Re: handling flakey after alignment --5ktq

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Gary;

    Have your car re-aligned. The type 44 quattros are very sensitive to
alignment - they have to be right on spec and the shop has to be using the
right specs. Most shops just set them up within the error bar. I had the
same experience with my '86 5ktq - after a four wheel alignment, it felt so
loose that it seemed hard to keep it on the road. I went back to the shop
and had it re-done and the car was back to it's usual solid feel.
    I had my last alignment done at the local dealer. They have a superb new
alignment machine purchased to do the A4's and they took the time to set the
car right on spec.

HTH

Fred Munro
'91 200q  266k km
-----Original Message-----
From: Steinbru@VNET.IBM.COM <Steinbru@VNET.IBM.COM>
To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: Friday, January 08, 1999 1:26 AM
Subject: handling flakey after alignment --5ktq


>I took my '86 5kcsq in for a four wheel alignment.  I have been
>using this shop for many years, but this is just the second
>quattro alignment.  They had the usual trouble with the tie rod
>adjustments in the front and broke a control arm bolt in the
>rear.  The extra work showed up on my bill.  All that would have
>been fine, but now the car is squirrelly as hell.
>
>I get torque steer, and the car does not feel tight and sure like
>it did before the work.  The alignment was definitely needed, I
>could feel it in the wet.  However, the car was not twitchy as it
>is now.
>
>They checked the alignment and said it's dead on.  The caster
>was/is zero and not adjustable.  At alignment time, the RF tire
>was an orphan, but since changing it back to a match, no
>difference in handling.
>
>I see that heat was used at all four corners, and I wonder if the
>heat could have screwed something up --bushings, ball joints, or
>anything else that would cause the feeling I'm getting?
>
>Advice?  Clues?  What next?
>--Gary