4 Wheel Alignment - Page 6

Purplecty · #51 08-25-2020, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketyMan

Yeah maybe. Could be another worn suspension component that was over looked. Both rear axle and obviously front will have an influence of steering OTR.

Possibly, but it was perfect before the new wheels and I can tell as soon as I drove iut of the shop it was slight to the left. We will see what the alignment shows...

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andrewwynn · #52 08-25-2020, 01:19 PM

E53 calls for 0.15° toe. On my tires they are about 24" across the fattest parts so I wrap a string around front and back and put a 1/16 to 3/32 shim under the more forward edge.

Atan((1/16)/24 )= .149°. With 20s you may have to use 3/32. Good enough for race cars good enough for me. Once you get the tie rod broken free get some anti seize in there and it's super easy to adjust.

I believe the track is the same front and back so you need to have square setup or at least the exact width to the outside of your tires. It's not going to care much how wide the tires are I believe the proper setup for highway (non track) driving is 0.15° inward toe front and back all e53 variations.

On extra wide tires I suppose you might want to have slightly less toe but too close to zero it will want to wander and wiggle. Also: where people want to believe negative camber chews up the inside edge of tires where it's more based on toe. Inward toe wears the outer edges and outward toe chews up inner edge.

andrewwynn · #53 08-25-2020, 01:25 PM

As far as finding smooth flat road: center lane of 3-lane freeway usually works well as you are on the center of the crown. Concrete in spite of expansion joints is much smoother than asphalt which tends to have waves in it (drive 140 on a concrete vs asphalt road you'll see what I mean).

Asphalt over concrete is probably the best. Smooth seamless top and flat smooth base.

Purplecty · #54 08-25-2020, 01:33 PM

Yeah. but wouldn't the same roads I've driven on give the same steering wheel results if not better with brand new tires?

RocketyMan · #55 08-25-2020, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

As far as finding smooth flat road: center lane of 3-lane freeway usually works well as you are on the center of the crown. Concrete in spite of expansion joints is much smoother than asphalt which tends to have waves in it (drive 140 on a concrete vs asphalt road you'll see what I mean).

Asphalt over concrete is probably the best. Smooth seamless top and flat smooth base.

Yeah that's a good point. Concrete is usually really good about maintaining flatness with little to no crown vs asphalt. This would be a good place to test out how "straight" your X drives barring the road doesn't go slightly sideways or anything like that.

andrewwynn · #56 08-25-2020, 02:19 PM

all road has a crown. You can tell if the center lane is centered on the crown by looking at semi trailers or a big bus. The angle is exaggerated by the height.

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Purplecty · #57 08-25-2020, 02:20 PM

I did forget to mention this and it may affect this overall. I had the full set of winters in my trunk while driving and the X5 had been converted by the PO from rear air suspension to springs...

80stech · #58 08-25-2020, 02:46 PM

Any changes in offset, diameter etc. can have an effect on where the steering wheel sits. For example: Part of the goal of the alignment angles is so that changes in the crown of the road have a minimum effect on steering wheel position. This is achieved through differences in combination of caster, camber etc. and the effects of these will change with different offsets even though the offset doesn't effect the measured alignment angle. Part of the reason for staggered setup in the first place.

Purplecty · #59 08-29-2020, 06:08 PM

So I went to firestone for my lifetime alignment adjustment and as I started driving away, the steering wheel is still slightly off to the left. Here are the alignment results. I went to the manger to ask why it was off and he really couldnt explain other than offering to try to adjust it again. I am scheduled for another alignment to see if they can at least get the steering wheel straight. Before on top and after on the bottom...

Purplefade · #60 08-29-2020, 07:05 PM

My guess was just a “lazy” tech... may have centered the wheel to begin with and when he started wrenching never went back to check. Was Firestone way back in the day that did that to me on my 79 Ford F-150 and the managers response was exactly that - “lazy tech, I’ll fix that for you now”.

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