DustysA4

I mean, do they just take it for a ride, or do they use the machine. After dropping a car is it safe for a mechanic to just take it for a test spin and determine whether it needs an alignment? Should they never guess whether it needs an alignment and always use a machine?

Thank ya

John/TSR

The only way to test it is on an alignment rack. Anybody who tells you they can just "feel it" hasn't changed the water in their bong for a looooong time.

DustysA4

I had my coilovers put on and they just took it for a test spin to make sure the alignment was okay. I think I'll call them up and tell them that I want them to do it on the machine. After all, they told me that the alignment was included as part of the install price I paid, so if I paid for it, I want it done right.

Thanks for the response.

WClark

There isnt a heck of a lot that can be aligned and nothing needs to be touched that changes the alignment when swapping springs and/or shocks.

That said though, the camber balance and/or toe-in may have been off already and depending on how much you changed the static height of the suspension, toe-in may need to be reset.

I am sure some mechanics are pretty good at feeling a cars alignment thru a test drive but a little excess toe-in error is hard to feel and too much will wear out tires faster than normal.

jasyn³

dusty .. u have quattro? i was told that very few shops have the equipment to align quattro. .. ??

DustysA4

I don't know much about alignments, but if there is some special equipment I am sure that the shop I went to has it. At least they acted like they did. They do a lot of work on S4's and A4's around town, so I am almost positive that they have it.

Evilclown

Most times, lowering a car will throw the car into negative camber and it will need to be realigned. It's always a good idea to have it at least checked when getting tires/shocks/suspension upgrades/etc. Most shops do a free alignment check. They put the car on a large rack and attach special sensors to each wheel that the computer reads from and compares the info that it receives to the factory spec for the car that's stored in the database.