All the alignment problems you folks seem to be having with fitting these clever little gizmos reminds me of an issue I had with my Jag X-type a year or so back. I generally get my tyres done at Millers in Malvern, Worcs, with whom I have long done business and who are imho that hen's tooth of the motor trade, completely trustworthy. They also have the latest hi tech Hunter laser alignment stuff, plus they are quite happy to share 'inside' information with you (or at least, they always have with me).
So, along I trundled with my nice shiny expensive Jaguar (yes, I know it's a Mondeo - what's worse, the engine is from a Transit!!) Anyway, allow me my dreams...
Please use all your shiny impressive high techy kit to sort my wheels, say I. Sharp intake of breath - your rear toe-in's all out, says they. Well adjust it, Dear Liza, says I. Can't be done, Guv', say they.
Long story short, only way to adjust is to remove half the rear suspension, fit shims on a trial and error basis, reassemble it all, then measure again. And if it's wrong, guess what? That's right - remove half the rear suspension, fit shims on a trial and error basis, reassemble it all, then measure again. And if it's still not right...
What are my options, ask I. Leave well alone, says Mr Miller. But the car's never been in a shunt, no damage that I know of (I've had it for yonks and was second owner, know the history etc etc). How can it be, this distortion on the bodywork?
Answer: that's how it left the factory - asymmetric, with discrepancies in geometry of several millimetres between the two sides. But what, sayeth I, of all the dancing robots of old Fiat adverts fame? You think how bad it would have been with*out* them, says Mr Miller.
Now i can't help but wonder if all you avid tripod fitters are assuming that your little Fiat 126 body is symmetrical, and conforms to perfect geometry and symmetry? Because if my 2004 Jag doesn't, it seems to me highly probable that the manufacturing tolerances of a 1980-something low cost baby Fiat will be, shall we say, somewhat variable. And what works and aligns fine on one car may be the proverbial absolute female dog on another.
In similar vein, I asked about door alignment on my Reliant Scimitar. I discovered Reliant used three different door moulds to make the "same" door panel, and each one was different...
So don't dis Piotr for poor instructions, and don't blame the makers of the tripods - we easily forget that by the superb standards of modern car production, the assembly standards typical of the 1980s were absolutely appalling!
Anyway, isn't skinning our knuckles and getting cuts and bruises trying to make something fit why we have these cars in the first place ?
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