Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2018 11:46:09 +0000
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: tire pressures and alignments
In-Reply-To: <CAA5WjgihD=UJc4YSpUReZN27zwigW3pz3vzG83OUQbOTf3=snQ@mail.gmail.com>
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I'm underwhelmed by the quality of some shop work. We had a vehicle aligned after bodywork and I could see it crabbing while following my wife home from the shop. Returned and they insisted it was correct. Got them to have one staffer drive it while the supervisor and I followed behind and his comment was, "What you see from the passenger seat is not what I see from the driver's seat. Different angle." Duh. Claimed he saw nothing amiss. I wound up making a set of gauge blocks using broomsticks and bungee cords and determined that the right rear was cocked inward relative to the left so corrected it myself.
Stephen
On Tuesday, July 17, 2018 11:32:34 PM, Gabriel Hourtouat <ghourtouat@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
Wheel alignment conducted at a shop -- so under-whelming...
Maybe I am overly enthusiastic about my van or something like that; but I
feel when I get an alignment done, I deserve a description of how it went:
in what condition was the alignment found, in what condition was it left.
Some numbers, a report. Something!
Zilch. Impassive faces. blank stares.
And after asking many questions that didn't get answered, I finally got:
"there was only one adjustment I couldn't make -- rear right wheel --
totally seized up."
In the end, I didn't believe anything that they told me. It just seemed
like lip service.
Do some shops provide a report of "as found" and "as corrected",
specifications, measurements, etc?
On Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 5:48 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> I weigh my van when I see a scale.
>
> My travel weight is around 4800 lbs for the winter long trips
> I'd do alignment with your normal load. I just do my own alignment
> after considering the wear on my old tires.. I have a lot of experience
> after racing though.
>
> On Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 7:55 AM Gabriel Hourtouat <ghourtouat@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dennis's comment seems to line up well with my door placard specs (39
>> front
>> 48 rear) so that's comforting.
>>
>> The shop is conveniently around the corner so I will do an empty-vehicle
>> alignment and then ask them to check it loaded.
>>
>> Has anyone ever tried driving through the truck weigh stations on the
>> highway to check axel weights?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 9:21 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > The best alignments will be with the van loaded close to how it is
>> > normally used. Some of the alignment systems have software that adjusts
>> the
>> > settings based on measured height as the alignment angels do change
>> based
>> > on that. As for tire inflation the door placard is a start but should be
>> > confirmed with the tire load/pressure chart. On some years the placard
>> > listed pressure is too low in my opinion. For that type of tire 35 psi
>> is
>> > lower limit listed on the load inflation charts. The load rating of
>> 1,874
>> > pounds, (not Kilos) is achieved at the max inflation of 65 psi. At 35
>> psi
>> > you are probably down to 65% of that or 1,218 pounds or 2,436 for the
>> axle.
>> > Still not sufficient to meet the axle rating but it may be sufficient
>> for
>> > actual load. I tend to err on the side of caution and based on feel
>> > (subjective) I usually recommend at least 40-42 psi up front 48+ for the
>> > rear.
>> >
>> >
>> > Dennis
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------
>> > *From:* Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> on behalf of
>> > Gabriel Hourtouat <ghourtouat@GMAIL.COM>
>> > *Sent:* Monday, July 16, 2018 6:28 PM
>> > *To:* vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> > *Subject:* tire pressures and alignments
>> >
>> > Should wheel alignments be done with an unladen van?
>> >
>> > (Or should I load it up with some concrete blocks, etc, to simulate the
>> > kind of load that the van will carry on road trips?)
>> >
>> > Any special considerations for an alignment?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > New tires: Continental Vanco Four Season 185R14C rated D (load range
>> 102 /
>> > 100 Q) are rated for 1874 kg at 65psi.
>> >
>> > What pressure would you run them?
>> >
>> >
>> > (I have gone to: 45 front, 49 rear, psi.)
>> > (The shop inflated them to: 34, 36, 40 and 42. Or, random, in other
>> > words.)
>> >
>> > Any advice welcome.
>> >
>> > cheers,
>> > gab
>> > 86 Westy 2.1 WBX
>> >
>>
>
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