4 wheel align - now drifts to one side! What next?

I had my 4 wheels computer aligned yesterday (£47!!!)

And today I called to tell them that it drifts to one side.

They said "change the front wheels over" - which I did tonight and flippin heck - the car now drifts to the other side.

What next? Any suggestions?

Should I move the front wheels to the back?

Cheers

Dan

did they give you a print out of what they did to check that the set up is right for your alfa

Not much help, but my TSpark's rear wheels have been out of alignment for about 4 years. Everytime I took them to have all four wheels aligned it came back just as bad.

As far as I can tell, they were only ever doing the fronts. I took it to a new place yesterday and now, for the first time since I first changed my tires four years ago, It goes in a straight line under acceleration with the hands off the wheel and also goes in a straight line when the steering wheel's straight.

Tyres maybe ? One of my Alfas would always track against the camber, changing the tyres fixed it - and it was obviously a fairly common problem because it could return whenever they were rotated, and then happen sometimes when the tyres were just renewed. Apparently caused by slight differences in manufacturing tolerances.

Originally Posted by RobinHood

They said "change the front wheels over"

If they're directional tyres this is a really bad idea!

You've got a bad tyre or wheel by the sound of it.

wrinx

Originally Posted by RobinHood

Should I move the front wheels to the back?

Cheers

Dan

Have you tried that yet?
Did it go backwards?

Changed the front tyres over - and now it pulls to the other direction!

What Joy!

And now - the back end seems to skip out of line when I go over bumpy bits of road.

I wonder if it's me just becoming more sensitive to it!

Anyway - do you think I should try front to back now?

The wheels look in good shape - and I didn't notice it before.

Cheers

Dan

Are any of the tyres, particularly the front, showing uneven wear?
Do you have the print out from the alignment?

The wheels are fine.

Here is alink to the document they gave me.

I really appreciate any help.

Thanks

Dan

www.danobrien.net/d1.jpg

Thanks for access to the read out.
Assuming there are no worn suspension joints/bushes and that the alignment was carried out correctly ( no reason to think it wasn't).
The left rear wheel was toed out and that has been corrected. The rear toe IN is now 5mm split equally on the two wheels and is about the middle of the spec.
The front toe OUT was 3mm and that has been increased to 3.5mm. The specified range given in the read out for front toe out is 3 to 5 mm. That may or may not be the Alfa recommended range but most experience suggests that the toe out should be 0 to 2mm and preferably nearer to zero. You will find the inside edges of the front tyres wearing, especially the n/s.
What should you do now? I should have the front toe out reduced to 1mm and choose the two most evenly worn of your 5 tyres and put them on the front checking alson that the rims are true.

Thanks for your help.

I'm going to switch the tyres over.

What's really weird is the increased "skittishness".

It seems to "wiggle" if I go over a pothole or similar. Most cars from memory - just go down und up with a bump - this now seems to geve a little tail shake! Very strange!

Thanks

Dan

Originally Posted by RobinHood

Thanks for your help.

I'm going to switch the tyres over.

What's really weird is the increased "skittishness".

It seems to "wiggle" if I go over a pothole or similar. Most cars from memory - just go down und up with a bump - this now seems to geve a little tail shake! Very strange!

Thanks

Dan

Hi Dan
Don't wish to alarm you, but skittish rear is a sign of rear shock and/or arm bushes being worn.
Would be an idea to check these out thoroughly.
HTH

Skittish rear deffo needs looking into, a properly set up alfa should be rock solid on the road. Often caused by people jacking the cars up at back at the wrong place causing bending of rear control arms...worn bushes on control arms also cause rear wibble/wobble when worn.