Mini ATS rant

[appletree]

As some may have seen/guest ive just fitted a Z3 1.9 rack.

Any way after fitting all new parts to the rack i thought i would go and get the tracking done, i could see it was out just by looking at it and rang the local garage who do al our works vans and have always been realy good (kingsway) about 1.5mile away form my house, so rang them up and told them i'd be there in ten mins.

So set off from my house and as soon as i was off the drive and moving i could tell the tracking was miles out and decided i would be better/safer to go to the nearest garage ATS although i dont perticualy like the service there.

So nipped in and they said they could get it in streight away so i said i would wait, they first had the problem of getting it on the ramp, the splitter was VERY close to the ramp and i said STOP, and asked if they could put a little ramp up to the ramp first, but they could only find abit of pallet wood... for one side.... which did get the car on the ramp but only just and i wasnt overly happy with it but it was saturday and i wanted to get it tracked so it was ready to go when i got back form site later in the week.

anyway its on the ramp and the guys got the laser sight things on the front wheels pointing back to the brackets on the back wheels with degrees on them and the trackings that far out its not even shining on the tab so its over 6mm toe in, so he does the spannering an takes it off the ramp.

I go in to the office and pay the bloke in there and just as i'am about to leave the guy whos done the tracking walks in and says to bring the car back in two weeks and he will do it again for free, i asked him why and he said because it was so far out it could not be set up correctly streight away.

when i got home with the car sat on the drive i can now see the wheels are toeing out! So when i came back form site i rang my best mate who works at a garage about 10mile away and asked him to check it again. drove over there and you could feel somthing was not right the car pulling one way and the steering was easyer one way, so put it on his set up to find the tracking was now 4mm toe out, so he check there book and re set the tracking to the coorect number which i think was 2mm toe in?

What was ATS playing at and why did they want me to come back, That was £30 wasted

rant over............

[Nobody_You_Know]

To be honest fitting a whole new rack and then expecting ATS to get the tracking right is a bit optimistic. Why don't you go and get your money back?

[Brianmoooore]

Why are you paying to set the tracking in the first place? Don't you have a length of string?

[SteSE]

Why are you paying to set the tracking in the first place? Don't you have a length of string?

Care to elaborate?

EDIT do you find a marker central on the rack and measure to the end of the tie rod and compare on the other side then adjust the tie rod to suit?

[Benho]

ask for your money back mate or at least complain about the guy who attempted the tracking. they will probably say no because they will say they done the tracking right but worth a try

[djk]

I had a bit of fun with a local tyre place lately getting the tracking sorted on the touring - they adjusted it once with their machine set to 'e36 4 door saloon' . The fact that the touring was j-reg seemed to confuse them. They sorted it in the end after I pointed out their error. I only use them as it's a quick and cheap (free!) way to get the alignment checked and have a nose about under the car while they're at it - don't normally have anything that needs adjusting, but the touring's front end was totally out to lunch when I got it.

I normally talk in degrees with tracking - what do people mean when they talk about measurements in mm?

[harry_p]

checking and rechecking after a short drive is pretty common if a lot of adjustment is needed as the suspension needs to settle into it's new settings. a lot of places will just roll a car forward and back a few yards which isnt really good enough.

they probably didnt have the time, or couldnt be bothered to let you go round the bok ond come ack so they could chek and readjust if needed.

if it was so obviously so far out after the rack swap, why didnt you at least attempt to get it somewhere near by eye? should be able to get it within a couple of degrees so at least the pointers are somewhere near the targets!

i wouldnt trust many mainstream garages to do my tracking anyway, they will do as little as they possibly can. very few bother to centralise the rack, a lot will just adjust one trackrod and then move the steering wheel on the column so it points straight.

[Nobody_You_Know]

Why are you paying to set the tracking in the first place? Don't you have a length of string?

Care to elaborate?

EDIT do you find a marker central on the rack and measure to the end of the tie rod and compare on the other side then adjust the tie rod to suit?

This is the way to do it as virtually every race team does:

Get to straight lengths of wood/metal about 2m long (£4.99 from B&Q), put two marks on the poles at say 198cm apart (they must be the same), then use something like axle stands/bricks/jerry cans to mount one in front and one behind the car.
You then run a taught piece of string between the two marks either side of the car, then measure from the centre of the wheel to the string and make sure it is the same side to side, you have then basically created a 'square' around the car you can then measure from the string to the edges of the wheel to check the tracking.

Say for instance you measure to the rear edge of the front wheel and its 25mm from the string and then measure to the front edge of the front wheel and it's 26mm from the string then you have 1mm of Toe In.

This works miles better and easier if you drill some holes and mount the poles directly to the car, I usually (on cheaper cars) put some holes in the underside of the bumper (out of sight) and cable tie the poles on.

hard to find pics but these may help explain:

[Brianmoooore]

As above, but no need to bother with wooden poles. Just tie the string right around the car, half way up all four wheels. Put a couple of small pieces of 4mm plywood under the string at the front of the front wheels, where it touches the tyre, since the rear track is 8mm greater than the front, and you will have two pieces of parallel string down each side of the car. Measure from the string at the front and back of the front wheel rim, and the difference is the toe for that side.
Both sides should be equal with the steering rack centred (check the steering wheel turns the same amount each way), and the distance each side should be 1mm more at the front of the rims than at the back.
If you want to check the rear track as well, use 6mm plywood against the rear tyres, and 10mm for the front.
I've used this method on professional single seat race cars!

[Morat]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

[Nobody_You_Know]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

Does just as good a job in less time with less questions over calibration.
When I worked building BGT LMESand BTCC cars we always used the string system over the laser alignment rig we had.

[Mayze]

Every day really is a school-day.

[Nay]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

What does a Brianmoooore cost though? Surely more than a pathetic laser rig? Where can I buy one?

[e30topless]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

fantastic ! simple technology that works

do the main dealers sell the OEM specific string type that's needed ?

or will the navy blue wool from my grannys knitting box do the trick ?

[Daf318is]

I've tried this - one trick I discovered was to drive the front wheels on to a couple of piece of cardboard. This makes it easier when you are adjusting the tracking as there is no grip with the card being there.

Obviously this only works if you can actually acess the rack! I'm lucky enough to have acess to a pit

[Brianmoooore]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

I didn't invent it! How do you think we used to do these things before all these fancy electronic gizmos were invented?
Two short lengths of 2 X 1 batten, a screw for a hinge, two more long screws, a spirit level, a tape measure and a table of natural tangents, and you have a camber gauge as well!
P.S. Glossy magazines are the preferred thing to park the front wheels on!

[andyp]

must remember to try this next time, sounds like it will work.

[Nobody_You_Know]

Laser alignment rig? No... Brian and some string.
Genius.

fantastic ! simple technology that works

do the main dealers sell the OEM specific string type that's needed ?

or will the navy blue wool from my grannys knitting box do the trick ?

You need the special 'straight string' from BMW... £48+VAT per meter.

[gareth]

this worked a treat on mine as i have an adjustable rear beam too. all four wheels are now spot on manufacturers spec despite lowering, as the rears toe in when dropped

[Jozi]

Ok, thats interesting.

I'll prob need to sort mine out when I get her driving, hopefully next week. Just hope who ever I get to help me understands the method better than I did reading it 1st time