RE: Alignment

[QSHIPQ@aol.com]

Phil writes:
>I don't care what _YOU_ do at all.  I care that 1,500+ people might read
>and some might use a method that aligns a car in such a way as to make
>it extremely dangerous at the limit.
>All I'm doing is following the manual and staying within the tolerances
>it defines.  The fact that you can't do that with string and sealing wax
>is peripheral.

One word we use in the states re the above:  Horsepucky.  The fact is, the 
alignment settings on a quattro *can* be done with string and tape measure, 
is NOT dangerous.  I remember taking a suspension design course in college.  
One of the first things I had to do, was an alignment using calculator, 
string and tape measure.  

That exercise might help you understand what you are saying Phil.  An 
alignment rack is nothing more than string, calculator and tape measure 
wrapped up in an optical comparitor.  Please don't be fooled by 
"specifications".  They are within a range.  If your wrench uses "spot on" 
please define that for us.

This isn't black magic, nor dangerous, nor 'inaccurate'.  Doing "something" 
with a string and a tape measure, is infinitely better than doing nothing at 
all.  Some of us claim, it's just as good as 90% of alignments done in less 
than an hour (ck the book time on a 44q alignment sometime).  If you didn't 
get a recheck on yours, how do you know you really are "in" specification?

Scott Justusson

Scott Justusson