[briers]

Any recommendations for Hunter alignment in the staffs area.

Will go to stoke or north brum / wolv etc just to get someone who knows what they are doing / do a good job. Looking at about £50-£70 to spend, rather keep the cash than pay for KDS at the moment.

Alignmycar.co.uk just gives me all the kwik fits and some small indies which i'm not keen on.

[doughboy]

I suppose Kwik fit must be OK if they're use the proper kit.

Try a different area in the search, Stafford brings up a right motley crew.


But, the firms that charge £50-70 odd are usually smaller indies, often body shops TBH, that's the reason they only charge £50 or so!

[Jeff123]

As I see it, as long as the garages have a Hunter machine you should be OK. Just book a slot and watch the process - it's quite interesting.

A quick conversation with the owner over the phone should get you a price and an indication of whether or not you trust them.

[E92westy]

I was recommended by a petrolhead colleague to use the Chemix place in Wednesfield, but never actually went myself (so no personal experience) but they have Hunters, so perhaps give them a ring…..?

http://www.chemix-autocentres.co.uk/

[Ti Rich]

Originally Posted by E92westy

I was recommended by a petrolhead colleague to use the Chemix place in Wednesfield, but never actually went myself (so no personal experience) but they have Hunters, so perhaps give them a ring…..?

http://www.chemix-autocentres.co.uk/

I had mine done there a few month back. Very well informed and loaded the car with barrels of water to set it up. Certainly felt much better after!

[doughboy]

All this weighting up etc is a bit OTT, I know the spec sheets give 'theoretical' weights, but generally a full tank of fuel is fine.

When I had mine done recently at Car Planet Racing (and they do know how to do it) on their new machine, he showed me how on road cars it was a pretty flawed process. On their alignment ramp (which they use for race car setups) the car wheels sit on floating bearing pads which is a lot better than most centres have.

Just pushing lightly on a wheel caused all the geometry to go way out due to the give in the bushes and linkages. You could pull the wheel one way but the bushes wouldn't return it to the same position due to flex and friction in the linkages. By just tweaking the wheels by hand he could get the whole car apparently 'in spec' without adjusting anything!!

I have M3 bushes all round so mine has less slack than regular E90's too.

Even just moving the car forwards slightly, the wobble effect of the tread blocks on the tyres is enough the deflect the geometry out of spec.

All you can do is aim for the centre of the tolerance and hope for the best.

[briers]

Originally Posted by E92westy

I was recommended by a petrolhead colleague to use the Chemix place in Wednesfield, but never actually went myself (so no personal experience) but they have Hunters, so perhaps give them a ring…..?

http://www.chemix-autocentres.co.uk/

Nice one Pete,

They look top notch

Will be taking it down at the weekend for it's adjustment

[E92westy]

Originally Posted by briers

Nice one Pete,

They look top notch

Will be taking it down at the weekend for it's adjustment

Let us know how you get on, please.
Could be useful for future reference.

[briers]

Will do mate

[m1bjr]

Doughboy is bang on of course

And no need to seek a Hunter machine for any reason at all.
Its the quality of the OPERATOR, not the tools he uses that matters most with geometry.

If you are up north then Centre Gravity is the best out there.

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by briers

Nice one Pete,

They look top notch

Will be taking it down at the weekend for it's adjustment

Failing that Ben, I highly recommend CPR - only Warrington so less than an hour away for us.

They did my car and also Marcus's (Kadesdad) E90 M3 - both set up very well. Mike (Doughboy) also popped across the other week and came away impressed also.

Worth a visit just to spend an hour nosing around all their 'Time Attack' 1000bhp Evo's and the numerous fast Datsun's they have in pieces having gearboxes repaired

Speak to Max and say your off the forum and recommended buy Paul, Marcus & Mike- he will look after you

[Em135eye]

What's wrong with a small independent garage? Often run by enthusiasts rather than pen pushers and IMO, often better.

Had mine Huntered at a small garage locally (one of only two in Cornwall) and it was WELL worth doing. Wheels were quite out of line for camber and toe and I'd eaten (inner edge wear) a pair of rear tyres VERY quickly.

Ride now smoother and I should get a lot more tyre life so it pays for itself.

[doughboy]

CPR are independant, and real enthusiast petrol heads to boot.

The photo in post 11 looks a bit like a big dealer type place, its not at all.

[briers]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

Failing that Ben, I highly recommend CPR - only Warrington so less than an hour away for us.

They did my car and also Marcus's (Kadesdad) E90 M3 - both set up very well. Mike (Doughboy) also popped across the other week and came away impressed also.

Worth a visit just to spend an hour nosing around all their 'Time Attack' 1000bhp Evo's and the numerous fast Datsun's they have in pieces having gearboxes repaired

Speak to Max and say your off the forum and recommended buy Paul, Marcus & Mike- he will look after you

Thanks mate, these guys look top.

I didn't make it to either today, overrun on things and we bought our tree off the chase. Too much fun

[parapaul]

Car & Rally Services on Browning Street, probably a bit closer to you

Excellent guys there, fairly priced too.