Author Topic: Wheel Alignment In Burnaby (Read 1913 times)

love_loaf · « **on:** August 18, 2006, 07:23:42 PM »

alright so i just finished installing my new drop spindles, disk brakes, and tierods, and new rims and tires(thanks silas)

my car is a 66 so bj front and SA back

should i go to someone who dose more specialty cars,
there is one called 21st century alignment that isn't too far from my place. they specialize in lowered, hot rods,race cars, and so on.

or can i just go to a place like kal tire, ok tire, midas, that kinnda place

thanks

da loaf

nivag · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2006, 11:33:17 PM »

Daryl at Dales Alignment in Langley is a great place... Just did my car and was great to deal with.

Chris · « **Reply #2 on:** August 19, 2006, 12:10:42 AM »

with out a doubt Dales rocks!!!

I just took my car in, king and link front end, car tracks perfectly straight, bang on! Those guys are awesome!

silas · « **Reply #3 on:** August 19, 2006, 12:38:06 AM »

Quote

new rims and tires(thanks silas)

no problem.

i'm glad they worked out for you. post up a pic of the car when you get a chance.

biffa · « **Reply #4 on:** August 19, 2006, 10:16:58 PM »

Dale's Alignment was able to squeeze me in this morning and did a terrific job. Reasonable price too!

Bruce · « **Reply #5 on:** August 19, 2006, 11:29:32 PM »

A place recommended in Burnaby is Tekam Automotive On MacPherson just south of Imperial. At first glance they are a Mazda specialist, but one of the alignment guys, Rudy, is a long time VW enthusiast who knows VWs very well.

Chris · « **Reply #6 on:** August 19, 2006, 11:46:08 PM »

kudos to tekam as well, took my bus there after I lowered it, they did awesome work as well

love_loaf · « **Reply #7 on:** August 19, 2006, 11:59:36 PM »

ok well i went to this 21st century guy. hes a nice guy. and keeps his shop very clean.

however. after driving my car home i realized that the steering is not centered properly. i have a little more then a 1\4 of a turn more to one side. he obviosly didn't centered the pitman arm properly.

the big problem now is. as far as i can tell there may not be enuff adjustment for him to aline it once its centered. the long tierod is almost as short as it can be.

has anyone encounted this problum befor? can i just take the tie rod out and cut off like a half inch or so?

anything else i should know befor i take it back to him??

i will be taking it back to him on or after wednesday. because im going camping monday.

please help me

Bruce · « **Reply #8 on:** August 20, 2006, 12:09:08 AM »

Is this a narrowed beam?

Part of every alignment is to ensure the steering wheel is straight when the wheels are straight. Any shop that tells you otherwise is simply too LAZY to do the job the right way.

love_loaf · « **Reply #9 on:** August 20, 2006, 06:04:54 PM »

it is not narrowed it is stock size.

and yeah maybe he was lazy.. but i paid him already so i gotta go back so he can fix it.

i can turn really sharp to the left. so much that i can hit my trailing arm with my rim. but turning the other way the wheel stops about an inch from the arm(where it attaches to the beam). but my long tie rod is really close to being at its shortest.

were there deferent lengths for deferent years??

Bruce · « **Reply #10 on:** August 21, 2006, 02:02:34 PM »

Your tie rod is not too long. The tie rods are all the same from 66 to 03.

The fact that you can turn tighter to the left means that your steering box is way off center. The tie rod end of the pitman arm is offset to the right of the car slightly because of this error. That's why your right tie rod appears to be too long.

The first thing that has to be done is to center the steering box. This is done by turning it all the way to each side, then by counting turns, placing it exactly half way. Some years of steering boxes have a small split collar on the shaft right at the point where the shaft goes into the box. The split of the collar should be straight up, also aligned to the left edge of the steering box cover as viewed from above through the access hole behind your spare tire.

Once the steering box is centered, remove the steering wheel and place it as close as you can to straight. From there you can start to adjust the toe-in