Wheel alignment procedure?

[snoopra]

So I took my car to check the alignment, local AWD alignment shop(no audi dealers here), and they told me they needed a special subframe attachment to check/perform the alignment. Can anyone confirm this?

[RS6-4dr911]

Not sure about an attachment but I believe these cars can only adjust the amount of cross camber - not individual wheel camber, so that may be the case - the attachment might go on the subframe to measure the camber relative to each other.

Seems like good old fashioned methods would still work though if someone knew what they were doing, but it is positively SHOCKING how little most people doing alignments actually know about alignment!! Come to think of it, I don't think the indy shop that did mine a while back had anything on the car while I was watching them align it.

[vangelis]

YES, I have been through this before and I went to many local alignment shops here in Dubai and almost all confirmed that I have to take it to the dealer as they don't have the tools to adjust it (they didn't tell me the name of the tool but i believe it was the subframe attachment). Dealer alignment cost me around 270 USD$. actually one shop told me that he can and I gave him the car, I felt that still unbalanced and then i took it to the dealer, that was just few days after, the dealer report was showing incorrect settings all the way in the 4 corners. So I belelive its better to give this job to the stealer.

[DonS]

Try to find a race shop! They do alignments outside of the normal range whereas the typical shop just puts your car on a rack and fiddles with stuff until the red out of range lights show green. A race shop will not only align, but enhance the handling of your RS6 - not too much camber.


Remember the Mitsubishi Starion? I had one and the dealer aligned the front-end so bad that is was nearly un-drivable. I drove it home, and called the dealer informing them that the car wasn't right. They gave me an appointment a week later. Well, a week goes by and I've worn the front tires to h*ll. So they buy me new tires and redo the alignment and send me home. And we repeat the whole process again: still un-drivable, a week later, shredded tires. So they redo it. As I'm driving home on the second set of tires with the best alignment they can do, the car is still un-drivable. I drop the Starion at this little alignment shop - all this guy does is front ends and without a fancy computerized rack. He calls me the next day and says my car is ready - it was way out of alignment. $40 later, the car handled better than ever, the tires lasted the usual 15k miles and I had a new alignment shop for life (he's done multiple spring and shock jobs as well sometimes making brackets for more adjustability)!!! Motto: Trust a specialized expert!


Good luck with your Beast.

[RS6-4dr911]

EXACTLY! It's been dumbed down so the average wrench monkey can do it.

However, as I said I do not believe you can actually adjust total camber on these cars, only balance them out side to side.

It is my theory however that the RS6 calls for way too much toe-in. I think it should be half what's called for. Had that done - seemed good. Last alignment was at the dealer and I forgot to tell them that, set it back to factory spec's and I can tell the difference.

[hahnmgh63]

I agree with RS6-4dr911 about the adjustability of stock. When I do my control arms this fall or winter I'm thinking about going with a set of the Stearns adjustable control arms for that reason alone, and the ball joints on their arms are replaceable.

[vangelis]

EXACTLY! It's been dumbed down so the average wrench monkey can do it.

However, as I said I do not believe you can actually adjust total camber on these cars, only balance them out side to side.

It is my theory however that the RS6 calls for way too much toe-in. I think it should be half what's called for. Had that done - seemed good. Last alignment was at the dealer and I forgot to tell them that, set it back to factory spec's and I can tell the difference.

Could you please provide more details on what to tell exactly to the dealer to have the that best alignment setting? cuz am not familier with that too much toe-in!!

[HeadShot]

I just had mine done at the dealer 2 weeks ago. $150. Nice. On the drive home noticed the steering wheel was about 1/2 inch to the left.. vechicle tracking straight and this was on FLAT not chamber. Gave them a call, got it in 3 weeks later (I was offshore till then) and they fixed no problem. tracks great - feels great. Happy.

[snoopra]

I had a Conquest (Starion's brother) and remember having alignment issues corrected by a "shade tree" mechanic. I'll have to try finding someone with old school alignment skills. Thanks for the input guys!

[Shoppinit]

I don't understand, I had my alignment corrected at a regular laser geometry shop and the guy didn't need any special tool. Tracking is perfect now.

Has anyone got a VAG number for this tool?

[vangelis]

I don't understand, I had my alignment corrected at a regular laser geometry shop and the guy didn't need any special tool. Tracking is perfect now.

Has anyone got a VAG number for this tool?

I've done the same in shop here with laser and it okay ,, but when I took it to the agency they said its not aligned correctly and need an alignment. The shop I had that alignment in have a device where you select your car model then the pre-loaded alignment data will appear, I could not find RS6 but I found A6 & S6. So i did it with S6 model selected. I'm still not sure where both are okay or not but I felt much better after dealer alignment. In some other shops told me they can't as they don't have the right tools to align it. very weird.

[Shoppinit]

Weird, because as far as I can see, there's nothing special about the suspension set up. Looks like a standard A6 to me.