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Thread ID: 81380	2007-07-25 22:31:00	Wheel Alignment Question	allblack (6574)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
572784	2007-07-27 15:37:00	Thanks for comments SJ and others . . . . This is my first 4WD . . . . so taking a bit of getting used to . Needed for two adults, two (sometimes five) kids and two dogs! Also getting used to the fuel consumption . Haven't had it long enough to develop a sense of humour about it yet, so that's a sore point, for want of a better expression!!! :confused: Next thread: calculating fuel consumption! Maths ain't my strong point . Those Dunlop Grandtreks ( . tirerack . com/tires/tires . jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Grandtrek+AT20" target="_blank">www . tirerack . com) appear to be pretty mild for off-road activity . . . especially in sand or mud . Remember that if you DO get the vehicle off the tarmac, drop the air pressure to less than what you'd consider safe or you're not going to get anywhere . . . quickly . They appear to be better at highway and freeway running, will be real quiet and not have shoulder instability problems . If you feel them tug at the vehicle when you change lanes or drive over a seam in the roadway at a very low entry angle, then you need a little less air in them to help . The radial grooves will be a problem in snow of any depth though . . . I suggest getting a set of GOOD chains if you live where it snows . I run 2 . 27kg of air pressure in my off-road tires when I'm actually off the hardtop . I run 9 . 98kg for highway . . but I am using 15-incher tires, and you're using 16's . . so I don't know about what's best for them . I had a set of ATs in a different brand (Kuhmo ( . tirerack . com/tires/tires . jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Road+Venture+AT+825" target="_blank">www . tirerack . com)) once and didn't like them in snow at all . . they side-slipped and felt like they were bald even when I dropped the pressure to less than 1 . 36kgs . In the sand they were excellent, but again at almost flat air pressures . Carry a 12v air compressor with some capacity to pump them up after you play in the snow/mud/sand/sheep poop . Perhaps someone else will have better info for those 16's .	SurferJoe46 (51)
572785	2008-05-30 08:03:00	NEVER get Beau Repairs to do wheel alignment!!! I did my WOF and the guy told me to do wheel alignment else the tyre will wear out. So I got Beau to do it ($79 instead of $69 firestone). But only 3 months later, the sides of the front tyres are COMPLETELY worn out!! I went back and ask Beau. So he check again and say that it wasn't properly aligned before. Now I have to buy a set of new tyres all thanks to Beau Repairs.	mike0mike0 (12591)
572786	2008-05-30 19:06:00	NEVER get Beau Repairs to do wheel alignment!!! I did my WOF and the guy told me to do wheel alignment else the tyre will wear out . So I got Beau to do it ($79 instead of $69 firestone) . But only 3 months later, the sides of the front tyres are COMPLETELY worn out!! I went back and ask Beau . So he check again and say that it wasn't properly aligned before . Now I have to buy a set of new tyres all thanks to Beau Repairs . What qualifies this "WOF-guy" to assess your tires? Is he a retired mechanic or does he actively work in a real shop? Usually those who inspect cars here in the US are pregnant teenage girls and felony work-continuation prison reform program-ees who don't know anything about anything but drugs, prregnancy and welfare checks . Remember that "those who can, DO; those who cannot either teach or grade others" . Don't be hasty here . . there are conditions and circumstances that can cause unwarranted tire wear . What part of the tires was worn? Just the outsides or insides or BOTH the insides and outsides? It makes a big difference, IF just the insides, then you are toed OUT . . . but there are other things to see too . IF just worn on the outsides, the you are toed IN . BUT . . . IF they are worn on both the inside of the tread AND the outside . . . . then most likely you are running with too little air in them . The opposite it true if you run too much air in them . . they wear the center of the tread out and leave the edges alone . Tire pressure is really a vehicle-by-vehicle condition . The manufacturer's SUGGESTED pressure values is just a starting place for you . Once you see the wear pattern of your vehicle