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Getting the tracking inspected and aligned

B

bigmouth

PCGB Member
Hi all

Hit a pothole while doing 50mph the other day in a roadworks area on the motorway. The front right tyre went down pretty quick.

I'm having the tyre replaced with a trusted local company. Have asked them to check the alloy is all good.

A friend suggested I get the tracking checked too. I can get this done at a very reputable Porsche specialist (even my local tyre fitting company recommended them, great reviews on Google), note they are not an OPC. It'll be £250.

My OPC has said they have specialist equipment that will reset the car back to factory settings and this equipment is not available other than to OPCs. They will charge £420.

My questions are:
1. What is better, getting the tracking done at the reputable dealer or the OPC?
2. Should I get the OPC to check the alloy condition?
3. Is it likely the Porsche specialist won't have access to the equipment and therefore won't do as good a job as the OPC?

Your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks
 
I have had two big pothole hits on the front of my successive 981 Boxsters. On the first occasion the tyre looked OK and the car drove fine, even at speed - no out of balance wobble even. However, the suspension crash at the time of impact was so great that I visited my servicing OPC (with whom I had a decent relationship) and asked if they could just check it over because I was concerned about suspension damage. They did that without charge and confirmed everything was OK except that I had buckled the wheel. "Buckled" is capable of many interpretations but it appeared that the tread of the tyre had hit the main part of the wheel (not the rim) so hard that it had knocked it out of round. Not sure how they measured that but it turned out to be true. See below. All the OPC was allowed to do by Porsche was to sell me a new wheel (£1000+). I declined that and went away to investigate alternatives and discovered a tyre company in a local city that claimed to straighten buckled wheels by removing the tyre and valve, heating them up on a jig and applying a centre-mounted hydraulic jack to pop them back to original shape, then fitting a new valve, refitting the tyre if it proved undamaged, and rebalancing. How much? - £50. I was somewhat sceptical but had nothing to lose except £1000, so took the wheel along. They confirmed buckled slightly but otherwise fine, went through the process and the wheel came out perfect. Apparently this service was extensively used by main dealers of prestige cars in said city. Shortly afterwards the same OPC did my 4-wheel alignment - it was out slightly and was corrected. The senior technician doing the alignment was the same one that diagnosed the buckled wheel. We had a slightly covert conversation where he asked what I had done about the wheel - when I explained, he said that was exactly what he would have done but wasn't allowed to suggest it.

The second one was my current car about 2 weeks after I bought it as a Porsche Approved Used, with brand new tyres. This time the impact was smaller but the tyre sidewall was damaged and required replacement. The car drove just as before so I didn't get the alignment checked at the time. It was checked a year or so later when a rear control arm was replaced by an OPC under Porsche Approved Warranty - the front corner that had the tyre replaced was still at factory settings.

My experience is probably not too helpful - it all depends on the characteristics of the hit. The only thing I will add is that not every specialist seems to be able to recognise the spec of the car correctly when setting up their alignment kit - I fell foul of that once in a PCGB demo at a specialist who claimed all my alignments were substantially out only to discover the technician had dialled in the wrong suspension option for my car. Red faces all round until he changed it to the correct suspension option when everything was suddenly perfect!
 
Your OPC is trying it on

Any reputable alignment centre with good equip such as Hunter machine will be able to reset for far less. My preferred indie charges £120 for a full 4 wheel alignment
 
If I was looking at spending £420, I'd be going to Center Gravity for the alignment. They really are the specialists when it comes to Porsches. I had my GT4 set up by them in March and they were great, and they let you be part of the process if you want to.
 
Had my 987.2 totally checked and adjusted via an indie while it was in service with them.
Factory spec, drove great and still does 3 years on. even tyre wear etc etc .
Good alignment is machine and a man who knows what is needed.
Good shop will check the roundness of the rim on their balancing machine.
total job was £120 3 years ago.
Well well worth it.
 
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