And there's me thinking it's because they've made all of the adjustment on one track rod, instead of balacing it out a bit each side, to keep the steering wheel central.
I've obviously been getting it wrong for the last 45 years. [smiley=embarassed.gif]
Well no don't beat yourself up because of the industry's ignorance... Fact is if the alignment has no centre of reference then to adjustment is blind....
Next time anyone is in the tyre shop and they say you need wheel alignment can you please ask this question.
'What are you aligning the front wheels to?'..... If they can answer you i would be very surprised!
The place that I usually use, hang things on the back wheels, with, what I assume, are lasers, pointing at a scale, on something hanging on the front wheels, and adjust if necessary.
So, I guess they are lining up the front wheels with the back, so that they end up facing in the same direction. Isn't that the point of "doing the tracking".
And, when the car is going in a straight line, the steering wheel is always central.
I have the wheels balanced and rotated about every six months, and I have the tracking checked at the same time.
Most times they just check it, tell me it doesn’t need resetting, and there’s no charge.
If you don't bang it up kerbs, I don’t see why the tracking, or other angles, should be out, unless you have an accident, or have to fit new suspension parts.
But, maybe I'm living in the past. In a time when cars were much more simple.