55 When/how often should I get an alignment done?
Description
This article is from the Watercooled VWs General FAQ, by Jan Vandenbrande with numerous contributions by others.
55 When/how often should I get an alignment done?
A: Cars generally stay aligned unless one of the components wears out
(e.g., spring sag, upper bearings stretch), you hit something hard or
you replaced shocks and springs.
If you notice any form of uneven wear, e.g., feathering, more wear on
one side than the other, it is time for an alignment.
However, it's a good idea to first replace the worn out part before
you do the alignment, and with the high cost of tires, it may be
a good idea to check things out then.
You can do some primitive alignment checks yourself to see whether
the car is at least in the right ball park. See the alignment archive
and faq.vw.perf for more details.
Choosing an alignment shop is a different issue. Having computer
equipment means nothing. The place I visit uses merely hand tools
with his expertiese and I trust him alot more than the majority of
alignment places that just blindly punch in some numbers and align
two arrows on the computer. Ask around.
To avoid the BS they may give you, on most A* VWs, only the front
camber and toe-in are adjustable. Caster is not. The rear is even
easier, nothing is adjustable without either bending the rear axle
arms or by adding shims behind the axle stubs. In general, the rear
is not adjusted. Some shops will want to do a "four wheel alignment"
to determine the "thrust angle". It's ok to check things out but
in general I would only trust a specialist to touch my rear wheel
alignment and I would only pay a small amount over a front end alignment
rather than double to have the rears checked.
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