with the loads you carry and the conditions on which you drive, then you can adjust the values accordingly . Buy new tires . . and everything's out the window again . Heavy vehicle with the same tires and rims as a lighter one will need different air pressure . . . . usually more . . . to compensate for the weight . Inversely so for the opposite situation . What do you see on the tires in question? Check out this LINK ( . procarcare . com/includes/content/resourcecenter/encyclopedia/ch25/25readtirewear . html" target="_blank">www . procarcare . com) and especially the last drawing . See where your tires fit the best . The hardest part to get a customer to understand is that the front end of a vehicle in under a lot of diabolical dynamic stresses . Hitting curbs, pedestrians and chuck holes will make the alignment travel a bit all the time . Usually a vehicle has a little fudge room for considerable impact compensation when striking an obstacle, but do it often enough and things get pushed out of specs . Bent rims/wheels usually don't present an alignment problem . . . just a wobble and possible tire balance problem at critical speeds when they can hop and shake the steering wheel (NZ tiller?), putting extra wear on ball joints, shocks and the steering box if it gets bad enough . Alignment can be adjusted, parts if necessary can be repaired or replaced, but tire pressure is up to the owner/driver . .	SurferJoe46 (51)
572787	2008-05-31 02:09:00	NEVER get Beau Repairs to do wheel alignment!!! I did my WOF and the guy told me to do wheel alignment else the tyre will wear out. So I got Beau to do it ($79 instead of $69 firestone). But only 3 months later, the sides of the front tyres are COMPLETELY worn out!! I went back and ask Beau. So he check again and say that it wasn't properly aligned before. Now I have to buy a set of new tyres all thanks to Beau Repairs. ANother example of someone doing a google search, and dedging up an old post.	robbyp (2751)
572788	2008-05-31 04:02:00	Remember that "those who can, DO; those who cannot either teach or grade others" . I was going to say "Rubbish!" but maybe this is why the U . S . economy is going down the gurgler . And no, I am not, nor ever have been, a teacher .	decibel (11645)
572789	2008-05-31 05:08:00	What qualifies this "WOF-guy" to assess your tires? Is he a retired mechanic or does he actively work in a real shop? Usually those who inspect cars here in the US are pregnant teenage girls and felony work-continuation prison reform program-ees who don't know anything about anything but drugs, prregnancy and welfare checks. Oi!! I'm a 'WoF*-guy', certified by the government transport authority (LTNZ) to inspect and assess vehicles for roadworthiness and am well able to advise customers on all things automotive, having been a mechanic for 30yrs; I am Not a Pregnant Dole Bludger/Ex-Convict/Drug Addict.:illogical:) (*Warrant of Fitness, test required six-monthly (or yearly for the first six years) for vehicle to continue to be used on NZ roads).	feersumendjinn (64)
572790	2008-05-31 05:38:00	Oi!! I'm a 'WoF*-guy', certified by the government transport authority (LTNZ) to inspect and assess vehicles for roadworthiness and am well able to advise customers on all things automotive, having been a mechanic for 30yrs; I am Not a Pregnant Dole Bludger/Ex-Convict/Drug Addict . :illogical:) (*Warrant of Fitness, test required six-monthly (or yearly for the first six years) for vehicle to continue to be used on NZ roads) . A few questions then: 1) On-job experience . . insert number of years in the actual hands-dirty part only . 2) All other questions and qualifications pale into insignificance .	SurferJoe46 (51)
572791	2008-05-31 07:05:00	A few questions then: 1) On-job experience..insert number of years in the actual hands-dirty part only. 2) All other questions and qualifications pale into insignificance. Since August 1977, and still getting grease under my fingernails as we speak :punk.	feersumendjinn (64)
572792	2008-06-01 22:30:00	1) On-job experience . . insert number of years in the actual hands-dirty part only . of course as all trademan know, its dosn't mean much . all that matters is how well the last job was done :)	tweak'e (69)
