Just had the Range Rover algined at a big name tire installer (4 brand new Michelin Lattitude's $$$), and at first glance I am not happy with the before & after numbers. To me they did a hack job aligning the car...

For those of you who are well versed in alignments, did they do a sh***y job or is this acceptable? Looks to me they did nothing on the front caster, right front camber is still out of spec, and rear toe is totally off.

Before I go by there and make let them know my dissatisfaction, I to have a better understanding from those who know a lot more than I do here. Please share you informed expertise.

 

I will preface this with that I am not an "expert" when it comes to alignment, but I can look at what's on the page that you scanned. I believe your front caster wasn't set probably because there is no adjustment on the front of your vehicle for it (hence the "--" on the initial). Front camber should match (left versus right) - this should be redone. There is no excuse for having one side a full degree out of spec compared to the other side. It looks as though they fixed your front toe. For a Range Rover I don't see any need to have any toe dialed in for the front. Rear camber needs to be redone. Again, there is no excuse for it being off left versus right. Especially that far out of whack. Your rear toe is way out of whack too.

Did they mention why the numbers are the way they are? Did they try and fix the camber angles on the right side of your car to match the left? Has your vehicle been in an accident? I don't understand why the right side of your car has its camber pull out that much (especially versus the left side). I would suggest you going back and having them explain.

 

The car has never been in an accident (or least on CarFax), nor does it look like it has. My hunch is that they did a quick job to make the total value in range and not care about the actual sides matching. I plan to go by there and him them explain but wanted to have some additional knowledge before I get all huffy on them.

My girlfriend dropped the car off and waiting for 2.5 hours for this... I already had the new tires mounted at the time.

I can understand if it's fixed, but the values that are not should be near identical IMO.

 

Yup, you are correct. All the specs should match left versus right. I would just walk in there in more of a curious manner and have them explain: 1) why some of the settings are outside of the recommended range (front and rear right side camber for example), and 2) why they don't match left versus right. The end of his explanation should result in him acknowledging the errors and putting the specs back in the appropriate ranges with matching numbers (or at least very close to matching). If that isn't the result then that is when I would start huffing and asking to speak to the manager.

 

I just called them and spoke to the manager. I am bringing the car there on Thurs or Friday. He did not have a copy of my print out on hand and sounded willing to put it back up on the machine. I bet most don't even look at the sheet and just assume it's ok. I know doing an alignment right is time consuming. Figuring I just spent $1300+ on tires, and another 3K within the last two years there warrants them spending extra time to make it right.

 

At least he sounded willing. Keep us posted.

 

All they did was correct the toe in the front. Toe is the major contributor to uneven wear.

If there isn't adjustment for the front to even out the camber, then chances are, your average alignment shop won't be able to correct that. A speciality shop will be able to loosen your subframe and adjust via play with the tolerances there.

That rear "toe" is in spec, but the thrust angle is unacceptable. It means that going straight forward, you're going to be going at a slight angle. Both tires are technically pointed slightly right.


I've had probably 50+ alignments done on my s2k.

 

i got an alignment at NTB recently when i had new tires mounted. when i saw the report, i noticed that the rear camber was about a degree off on one of the sides (can't remember which). i immediately asked for an explanation, and the mechanic told me that the camber bolt was seized, and he didn't want to over torque it.

at the time, i thought...fair enough, at least the guy did a responsible job. the mechanic then offered to correct the camber free of charge if i could loosen the bolt. i was in a rush, and thought, ok, i'll investigate the problem myself and come back another time. then on my drive home, the more i thought about it, the more i felt...wait, so i'm paying for an alignment service, and i don't care if you run into some hurdles. if i could spray some WD-40 on the bolt to loosen it up, you should be able to do the same! anyway, i was displeased...but i figure most people that get alignments don't even look at the report, so what's the incentive for them to try?

 

Looks to be your typical "toe and go" alignement. Its what most tech's do so they can make a quick buck. I would take it back and ask if it has adjustable camber in the front (im not familiar with this particular car so it may not have factory adjustable camber) and i would ask to reset the rear toe. The rear camber is also way out, that combined with the toe will kill your new tires. Do some research and see if you can buy adjustable camber bolts or what not for this specific car. Good luck!

 

That is a hack job at an alignment. If I were you I'd be standing next to the car when they're doing the alignment and making sure the tech is matching specs side to side and telling you why he's not.

Also, understand what numbers you want within the range and get them to adjust to your standards. The alignment you got doesn't even get into the spec range.