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General Car Chat / Re: Before I buy Help
« on: 18 November 2016, 20:51:32 »Generally "Four Wheel Alignment" means hanging some gauges on rear wheels whilst shining a narrow beam of light or laser from front. This isn't worth shit. Nothing. Zilch.
What you are generally after on an Omega, and certainly if the car is new to you, is a full geometry. The front type shoulder wear is generally camber, although the long arms coupled with aggressive driving does tend to turn Omega fronts into a more, well, motorcycle profile.
Any such alignment specialist needs to understand that the original GM specs were a bit crap to start off with, and are utterly useless as all these cars have aged. So "computer says green, mate" ain't good enough either. Fortunately, there are a handful of outlets around that actually understand what they are doing, not just do what the computer says. We worked with Wheels-InMotion in Buckinghamshire to get a good baseline to work from.
That's what the guy at kwik fit done with the senator, all within tolerance (green) yet at least one front was still way out. I will give the guy his dues he was quite genuine and probably really didn't know much more than the manual and computer was telling him plus he seemed a bit confused about the model of car he was adjusting for.
I've been reading up various ideas on the alignment, here's one a guy done for lotus carlton, which is same principal applies to senator, and I guess probably the omega too.
http://www.lotuscarlton.co.uk/camber.htm
I've got the official vx manuals online and it tells procedure there. This include loading up the front seats with 75kg, full tank of fuel, tightening knuckle bolt to certain torque then letting car weight on to it, tighten it higher torque etc. I'd probably end up doing that if I can't find a shop up here who really doesn't know how to do this, plus it's save me cash and I'd learn more!
When I drove it today it seemed quite straight and true on the road although I did at some point feel a little bit jittery when I hit a negative camber bit of road or a bumpy bit. Probably the shagged tyres, potentially worn bushes/track ends didn't help things.