R1DSO wrote:

I got the wheel alignment done yesterday. It turns out my local indy LR specialist outsources the job, so I went directly to the shop they use:



I was slightly surprised to hear the mechanic say it was just the toe that was out, requiring only the track rods and LHS control arm bolts to be adjusted. I didn’t think my paint pen marks (trying to get the new control arms in roughly the same position as the failed OEM parts) were that accurate .



This is where the mechanic got to. He said he couldn’t get the caster in any further, without mucking up the other alignments:



I drove the car away and it was now pulling to the left (from the right after my install) - I suspect, due to the caster being out. I took it back to the garage for re-adjustment. It’s better now, but still pulling to the left.

Bit surprised it wasn’t possible to sort this 2nd time round with the lasers. I’ll take it back again to try and get sorted - hopefully tomorrow.

  

teddy wrote:

Well done on doing the front lower arms on the drive. I have also done this job on my drive recently and found it to be a complete pig. I ended up cutting the old arms off with my angle grinder and a reciprocating saw.

Isn't the difference amazing once it's done!?

I've got the rear upper arms to do now....

Reading through your thread, I kept willing you to buy an IID tool. It allows you to depressurise the whole suspension system for work like this. All from your phone. You won't regret buying one.

Hi teddy

Know the feeling , Ref the arms, done the rear uppers on my driveway , what a complete they were

All because there wasn’t any coppaslip on the bolts

Plus seeing u have to remove the brake hoses an ideal time to do them inc drop links, used the the mahle HD ones

Good luck for when u replace them

  

gstuart wrote:

Hiya

Glad to see ur making some form of headway apart from the pulling to the left

Did u go here by the way plse

http://www.topmarkstyres.co.uk/

If not they are extremely knowledgeable and know some of the forum members have also used them

Plse let us know how it goes

I wish I had ! Alas, I found the recommendation for Top Marks Tyres on another thread on Thursday afternoon. I expect I will be going there regardless now, though.

The alignment at the place I went to ended up turning into a complete farce. It's worth mentioning again that this was a very big independent garage that my local LR specialist uses for their alignment work. And I saw a number of expensive cars (including other Discoveries and an F Type) go in and out for work. So, maybe I just got a duff mechanic.

After the garage's two attempts on Tuesday, I took the car back to be re-aligned on Thursday. They had another go at it, but didn't adjust the caster, claiming that this shouldn't make any difference. I drove off and, sure enough, the car was still pulling to the left exactly the same as when I brought it in.

I came straight back and pushed for the caster to be adjusted, pointing out that this has a direct impact on whether a car pulls to one side. The mechanic was reluctant, but went off to make the change. He then came back and said that the eccentric washer had bent when he tried to make the adjustment.

Long story short, the mechanic tried to make out that I could have bent the washers when installing them. I insisted that this was definitely not the case as I torqued the nuts to spec with the hub raised to ride height and no weight on the control arm whilst holding the bolts still with a spanner. The mechanic then tried to make out that the bolts/nuts supplied by Advanced Factors had bent because they weren't OEM LR quality.

I had a chat with Paul at AF, who suggested that the mechanic had probably tried to make adjustments without the bolt and nut being loose enough each side. I hadn't thought to mention this as the garage allegedly had lots of experience doing Land Rover alignments.

The garage agreed to order in OEM replacement bolts and washer from Land Rover, which they covered the cost for. Unfortunately, these were going to take a day to come in, so I had to nurse the car home and back to the garage again the next day (on Friday).

And, they'd busted up the bolts and washers so badly, the car was in a bad way and, imo, dangerous to drive . The steering was light and completely off centre and there was play in the front wheels from the bolts moving in the control arms when going over bumps. Not ideal as I was due to pick up my 11 month old from nursery. Fortunately, I have a second car!

On Friday, I waited another 2.5 hours at the garage whilst a different mechanic fitted the new bolts, nuts and washers and tried to get the alignment in. Out the backend of this, the caster is still out, but by less than before - the car is now pulling to the right .





The garage gave me the warped and detached AF washers and bolts with half the thread stripped that they took out:





The garage also showed me the OEM Land Rover replacements they'd bought. Whilst I'm sure the AF parts were damaged due to the mechanic trying to adjust them incorrectly, the AF bolts/washers appeared to be made out of a different metal than the LR parts.

I think I'm going to cut my losses with this garage and make a trip over to Top Marks over the coming days.

gstuart wrote:

Ur see a massive difference with the top marks garage as they are extremely knowledgeable and take a lot of time to ensure everything is spot on

ur feel like ur driving a new motor as I couldn’t believe the difference after they set all the suspension up properly

Plse Don’t forget to mention ur belong to the D3 forum as they like to know where recommendations are coming from

Now booked in for Thursday with Mark at Topmarks. He seemed like a top bloke. I mentioned the forum and he’s going to sort me out a deal too . Thanks for the recommendation.

knwatkins wrote:

I had a problem with the bolts that came from AF with the Meyle arms. Like you, I made sure to tighten them up with the hub jacked up at the correct height and to the torque settings etc.

The alignment place told me that they were as soft as cheese.

It's a good job I kept the original LR bolts in the boot because they put those back on and all was good for the alignment.

R1DSO wrote:

gstuart wrote:

Ur see a massive difference with the top marks garage as they are extremely knowledgeable and take a lot of time to ensure everything is spot on

ur feel like ur driving a new motor as I couldn’t believe the difference after they set all the suspension up properly

Plse Don’t forget to mention ur belong to the D3 forum as they like to know where recommendations are coming from

Now booked in for Thursday with Mark at Topmarks. He seemed like a top bloke. I mentioned the forum and he’s going to sort me out a deal too . Thanks for the recommendation.

Hiya

That’s great and indeed also found him extremely helpful and also looked after me when mine went in

Was gobsmacked at the difference after alignment, also the steering wheel was spot on as in the past I’ve had alignment done from other companies and the steering wheel was out

Ur so welcome and indeed I was also recommend to them by several members so always nice to pass it on

Plse let us know how things go