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Friday, October 25, 1991 - North Shore News

MACHINE SHOP SERVICES

PARTS FOR ALL MAKES & DOMESTIC & IMPORTS

pm CENTRAL AUTO PARTS

BD incre THE PROFESSIONALS SHOP

’ ENGINE PARTS & ACCESSORIES

« Engine Rebuliding :pums : Cyonder Hoot © Exchange Cylinder Heads

« Flywhoe! Repairs : ewes Camshafts

ALL POWER ENGINES

ENTERPRISES ING. PARTS

984-9577

MACHINE SHOP

985-7033

817 W. ist, North Vancouver 2 blocks south of Capilano Mall

MRE RIL CANTY

“COMPLETE EXHAUST WORK:

FALL CAR CARE Alignment preserves tires

“TO ALIGN or not to align,

*tis nobler (and more cost wheels, or merely two?

Should one align, or merely make do?

To aiign, to pay through the nose for something one can’t feel or touch?

Why should I bother? On my last car, alignment hardly mat- tered that much!

Or perhaps I'll do nothing, but, drive and drive. The tires may mean but my wallet will surely thrive!’

True, Hamlet never asked these particular questions. But, if he drove a late-model car, Horatio, he might have. Honest.

What is ‘‘alignment’’ anyway?

There is certain preferred ge- ometry in the way all four tires are positioned relative to the car’s chassis. If that geometry is respected, you can count on your

ODUNLOPF

-We're Better Together" |

Quality Service is never Tiresome

Is the slogan the boys at OK Service Centre preach and stand behind. “We've been serving the North Shore since 1985,” says Doug Conway.

Before that Bob and | worked at other prominent tire stores on the North Shore. We've got over 30

: On BOB CONWAY DOUG CONWAY

212 FELL AVENUE NORTH VANCOUVER

= 4)

Lee

MONDAY THRU SATURDAY 7: -30AM- 6PM

years experience between us. Ends November Sth

985-8265

+ SHOCI Ss + 4:WHEEL: ALIGNMENT:

that is the question. Whether effective) to align all four

By Robert Appel Contributing Writer

vehicle to’ deliver maximum tire tread life, as well as optimal han- dling and braking performance.

Ignore this preferred geometry, or allow a serious alignment prob- lem to go undetected or uncor- rected, and you are asking for ex- tremely accelerated tread wear (often at 10 times the normal rate), and bizarre or unpredictable handling and braking charac- teristics to creep into your vehi- cle’s performance profile.

All cars reed front alignments from time to time. Take that as gospel. But, do ‘“‘all’” cars need four-wheel alignment?

Well yes — and ao.

The old Detroit body-on-frame hogs of the ’60s with fixed (non- independent) rear suspensions had little, if any, allowance built in for monkeying with the rear wheels.

Assuming the car had not been in a serious accident (which, by the way, is the easiest way to turn a vehicle into a candidate for four-wheel service!) then the ser- vice technician’s main concerns were in simply making sure that the rear suspension was not deteriorating in any way, and that

the rear wheels were ‘‘in line’’ with the front.

The advent in the ’70s of “unibody” (frameless) cars with “independent”? suspensions (all four wheels can move in- dependently) opened up a Pan- dora’s box of things that could go wrong with the rear tires.

Not only did the rear of the vehicle have to be headed in the same direction as the front, but now the cars were coming from the factory with full alignment specifications (angles) for the rear wheels, much iike the ones that came with the front pair.

And the even more recent popu- larity of four-wheel-drive vehicles brought home the need for four- wheel alignment machinery even

’ further.

Although practical in certain situations, four-wheel-drive powertrains have many more moving parts than two-wheel-drive cars.

These parts seem to get out of alignment even faster than their two-wheel-drive couaterparts.

Alignment of four-wheel-drive machines requires not only a special four-wheel alignment machine but also a lot of patience. Many calibrations have to be done by “‘trial and error,’’ using hand- installed shims to reach the right settings.

See 4WD Page 24

WE PROTECT YOUR CAR FROM THE BOTTOM. UP!

BE WISE ... WINTERIZE

Call us to book your next appointment

Where else would you go but to the professionals Over 32 years same location.

We specialize in complete interior/exterior clean-ups.

NORTH VAN UNDERCOLTING

1311 Pemberton Ave. N. Van.

“mx GB7-G477