WK2 Rear Alignment

[Meggso]

Hi All,
New member here, although I've been hanging around for a bit.

Seeing as I've gleaned so much information from you all over the past 12 months, I thought I'd share my recent wheel alignment experience on the off-chance of helping someone else:

I had my MY14 Overland back at the dealer the day after picking it up because it was like driving NASCAR. They managed to dial pretty much all of the left-turn out of it (I know this is a pretty common issue) but over the next few weeks I noticed a tendency for the rear to skip around over bumps. I also knew the lack of castor was typical but I thought mine was taking it a bit far.

I recently had the chance to get it across to Pro-Axle at Enfield with a printout of the RHD QL alignment specs. They made a few adjustments to the front, which required the adjusters on one side (only) to be maxed out, but got it within specs. Castor is now “ok” – straightening out of roundabouts etc requires a bit less effort, or at least it’s not terrible.

I had my fingers crossed that they’d find something badly wrong with the rear, and I was relieved when they found toe-out. Fixed.

I now have a Jeep that runs straight and doesn’t skip about!

Sloppy work on Jeep’s part. Firstly for building them skewed, and then for sending them out with such bad alignment. Anyway, this thing is the most fun driving I’ve had so I’ll forgive them.

Cheers, Meggso.

[scarps]

Welcome meggso, welcome to the WK2 family. Alignment on a few has been questionable, however with mine I found the Northern Motor Group Jeep Dealer in Bundoora Melbourne have installed a new wheel alignment test machine and gave mine a clean report at last service.

[Meggso]

Thanks scarps.

Who knows - Maybe I should have given my dealer a shot at fixing the skipping rear. I guess it was a general lack of confidence that they'd be as meticulous as a specialist.

[GMWK2]

I've had trouble with alignment since I had two new Coopers fitted by a tyre place a month or so ago, pulling to the left like others have reported. I haven't had time till this week to get it sorted but while my GC was at the dealer for some warranty work I got them to have a crack at the alignment and they found that the tyre place had the toe all wrong - 5 deg out on one side and 4 deg out on the other. Credit where credit is due - the dealer sorted it out and it is now perfect - tracks straight and true and does not fight me all the way anymore.

[Meggso]

Gregm, it sounds like your tyre dealer is set to give Cooper's warranty a workout!...

From research before I bought, I knew the pulling-left was a possibility. I had a bit of a laugh about it and the dealer did a decent job of fixing it. I haven't had a new car needing an alignment before. I wouldn't really expect a dealer to be set up for it any more than a local tyre shop, and maybe even less experienced at performing it.

I hadn't come across many cases of rear alignment issues in my searching, hence my post, although there's a current case on a US site of a guy with similar symptoms to mine. He's getting all sorts of recommendations including "it's just how they are"... It could be a more widely spread problem, but is being mis-diagnosed. Anyway, one solution is on the record now.