Ashington: 01670 523200

Alignment

Our TOP Reasons to get an Alignment check:

  • Uneven wear on the front or rear tyres.
    If you can see uneven wear on your tyres we would advise an immediate alignment and suspension check.
  • The car pulls to the left or right.
    If when driving along a straight flat road the car drifts to the left or right and/or pulls to one side under braking we would advise an alignment and brake inspection.
  • A crooked steering wheel.
    If the steering wheel is not straight when the car is driving in a straight line we would advise an immediate alignment check.
  • Improved Driving Experience
    With the car set to manufacturers settings you can enjoy the best possible road handling and experience again.
  • SAVE MONEY
     Accurate wheel alignment reduces strain on suspension and steering parts and prolongs tyre life giving increased MPG and improved tyre life.

Why does my car need a Tracking or 4 Wheel Alignment Check?

Modern cars are built for comfort, performance and handling making them more sensitive to misalignment.  Correct Alignment reduces tyre wear, maximises safety and road handling and saves you money.

Wheel alignment or tracking plays a huge role in the maintenance of your vehicle. It refers to the angles and positions that your car tyres are set to point towards and keeps your car driving in a straight ahead. Here at Cavendish Motor Company, we use computerised Hunter Wheel Alignment equipment to accurately adjust your front and rear wheels position to the manufacturer’s specifications.  This is far more precise than the older laser tracking gauges still in common use.

Road conditions are poor – Did you know that potholes account for 1 in 10 mechanical failures and contribute greatly to the misalignment of your cars steering geometry. Driving through potholes at speed or bumping up kerbs can result in knocking your alignment out of specification. Poorly aligned tyres can result in your car not holding the road as well as it should and also decrease the lifespan of your tyres.Even if you car is driving normally an annual alignment check is a great way of identifying potential problems before they become expensive or cause abnormal tyre wear.  At Cavendish we will routinely conduct a free alignment quick check with every service for your complete peace of mind.

Why choose a Hunter Wheel Alignment at Cavendish?

Simply put because we want you to be safe and we care as much as you do about your car.  When you trust our team to adjust the alignment on your car we want it to be correct first time.  So with your permission we will undertake a before and after road test so we can observe any handling characteristics and we will even repeat the entire alignment process if we are not 100% happy with the result.

We use the same dealer level equipment as required by the manufacturers to maintain warranty.  In fact we use the same Alignment equipment as many of the local main dealers including, Audi, VW, Landrover and Jaguar and even Aston Martin.    Furthermore we also use a dedicated alignment lift designed specifically for wheel alignment this coupled with regular calibration gives you complete peace of mind its done right.

Before we even start the alignment we will check tyre condition and set pressures with a digital gauge, We will then conduct a visual suspension health check and finally conduct an alignment check using our state of the art Hunter Elite TD Wheel Aligner. This will then produce a before and after report for complete transparency and your peace of mind we can even e-mail you a copy for your records or to obtain authorisation before any adjustments are made.

  • ‘ BEFORE’ – this printout shows the alignment readings of the vehicle straight ‘off the street’ with no adjustments.
  • ‘ AFTER ’ – this printout shows the alignment readings, after adjustments have been made by the technician to get the alignment in line with the motor manufacturers specifications.

The check itself takes only fifteen to twenty minutes and can usually be done while you wait.  Adjustment starts from just £45.00 for standard tracking or “Toe ‘and’ Go.”  This is our most popular request and we measure and set up the front wheel alignment for correct ‘Toe’ and align the front wheels to the rear to ensure your steering wheel is straight.

Rear wheel alignment is also offered and price is dependent upon the vehicle and how straightforward the setup is on the particular vehicle concerned.  Typically around £75.00 would be a good guide price for an average family car.  This is increasingly important on modern cars which have adjustable rear Toe on independent rear suspension.

Prices for 4 wheel alignment and camber caster adjustment or adjustments on high performance cars are available on request it may be beneficial to see the vehicle and establish the condition of suspension and the adjustable parts before hand so we can ensure the estimate is as realistic as possible.

What is the difference between “Tracking” and “Four Wheel Alignment”?

Tracking usually uses hang on style gauges with a light or laser that projects onto a scale. Due to the design of these gauges accuracy is limited.

All motor manufacturers recommend rim run-out compensation is taken into account, which gives accurate and repeatable readings. This is because wheel rims are not perfectly round or straight. Older hang on laser alignment gauges cannot do this.

The hunter four Wheel Alignment measures a minimum of 12 angles and compares them to the alignment data specified directly from the vehicle manufacturer. They use special digital cameras measure computer targets to calculates the angles to a very high degree of accuracy that is required with modern car. There is less opportunity for human error making the results much more reliable and repeatable.

Correct wheel alignment will preserve tyre life and improve road handling dramatically for advice on this or any other alignment enquiry just pop in or call 01670 523200 and ask to speak to one of our highly trained alignment technicians.

  • 4 wheel alignment
  • Camber and Caster checks
  • Steering wheel angle sensor calibration (BMW, Audi Group, Mercedes )
  • ADAS – Advanced Driver Assistance Systems , Lane Departure, Adaptive Cruise Control, City Braking, Collision Avoidance.
  • With every wheel alignment undertaken at Cavendish we offer free suspension, tyre and brake checks routinely.