572793	2008-06-02 03:55:00	OK . . the years are important . If someone survives for more than a few years, doesn't work for the government, isn't protected by a union or is a child of the business owner, then as a survivor they likely have some gray matter between their ears and (in this case) grease under their nails . :p Success is the only real attribute that isn't learned, but earned . That doesn't mean that I like anyone who inspects or qualifies the work of a trade (we say: "vocation") for a living . Typically, they are political appointee jobs and the inspector hasn't the vaguest idea on how to pour urine out of their boot if the instructions are printed on the heel . I'd hate to have a brain surgeon who just watched a training video on the surgery they are gonna do on me . More so with an automobile: Surgeons get to bury their mistakes, mechanics have theirs come back on tow trucks . An example of some "inspectors" who thankfully don't exist any more . California invoked a "Preggo Unwed Mothers Almost Rehabbed Recreational Pharmaceuticals Users & Abusers Felony Work Training/Continuation Program" (The "PUMARRPUAFWTCP") a bunch of years ago to inspect automobiles for smog-related purposes . It was called: "Hamilton Research" and as such held the final say-so in the state for emissions testing and registration qualification . SOMEBODY got paid big ones! They weren't to actually WORK on the vehicles, but just test them and if they failed their "testing" they sent the owner to a real smog licensed installed/tester (like ME) for the refitting and repair(s) and then back to be retested by Hamilton . I got several referrals in the shop where I worked, as I was a fully-licensed Class-A Installer/Adjuster by California testing and qualification . One in particular was a hotrod 1969 Chevy, which originally had a 250ci/4 . 1L 6-cylinder, three-speed automatic trans and had by now been changed to a blown, dual-quad 500ci/8 . 2L Cadillac engine with a four-speed Hydro transmission . It failed for a "MMD EGR" . . . which means: "MODIFIED, MISSING or DEFECTIVE EGR ( . sytyarchives . com/howto/engine/egr_removal_images/egr . jpg" target="_blank">www . sytyarchives . com)", with the DEFECTIVE portion underlined . . . supposedly that was why it failed . . . Uh huh! Never mind that it have an illegal 6:71 Roots ( . imagecave . com/lim34/Blower001-copy . jpg" target="_blank">usera . imagecave . com) blower on the engine . Never mind that it had two, illegal Holley ( . erareplicas . com/427/img/dualquad . jpg" target="_blank">www . erareplicas . com) four-barrel carbs . Never mind that it had an illegal non-vacuum advance Mallory ( . classicjaguar . com/malpage . jpg" target="_blank">www . classicjaguar . com) style distributor . Never mind that it had illegal headers without AIR fittings . Never mind it had an illegal transmission with no SC/TCS switch . Never mind that the catalytic converter was removed . Never mind that it had this illegal 500ci/8 . 2L Cadillac ( . markeeautosales . com/ebay/69cadillac/images/06 . jpg" target="_blank">www . markeeautosales . com) engine in a Chevrolet . They just wanted the EGR problem sorted out . . but even that 1972 Cadillac engine never had EGR on it in the first place . I looked at the citation and try as I could I could not see the EGR at all . So then I called the local BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair (http://www . autorepair . ca . gov/) . . the big dogs from Sacramento) representative across the street, who just happened to be a friend and he came right over to see what Hamilton had done this time . We looked . . . honestly! . . . . we both looked for a long time to try to see what Hamilton had seen in a not-there EGR in the first place . We were stumped . We knew that Hamilton had goofed up really bad this time . . but we ran the whole gauntlet to see what was in the mind of the inspector . Totally stumped, we got the owner's permission to drive the car back to Hamilton and run it through again just to see what they saw . The so-called inspector came out and proudly pointed to a rusty heater control valve on the firewall, NOT even on the engine, telling us that "that EGR was inoperative and failed as it was all rusted up" . He flipped out his badge and closed them down with a writ in about two hours . Drug addicts should not be inspecting the work of real experienced and trained people . Hamilton is gone . I, on the other hand, still exist . This is just another nail in the coffin for- and of- the ineptitude and political hacking that I cannot stomach to this day . :yuck:	SurferJoe46 (51)
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