Alignment

[tigerdan88]

Having issues with my Seat Ibiza, which I bought at the weekend, car is still under warranty and dealership warranty (obviously) ..Anyway, I have had the tracking checked and swapped tyres from back to front and still my car wanders to the left (with both hands of the wheel) i know most cars do this but at high speeds it seems to get worse.

I've read online it could be ball joints or many other suspension linkages has anyone else experienced this with their Seat Ibiza? Going to ring dealers tomorrow to see if they will have a look!

 

[RUM4MO]

If you are getting nowhere with that dealer, maybe find a place that can carry out a full four wheel alignment check and adjust, that is completely different to a (front) tracking or toeing check/adjust.

Oh, and don't believe anyone who blurts out "the rear end cannot be adjusted so just get front tracking done" - the reason for getting that alignment checked is for lots of things including bent chassis, bent rear beam, moved front cross member - etc etc.

 

[tigerdan88]

Thanks for your reply, very helpful, I have booked it in for a 4 wheel alignment tomorrow, if it fails, would you think the dealer would sort the problem or I should send the bill to the dealer, obviously if it's been checked I have a leg to stand on, so the dealer can't fob me off!

 

[RUM4MO]

To be honest, it depends on if you trust your dealer to sort this out if not take it elsewhere to get it done maybe in better way.

My daughter bought a used Ibiza from Arnold Clark used cars place years ago, it was obvious to me that that car had an alignment problem as soon as I drove it! To make life easy I took it to my local KwikFit and when I went to pick the car up, they said "no charge" but sent out their senior person to show me what the problem was - it was a front camber issue caused by kerbing, and it was severe, it was very obvious when it was pointed out to me! They advised that I got SEAT to sort it out. I booked it in, initially "master tech has driven it and it has no alignment issues - and there is no means to adjust it, it is what it is", I got them to try again and explained that that model had things called "camber adjusting bolts" then "workshop foreman says there is no issues with it", at that point I asked for a technically competent person to come out with me and I'd show them what was wrong - that worked, when I next contacted them "sorry our 4 wheel alignment rig does not seem to be working so we will have to farm this job out" - after them having the car for 8 hours, it came back sorted out. Lots of dealers workshops have no idea as to what to do despite their staff being trained to a high level.

Bottom line, if that was a used car that you have bought, then unless you have a good car dealership, I'd expect to need to pay for sorting this out, it is not right but that is how they work as "you have just hit a kerb" might just be their first response to your request for them to cover this work.

 

[csx]

Id make sure its a Hunter type alignment system with the lasers and cameras that measure the car on the ground and then in the air .
I had the same issues with a biza and it turned out the rear n/s leg was bent - but was only found when it was in the air when the wheels were dangling !
Not cheap the full alignment -but will definitely find out any issues you may have.
Let us know how you get on .

 

[bcr5784]

You may be able to find a garage which will do a full alignment check, but only charge if adjustment is required.

 

[tigerdan88]

I have booked it in for tomorrow, 4 wheel laser.. When i bought the car it had black 17 inch wheels on and i asked for lower 16 inch wheels in silver (ride comfort and they just look better) however dealer said it's not there fault as they did the wheel change out of kindness.

The place I'm going tomorrow gives a free alignment check and prints it out, if it's got nothing to do with changing wheels e.g suspension etc. I'll be in to them.

The car pulls left when on left and I got behind a tractor tonight so decided to go over to right side and car started going right, seems to always want to follow the camber of the road, they will know more tomorrow, i think something is wrong.

 

[tigerdan88]

So, an update on my situation, I took it to the wheel alignment place and yes they used Hunter wheel alignment, everything seemed to be ok.

but the Casters flashed up red showing they were out, the guy at the alignment place said that the casters were near enough impossible to adjust and were set up to run out slightly by the manufacturer, like most VW cars, so decided it would be a good idea to adjust the toes instead, this seem to of sorted it somewhat but the car seems to like following the way of the road and taking the steering wheel with it.

Baring in mind I've come from a Peugeot 208 which I don't think had steering connected to the road at all (very fague) could this be my issue, that I am just noticing a difference between the two cars?

I WILL NOTE: if anyone has an alignment issue or tracking, or even wheel balancing and you are in the Yorkshire area, I highly recommend Bram Racing near Normanton (Pontefract) the service was excellent and they really seemed to know what they were talking about plus they showed they had a lot of time for me and my issue which is hard to find nowadays.

