My wife took her old Octavia in to Protyre today to get two new tyres fitted (which she supplied) and the tracking done. They fitted the tyres, put the car on the alignment machine and then declared they couldn't possibly adjust the tracking because they need her to get a "cradle shift kit" for it and to make sure she bought new "stretch bolts" as well*.

What on earth are they talking about? Stretch bolts on suspension? Cradle shift kit? She rang up GSF and they also didn't have a clue what they were on about.

The car drives dead straight, wheel is straight, no pulling under braking etc. but the old tyres scrubbed out rather more quickly than I would have expected (under 8k miles on the front) so assumed we needed the tracking doing.

Then again they tried to charge me for adjusting the rear tracking on my Fiat last time, and I had go and show them that there was no method of adjustment (unless you use a large hammer...). Think I'll be going elsewhere in future.



* she got them to write this down so she could show me.

I think stretch bolts are occasioanally used in places other than con rods, but I have no specific knowledge
As far as "cradle shift kit" I have no knowledge of that either but is sounds like bull!
My guess is they were having a see what we can fu** you over for day?

I have no clue what they are talking about, apart from rubbish. Take it somewhere else mate, they're trying to have your pants down.

All imho of course.

Cheers

Rich

I wonder if they were refering to sub frame alignment which i do not think is available plus the bolts are not stretch type


To me sounds like they did not have a clue what to do so just fob you off with bs

they used to do that for the vauxhall astra and cavalier with in board adjustment that seized up

Some cars you adjust the tracking by shifting the subframe itself in addition to the TCA's. The rear of vectras for instance.

Stretch bolts are used all over the place on modern cars.

Still, I suspect if you take it somewhere else they will adjust it as normal for £25 or so.

I believe "cradle shift" refers to moving the subframe around slightly to allow adjustment of camber and caster on vehicles that otherwise have no adjustment.

Whether the car needs it or not is a different matter, but you should have a print off of the measured suspension geometry against the manufacturer's spec.

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Originally posted by MikeRJ
but the old tyres scrubbed out rather more quickly than I would have expected (under 8k miles on the front) so assumed we needed the tracking doing.

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I could imagine that this cradle shift is the subframe, but does anyone here call it that?
Still sound exaggerated for effect.
But as mentioned, what was your tyre waer like.
If they were evenly scrubbed out then 8K is a bit low, but I never got more than 20 in the Mondeo fronts, 15 on the Saab. And if they were soft/grippy you could get less.
Was her maiden name Block?

Tyres scrubbed out on outside edges, so probably just toeing in a bit. The suspension on the Octavia is pure Mk IV Golf, nothing complicated. The tyres were Falken ZE912 which seem to get excellent reviews, and I certainly didn't have any complaints with grip when I've driven it, certainly far better than the crappy Pirelli P6000s on it before.

Had a search for "cradle shift" and it appears to be an American term; I'm pretty sure the lad was in full on BS mode. If I had somewhere remotely flat to do it I would just use my dads Gunson Trackrite and DIY.

As for her driving habits, I don't think Ken Block has anything to fear


[Edited on 22/3/10 by MikeRJ]

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Originally posted by ReMan
but I never got more than 20 in the Mondeo fronts, 15 on the Saab

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