads, it's occurred to me I need to get the wheels aligned after this has all been done.
Any recommendations where to go ? I live in Maidstone, Kent. Will my local VW van centre be a good bet, or is there better places to go ?

 

[Dellmassive]

Your VWCV dealer can do it, failing that any decent tyre shop with the HUNTER machine.

Or if your up by Dartford try Elite on the A1306.

Lowering & 4-wheel Laser Alignment - How I Done It -

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[TwoToneT6]

Just to follow @Dellmassive advice above, I visited Elite Direct in Rainham this morning for a four wheel alignment.

Very happy with the results - I am quite low (H and R deep coilovers with a hub mod up front) and the van has been eating rear tyres. Took it in, explained the issue and that I thought it was due to the Toe introduced by lowering and they took the van off for about 40 mins with the attached results. Almost all the red gone apart from some camber which I can live with. Felt like a very professional outfit.

I did try Beadles Dartford VWCV but they wanted £250. Elite charged £70.

Give them a go if you are in the area and need alignment!

 

[StueyStuey]

Beadle’s in Dartford are possibly the worst dealer I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across.

When I was looking to buy mine the salesman talked to me like he was doing me a favour and might have just as well said to me “you can’t afford one mate” for the way he spoke to me.

Their parts counter over the road isn’t much better.

 

[Skyliner33]

I notice it says "FULL LOAD" on your data sheet. I thought they were supposed to be set up with NO LOAD as the setting?

 

[TwoToneT6]

I notice it says "FULL LOAD" on your data sheet. I thought they were supposed to be set up with NO LOAD as the setting?

To be honest I don't think I am qualified to answer that! Perhaps someone else is.

I had assumed (quite possibly incorrectly) that if I have a camper/day van build in the back and never carry a load that it should be set to "full load" for the alignment as that is how it will always be driven. For someone who carries a load that might not be in the van at the time of alignment it should be set to "no load" so that the machine will compensate for the fact that a load will be added for the vans daily duties...

To be clear though, I didn't ask Elite either way, just let them get on with it having stated the normal use of the van.

 

[Skyliner33]

To be honest I don't think I am qualified to answer that! Perhaps someone else is.

I had assumed (quite possibly incorrectly) that if I have a camper/day van build in the back and never carry a load that it should be set to "full load" for the alignment as that is how it will always be driven. For someone who carries a load that might not be in the van at the time of alignment it should be set to "no load" so that the machine will compensate for the fact that a load will be added for the vans daily duties...

I don't think thatts the way it works but Im sure @T6180 or @Tourershine will be able to give a definitive answer.

 

[Tourershine]

Just reading back through the messages from @highwaycollective and we are set on 'no-load' even though i'm always loaded.
I think they have to override the system, but this setting cured all my issues, made the van drive much better, and best of all, stopped me eating rear tyres every 4000 miles.

 

[highwaycollective]

Yes, to properly cure your rear tyre issues the van needs to be aligned while set to "NO LOAD" no matter how much gear is in your van. Any other setting will consider the excessive toe in to be correct, based on the assumption that when the load is removed the van will rise to standard height and correct the toe.

Look at the below print out and see the value for rear toe (0'18). Then compare it to the "FULL LOAD" number in the sheet above. Even when green the number is 0'50 which is significantly more toe in than standard. The only reason 0'50 is considered green and correct in the above sheet is that the machine assumes that the van is fully laden, and once the load is removed the toe will go back to normal. If it was set to "NO LOAD" when the alignment was done the 0'50 setting would have been considered way out. You can see in my sheet below even 0'32 was considered excessive.

I suggest you go back to them and ask them to do it again with the machine set to "NO LOAD". The results are night and day.

 

[StueyStuey]

I had to go back to Elite with mine. They set it to half load even though it was empty at the time.

To be fair they did it pretty much without question.

 

[TwoToneT6]

Cheers all, this is pretty crucial information. Will be going back this week to see them.

 

[TwoToneT6]

Just another update, went back to Elite today and they were happy to get it back on the machine to give it another go. The only hiccup is that the adjusters are on their limit already...

So, I'll be needing some of the fancy adjustable bushes from Powerflex in order to get it any better as these should give more adjustment. Or I could raise it but that seems like less fun!

 

[Fluff34567]

Bit further away but this guy is amazing and if he can't set it properly no one can.

Tony bones at WIM.

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