2 wheel vs. 4 wheel alignment

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Actually weather or not you have rear adjustments or not have a 4 wheel (some may list a third option of thrust alignemnt)

Basically if you do a 2 wheel alignment you don;t have to care about the steering wheel being off. THe fronts are aligned to each other so be it.

Thrust alignments are the fronts adjusted to the average of the rears so the steering wheel is straight.

4 Wheel is adjusting front and rear.


Now say an older Escort has only one toe adjuster on the right rear. None on the left. You can set total toe but not thrust angle. So it may dogwalk a touch. THen you can set the front to this new thrust angle.
 
ewetho is correct on all points. What repair guide did ya copy that out of?
wink.gif


Bob
 
The only time a 4 wheel alignment is necessary is when the rear tires are out of alignment - and the only way to tell if they are out of alignment is to check them.

On solid axle, RWD cars, the risk of the rears being out is pretty small, but on pretty much everything else, it's best to do a 4 wheel alignment.
 
ditto XS 650
FWD cars almost always would benefit from a 4 wheel alignment.
Many RWD cars have no real adjustments for the rear.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
ditto XS 650
FWD cars almost always would benefit from a 4 wheel alignment.
Many RWD cars have no real adjustments for the rear.


Whether there are available adjustments or not, the only way to tell if something is wrong is to measure it.

If there is something wrong, then it needs to be fixed or your vehicle may handle funny or you'll get odd tire wear.

Nevertheless, every vehicle can be brought into "spec", but it may involve using eccentric bolts, or offset bushings (camber kits are an example) or - in the worst cases - bending some metal. Bending metal is not a job for an amateur!
 
Originally Posted By: wantin150
FWIW, the rear on my 03 Matrix is "non-adjustible" at the suspension components. Special shims are required.


Same on my 05 Jetta
 
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