Hey everyone, I need help. I got a supposed 4 wheel alignment today. My wheel was tugging right, and the car was reacting differently to potholes front and rear.

The thing is I dont know that factory specs for the 2004 XJ8, neither did the shops computer.

They did what they did and it tugs even worse now, I have a 6 months warranty on it so I'll be going to them tomorrow for them to correct it.

Heres before and after pics of the spec sheets.






what I need are the camber,toe, and caster specs. This thrust angle gimmick they use seems to never work out.

Thanks in advance, V.Veliu

 

Strate, assuming that your alignment specs are similar to the X-Types, the camber should be somewhere between -0.5 and +0.5 degrees on all 4 tires. Granted, having this one spec out won't cause your car to wander/pull like you are feeling, it will simply result in a little bit more tire wear on the inside (negative camber) or outside (positive camber).

As for the caster, I don't recall the numbers for that, but I seem to recall it was in the neighborhood of like +0.5 to -1.0 degrees.

As for the toe, that should be at 0.00. I think the spec is something like +/-0.2 degrees. But, the big thing that you want to keep in mind is that both tires should be parallel to each other. So, looking at your after alignment toe numbers, your front tires are pointing in towards each other. This is going to result in increased wear. THey aren't bad, but a good alignment would have it where the tires are at the same angle (but one will be positive, the other will be negative, but have the same degree setting). The other thing you need to look at is the relationship of the rear tires and where they are pointing to the relationship of where the front tires are pointing. In your case, because the right front was off, it was actually causing the car to crab down the road some because the left rear tire is angled like it is. When they fixed the alignment on the right front tire (took it from -0.11 degrees to +0.06 degrees), they actually are making the left rear tire push the car to the right. So, yes, I would expect you to have more of a push to the right. Also, like the front tires, your rear tires are pointing in towards each other, leading to additional tread wear.

Honestly, if you have a warrantee on that alignment, I would take it back to the shop and tell them to set the toe to 0.00 on each tire (or atleast to within say 0.02). They can do that easily. Now, keep in mind that it might push out your camber on the rear tires, but that is a simple fix in a lot of cases (requires replacement of bushings in the rear arms, which normally means buying new arms). But, having the camber out will only cause minor tire wear vice the toe being out and causing much more severe tire wear.

 

thanks, i was looking over another thread where h20boy posted his specs on the xk.

i understand the basics of alignment specs. zero toe is ideal, but certain brands set a slight positive toe to help with steering feel and response.

the info ive gatherd from the other thread is that my 'thrust angle' should be between 0.00 and 0.01, right now its at 0.05

another thing im taking off that thread, my rear toe should be 0.15 at both corners.

and my front should be around 0.05 at both corners.

so my thrust angle exceeds specs, my rear passenger/side toe is out of spec. thats what im assuming is wrong.

thanks for your input thermo, i thought i wouldnt get any responses.

i initially tried to get the guy to set everything at zero, but then figured let me just let them do it how they do it and if it works-> fine. if it didnt itll have to be my way.

ill have them correct the thrust angle and r/r toe and see if it fixes the problem. if it doesnt ill just have them set all four corners at 0 toe and 0 thrust. caster they wont adjust, and nor will they adjust camber.

id love to have -0.8 camber at four corners, with zero toe. it would improve handling dramtically.

 

heres the other thread i seen the jag charts
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=24404

 

well I went to get this sorted this morning, luckily for me the sunday crew are true gentlemen.

turns out this





is equal to this



lol, WTF did that guy do yesterday ? makes me want my $10 back.

the tech today did a 'shake down' to check all my bushings and rod-ends, then put it on the lift and took his time. the results were



today I was hesitant to leave another $10 tip untill I drove the car and was satisfied, so I left $6 for lunch. next time I'm at that shop for front rotor service I'll request today's tech and give a better tip.

 

WOW tipping. The only thing we tip in Kentucky are cows.

However I have been know to but the parts guys and mechanics Krispt Kremes. Nothing better that a warm grease Krispy Kreme.

 

lol. yodles will yield you better service.

 

you need an IDS to set the car at service hight to perform an allingment.

 

the cars tracking fine now, nice and straight. but whats ids ?

 

ids is the diagnostic scanner for jaguar,the car need to be set in a service mode for alignment due to the air suspention

 

As Teck said, if you do not have vehicle in pre geometry mode prior to alignment, your specs are misleading. I have seen Xj8 eat tires off in less than 3000 miles just because of alignments from outside shop.

 

i can imagine

since were talking about it, what exactly does that do to the suspension ? arent just the airsprings computerized as far as suspension goes. does this lower or raise the vehicle. if its a trade secret sorry.

 

No secret....Visually from outside it looks like the vehicle raises up on the air suspension then lowers a little. I think it compensates for actual ride weights. As in, full tank of gas, passengers in vehicle etc. Clever really, but a pain for outside shops.

 

thanks. the car is tracking nice and straight since they corrected the alignment. tire wear is almost all even. theres no feathering, or knifing in the treads. the outside tread is very slightly more worn then the inside. but that im sure is normal due to positive toe on the front tires.

 

A small addition, for those that care. I had a similar problem and the new alignment didn't correct the problem. I swap the tires from the left to the right side and the problem went from a pull to the right, to a left pull. Problem turned out to be the brand new falken tires i bought were bad. Just thought I would add it into this thread in case someone found it on a search looking for the problem.

 

Thank for that info, that usually is the case with this type of scenario.

 

Exactly right. I've got a Ford Expedition with this feature, called "4 corner leveling". Don't know how I got onto this with my first one but I've had it ever since. While in motion, you don't notice it. However, it constantly adjusts across about a 3" range for the weight, weight distribution, and speed. In mine, it also adjusts for whether I'm set in 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive. It assumes a rough terrain for 4 wheel drive and raises the body the full amount.

You can throw 3-4 50 pound weights in the back corner and the pump comes on and levels it. Then throw a single weight in the other rear corner and the pump comes on again and you can see it adjusting the height to level. Pretty neat.



Eric