Tracking again

[Phil Nottingham]

Ray Picket - Regional Rep wrote on old Board

Chaps/chapesses, Sorry it took so long but I got back to my Tracking man today. Rover P5's should be set to 1/16th toe-in; (with a tolerance of 1/16th). This will mean on one side it could be neutral and on the other 2/16ths to-in. He says because of all the play in that style of steering, a P5 has it must be set and then have the wheels/steering moved and then check again, and if needed re-set again and checked again ...until the setting are found to have settled. This is exactly what he did with mine. On some equipment these settings may show as 1.6mm. He showed me a national magazine article he put in a mag. I asked if he could do one for us and he's agreed. I'll get this for Take-Five. Also he will run a tracking day for us. We can take the P5's along one Saturday from 12:00 (they shut at 12:30) He will then do a talk and demonstration of the 'Hunter Digital Wheel Alignment' machine works and go on to talk all about steering etc., he says it would last about 2 hours. This will be in Worthing W/Sussex. I thought I'd wait till the weather gets better. Anyone fancy the trip? Maybe sort some sea-side event after? Your thoughts & comments will be noted. Cheers Ray


;DYes I have agree and am trying this now



Logged

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[Phil Nottingham]

Richard Fitzpatrick wrote
Date: 12/13/2004 11:50 am EDT

Whilst I agree with some of the principles above, I would suggest that the understanding of tolerance here would be erronous. All vehicles should have the front wheels aligned so that when the vehicle is in motion, the wheels have no toe-in or toe-out. However, when stationary, the story is different. For rear wheel drive cars the usual (and I know of no exception to this rule)is to have toe-in. The tolerance cannot be biased to one side as suggested. Plus or minus 1/16" means that the total toe-in can be 1/8" or zero. One side cannot have more that the other. It is common practice to have three readings prior to the final set-up, with each reading taken after the vehicle has moved forward (and only forward)about half a revolution of the front wheel. The final set-up then is an average of the three (You can do more for greater accuracy if required).

Which probably explains why its pot luck as to whether it workd or not!

[Richard Fitzpatrick]

The "pot luck" comment is not mine and can be misleading. As said previously, the more readings you take, the more accurate you can get with the final setting. However, it is true to say that the optimum setting will not suit all vehicles, hence the tolerance. I have experienced a few cases where cars, classic and modern, have required the final setting to be at the extreme end of the tolerance quoted. This then does become a trial and error exercise but can be eased by scrutinizing the wear pattern on the tyres, or feeling the drift direction the car wants to take you. Scrubbing on the outside periphery indicates too much toe-in and conversely, scrubbing on the inside periphery indicates too much to-out. If only one tyre shows the abnormal wear then that is the one scrubbing as you force the car to drive straight. In all this though, it is vital that after each adjustment of the steering track, the track rods (or their effect) remain exactly the same length. Gets complicated doesn't it!

[will hamlyn]

I've always used one of those Gunsons tracking gauges, this measures the tracking by driving over it so as you say set it to zero when moving.

I've had so many bad experiences with the so called pros setting it up and then getting heavy steering and scrubbed tyres.

The Gunsons gizmo may be cheap and simple but it seems to work very well, just make sure its on a nice flat surface

will

[PatMcCoy]

Can i get tracking done anywhere or is it a dealer job
I rang a Felthan tyres this morning and they said they require a special tool
Is this ture or are they pulling a fast one
Regards Pat

[richard2]

If you don't have the required gear or just don't want to carry out the job yourself, try one of the tyre fitting depots that also carry out laser type wheel tracking. This will check all four wheels in relation to each other and the body/chassis. I have used them a couple of times in the past and found them to be excellent. I am unsure about a special tool being required as I have not worked on the P5 for some 30 years. However, I doubt if one is needed. I'll check the workshop manual and get back to you.

Richard

[richard eglinton]

I have always used the info as per section J page 15 in the workshop manual. Same specs apply to the P5b.Seems clear enough to me and even tells you what spanners are needed!!.Have perfect wear patterns on both front tyres but they are crossplies.

[Deleted]

:DGood for you leave well alone - for those that use garages with HITEC equipment remind them that the rear track is narrower than the front - 1/2" I recall

[richard eglinton]

Good point.As per section U page 5 front 55'' rear 56''so dont use alignment lasers.Its not rocket science!!
Richard

[Deleted]

;DThere you are then - approx 1/2" each side although I will lay money that it will not be precisely equal unless by chance especially if new springs have been fitted

[Richard Fitzpatrick]

Richard Eglinton does have a point in that it's not rocket science. However, if you have problematic steering, then that may require the use of specialist equipment such as the laser based kit. Differing front and rear track measurements should have no bearing on the matter as many cars have this. The sytem relies on checking the parallels and not the differing tracks (so they tell me).

[richard eglinton]

Another point is that all measurements assume suspension,bearings etc to have very little or no wear.When you consider all the links,ball joints etc and the common use of Radials I think it would be very tricky to get a factory setting so some compromise is necessary.Perhaps crossplies are more forgiving as there is less rubber on the road.
Richard