 

[csx]

Are you running brand new tyres ??
Sometimes Ive noticed with new tyres you can experience what i would call ' tramlining'
Where it feels like the wheels are sat on a knife edge and the slightest camber in the road makes them pull left or right - they just dont like sitting in the middle.
Usually after a few hundred miles they wear in and settle down. Maybe thats what your experiencing ? .

 

[tigerdan88]

they're fairly new yes! 2015, ive just bought the car, there does seem to be a lot of tread on them. It could very well be this yeah, I have swapped back to front but there's still a fair amount of tread on them, you think it could get better when they've worn down a little?

the car just loves to follow wherever the camber in the road goes. I can only think it is the tyres, like you say. Everything showed up correctly on the alignment check, apart from the caster been out a little.

 

[tigerdan88]

although I would say they have done more than a few 100 miles

 

[RUM4MO]

I have heard people saying this in the past, ie all VW group cars are prone to wander and are very prone following the camber, but, I've owned a 2000 VW Passat 2.8 4Motion from new with 205/55 X 16 tyres, a 2003 VW Polo 1.4SE from new with 195/55 X 15 tyres, a 2010 SEAT Ibiza 1.4 SC from new with 215/?? X 17 tyres, a 2011 Audi S4 with 245/?? X 18 and 255/?? X 19 tyres and a 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI with 185/?? X 15 and 215/?? X 16 tyres - and the only time I had any issues was when the front suspension on the 2003 VW Polo had been worked on and the crossmember was not put back on in the correct position - this can only be determined by four wheel alignment checks, that was eventually sorted.

Prior to that we had a VX Cav GSI 4X4 and a Ford Fiesta 1.6Si, so we did have experience of non VW group cars before moving to VW group.

Caster and camber angles, these can be altered slightly by moving the crossmember L<>R and F<>A but only slightly on their slightly oversized bolt fixing holes. A proper wheel alignment place should know all the tricks to get the geometry to come within the manufacturer's specs - which must be what they are checking your car against, while it is true that most modern cars do not have "four wheel alignment adjustment" built in, but, there are ways to improve/correct things.

 

[G.P]

car wanders to the left (with both hands of the wheel) i know most cars do this but at high speeds it seems to get worse.

They dont if they are set up correctly.

The car pulls left when on left and I got behind a tractor tonight so decided to go over to right side and car started going right, seems to always want to follow the camber of the road, they will know more tomorrow, i think something is wrong.

Perfectly normal to me, every car follows the camber of the road.

Baring in mind I've come from a Peugeot 208 which I don't think had steering connected to the road at all (very fague) could this be my issue, that I am just noticing a difference between the two cars?

TBH, I don't consider the Ibiza to provide much wheel feedback so I dread to think how much the 208 has after reading that

Are you running brand new tyres ??
Sometimes Ive noticed with new tyres you can experience what i would call ' tramlining'
Where it feels like the wheels are sat on a knife edge and the slightest camber in the road makes them pull left or right - they just dont like sitting in the middle.
Usually after a few hundred miles they wear in and settle down. Maybe thats what your experiencing ? .

Tramlining is more noticeable the wider tyre you have and get gets worse as the tire wears..

 

[bcr5784]

Have to say that my 2016 ST FR is quite nervous at motorway speeds - and I have been thinking of having an alignment check (17" wheels). I wouldn't go so far as to say it's not set up to spec for sure - but it's more nervous than any other hot hatch I've had (and I've had a few - and driven lots more). Does make it feel very agile on winding country roads though, if still no match for a Fiesta.

That said I wouldn't say it tramlined or was inclined to fall down cambers.

 

[tigerdan88]

Booked it in at the dealers to see if anything looks bent or misshapen! The caster is our and my friend who works at VW said it's probably hit a pothole suspensions are fragile on modern cars.

Ive had an alignment check with full colour print out, so we will see

 

[KXL]

I have a since Dec 2016 brand new Ibiza SC on 215/40/R17 tyes....at around 40-50 mph on a 2-3 lane road...car goes pretty straight ahead when I let go the wheel for 2-4 secs, after that it does tend to wader a bit off-line but nothing too serious...anyway hands should be on the wheel! Car now has 2k + miles...

In the city when I'm going slowly off from the lights without hands on wheel, it tends to go pretty much straght ahead...

However I haven't hit any curbs or big potholes as of yet...