Tunerworks Service: Alignment

We take alignments very seriously at Tunerworks. Showing the customer a “green” sheet during vehicle pickup isn’t our style. Rather we would like to take you through the entire alignment process and explain the before and after measurements on the sheet and how they impact your vehicle’s handling and tire wear. Tunerworks Service is equipped with state of the art Hunter alignment equipment to make sure your vehicle receives the most accurate and consistent wheel alignments. The alignment heads are very accurate and in turn, very sensitive. They have the capability to adjust within 0.001 degree, even the slightest nudge of the vehicle will change the measured angles. We routinely update our software, check hoist level, clean the alignment reflective heads and calibrate our machine to maintain accuracy.

Modern European vehicles alignments have only become more complex and demand tighter tolerances. Gone are the days of the two wheel alignment and the simple toe adjustment. Additional angles such as caster, camber and steering axis inclination (SAI) are now measured and dialled-in using vehicle equipped adjustments. Most modern vehicles have as many rear wheel adjustments as front wheel adjustments. This is due to the fact the front alignment is based off the rear wheel alignment. The rear wheels are adjusted first, after the front wheel alignment is determined by the calculated rear thrust angle. This ensures the vehicle tracks perfectly straight down the road and the tires will wear evenly side to side. Some manufactures such as Mercedes Benz are not factory equipped with camber adjustments and must have adjustment bolts installed into the control arms mounting points before the camber can be adjusted. Other vehicles such as BMW have pins that “stake” the upper strut mounts on a McPherson strut to the strut tower, once these are removed the upper strut can be shifted to allow camber adjustability.

In many cases our customers will provide custom alignment specifications to adapt their car suspension and handling to a more specific purpose. Whether the car is lowered, fitted with aftermarket suspension, wheels, or is being used as a purpose built machine, we are here to work with the customer’ specific requests. Tunerworks Service is also equipped with balance scales to perform corner balancing for the ultimate handling experience.

We take alignments very seriously, next time your vehicle is due for an alignment consider the team, equipment and experience at Tunerworks Service.