Wheel Alignment

[ROCCO]

Seriosul how ****ing hard is it to do a wheel alignment on an Astra. Took my car into a certain tyre store today got the car back paid my $65 and was driving home and was still getting steering wheel shake...ffs

[hazrd]

since you started this thread for me :p im gunna ask an additional question... at how many KMs should the first wheel alignment be done?? (we have just clicked over 35k)



and to answer ur question on the wheel shake..... i thought wheel shake was the wheel balancing ... if it was out of alignment, it should be pulling harshly to one side???

[PrincessPeachey]

$65 is a bit steep for a wheel alignment. Where did you get it done?

[ROCCO]

hmmm couldn't be the balancing...i'll speak to them tomorrow about it...but to answr your question rule of thumb is a wheel alignemnt should be done evey 6 months there abouts

[PrincessPeachey]

wheel alignment on an Astra.

oh yeah, it's an Opel, no one wants to have anything to do with them.. :(

[CNBLU]

lol alignment fail :p

you need the wheels balanced Rocco :D

[ROCCO]

Bah blow me I needed it done...as I was sure I put the alignment out when I used some brotek thinking to get the damn discs off over the weekend (knocked them off with a axe handle and a rubber mallet) Now I went for a drive earlier tnight and it seems it was the road I was driving on that was bumpy like that....no more shaking....so alignment not fail :-p

[CNBLU]

hahaha whatever dude read your first post :p

[ROCCO]

hahaha whatever dude read your first post :p
Gav, you can suck my snot out of my left testie. Sth Gippy highway is fooed at the moment due to road works...drove dany bypass last night and the monash and all was good...so :-P

[JR]

mine had the "shakes" at 110km/h or more. did a wheel alignment - that didn't fix it.
did a wheel balance - that fixed it.

[hazrd]

Gav, you can suck my snot out of my left testie.

RRRROOOOFFFLLLL!!!!!!

baaaaad image in my head.....

[jastra]

think i put mine out last night...went over a stupid little island that serves no purpose other than to get in the way lol i was doing about 110+ today and it started shaking its never doen that before at higher than that... damn

[ROCCO]

Yeah i'm going to take it too beaurepairs tomorrow and do a Wheel Balance...just to make a certain somebody phucking happy lol

[dutchy]

Yeah i'm going to take it too beaurepairs tomorrow and do a Wheel Balance...just to make a certain somebody phucking happy lol

When Beaurepairs do an alignment, they have a whole list of cars in the computer. They just select your type of car and it gives all the correct settings to which they adjust accordingly......................... They did so on mine and it was adjusted for a different Astra. When I went back after I drove the car. and it felt like sh#t, they said they didn't have the 2.0 turbo in the computer so they used first Astra that came up in the list. Make sure they selected the correct car. If you already paid, and it's not good, they should fix it (for free) !

[ROCCO]

When you took your car back and they said they didn't have the 2.0 turbo what did they do?? How did they fix the alignment??

[dutchy]

They asked the Holden dealer just oposite their shop and they gave the correct data.

[ROCCO]

the only prob I can see with that is that I have after market rims...

[dutchy]

shouldn't make a difference I guess. Not 100% sure though as I have standard rims.

[tomburke7]

Seriosul how ****ing hard is it to do a wheel alignment on an Astra. Took my car into a certain tyre store today got the car back paid my $65 and was driving home and was still getting steering wheel shake...ffs

There is virtually nothing you can set on an AH Astra other than toe. A few turns this way or a few turns that way - a 2 min job once the car is on the rig. They charged you $65. Nice. (bloody rip-off!)
If your Astra's done a few km's then things might be getting out of wack - but of course you can't fix the problem because nothing is adjustable. What were the numbers they gave you for the 'finished' alignment (camber left = ?, camber right = ?, caster left =? caster right=?, toe left & right=?)
If they are screwed then you'll have to go aftermarket to get some adjustment products. Camber pins & caster bushes for the front, alignment shims for the back.

[guy 27]

Tom you actually can adjust whatever you want on the front without getting any aftermarket products. I suggest going to a reputable suspension location. There are many instances where franchise businesses will not care enough to do the work properly to save the customer money.

On the rear though I will agree with you there is nothing major that can be adjusted but you will find in most cases on the Astras that when rear camber is out, it is due to a bend in the rear axle.

[ROCCO]

ended up taking it to a wheel alignment specialist in Port Melb...$120 later...all fixed...wheel was straight front end of was way out...apprently it was setup with TS specs...(astra G settings...looks like the phuckers used the wrong settings)....i'm taking the report back to where I origianlly had it done hopefully they wil refund my initial payment of $65

[tomburke7]

Tom you actually can adjust whatever you want on the front without getting any aftermarket products. I suggest going to a reputable suspension location. There are many instances where franchise businesses will not care enough to do the work properly to save the customer money.

On the rear though I will agree with you there is nothing major that can be adjusted but you will find in most cases on the Astras that when rear camber is out, it is due to a bend in the rear axle.

Interesting, I thought that camber and caster were not adjustable on an AH. How do they do it?
(Years ago I had a Mazda RX2, I remember a shop giving that car a camber adjustment by pulling the strut out and bending it an a hydraulic press - is this the method you are talking about?)

[guy 27]

that is one method, though it is not done very often these days as you can damage the strut too easily.

You can adjust it by widening the holes on the strut, there by allowing you to tighten it up again at a different camber setting. You will find that most will allow for some movement as they are from factory but this may not always be enough.

[dutchy]

ended up taking it to a wheel alignment specialist in port melb...$120 later...all fixed...wheel was straight front end of was way out...apprently it was setup with ts specs...(astra g settings...looks like the phuckers used the wrong settings)....i'm taking the report back to where i origianlly had it done hopefully they wil refund my initial payment of $65

lol

[ROCCO]

LOL?? why?

[ROCCO]

Meh laugh all you want...place I went to was

http://www.trutrack.com.au/index.html

Set my car up really well...no pre defined settings used all custom....basically it turns awesome into corners...also camber was adjusted slightly car feels really well balanced i'm quite happy can't recommend these guys enough

[dutchy]

LOL?? why?

because i think it is very funny seeing this happened to other people as well. Some of the tire place have no idea what they are doing obviously and i bet this (selecting a different car) is happening daily.
What did the other guys say ? Got a refund ?

[tomburke7]

Set my car up really well...no pre defined settings used all custom....basically it turns awesome into corners...also camber was adjusted slightly car feels really well balanced i'm quite happy can't recommend these guys enough

What settings did they use on your car (share the wealth)?

[dutchy]

Did aftermarket wheels make a difference in setting up ?

[guy 27]

Did aftermarket wheels make a difference in setting up ?

won't make a difference.

[ROCCO]

No aftermarket wheels didn't make a difference. It comes down to driving style and what your wanting to use the car for. I have mine setup to be very pointy on turn in...as I said compared to the why it was this feels much better and is more suited to my driving style.

[tomburke7]

I have mine setup to be very pointy on turn in...as I said compared to the why it was this feels much better and is more suited to my driving style.

So you run a fair bit of negative camber?

[ROCCO]

So you run a fair bit of negative camber?


Yeah not a huge amount but I dunno why it just feels better more responsive into corners