[rec1968]

Looking for comments on wheel alignment. I just came back from a one-day offroading, and the tire shop (Sears Auto Center) said that they could not align wheels. Current readings: Camber and Caster (front and rear) within specs, but Toe is not:
left front -0.58 degrees
right front: 0.94
left rear: -0.01
right rear: -1.53
Steer Ahead: -0.76
Thrust Angle: 0.76
- has anyone experienced misalignments post-offroading and if so, where they easily solved?
- are these readings really bad?
FYI VW Touareg V8 2004, 127K miles.... 1st time off-loading; never had an accident.
Great if you can share experiences and actual wheel alignment readings.

 

[chrisw]

those readings are bad.... IMO.

You have 1/2 degree negative camber in the left front. 1 degree positive camber on the right front (bad)

In the rear is fubar too... almost 0 degrees camber on the LR, but the right rear is -1.5 degrees...(really bad)

your treg must handle like crap on the road. you need a full alignment. You right front is running positive camber while the right rear is probably close to the max negative camber. The left side looks more "reasonable" with more negative camber in the front than the rear, but at this point, you need an alignment.

If the toe angles are within spec, you will not see excessive tire wear, but the truck will handle like crap taking left hand corners.

 

[rec1968]

Chris - thank you for reply - I just realized that my posting was not completely clear. The camber and caster readings are within specs (I did not provide them). the readings above are for the toe angles.
On camber I have:
LF 0.1
RF -0.2
LR -1.5 (slightly out of spec)
RR -1.3

 

[rec1968]

.. and I meant to say "1st time off-roading"...

 

[chrisw]

that's more like it. But even still, that is a hell of a lot of rear toe.

The camber angles are "typical" the factory put a lot of rear camber in the truck to promote understeer which the insurance companies like.

I don't know what the alignment specs are on the touareg yet, so I can't offer any more opinions on what to do next, or what kind of alignment I would put on the truck.