Wheel Alignment explanation

I had a 4 wheel alignment on my L200 but I don't really understand the
results.

Please consider the front left tire. The printout had three columns
labelled: Actual, Before and Specified Range (SR). The rows were labelled
Camber, Caster and Toe. Only the Caster was above the SR on both the Actual
and Before. That is, 4.7 degrees and 4.7 degrees, whereas the SR was 3.2
4.2 degrees.

What does Actual mean and what does Before mean? Does the above result mean
there was no change in the Castor?

 

What does Actual mean and what does Before mean? Does the above result mean

I would say that the caster did not change during the alignment. Caster will
not wear tires abnormal. Increased caster will make the car go in a straight
line better, but will make it harder to steer. With power steering you will not
feel the difference. Is it enough to make steering parts wear-out premature? I
doubt it.

Sometimes expierenced front end guys look at the book, but still use their own
settings that seem to work best.

James

 

Sounds like the wheel that has the 4.7 caster could not be adjusted to
within the specification. I would not be overly concerned, but you may want
to ask the place that did it why they didn't bring it to within spec and
what action would be needed to do so. BTW, the "before" is the reading
before alignment and the "actual" is what it read after the procedure was
performed.

Bob

 

PAUL REPLIES:

YES, you should be told what was the reason for the caster not being
brought into the "spec" range. I recommend getting it fixed, unless
both wheels have the same out-of-spec caster. Generally, on a strut
assembly, the caster should not be out of spec, as it is pretty much
"stable/set" unless there is a problem.

Uneven caster on the front wheels can result in unpredictable results
on rough surfaces. That is my opinion on the matter.