SloopJohnB@mac.com

Pure crap. I have a 2K 4.2A6 and no automatic height adjustment...there are a couple sensors for headlight leveling, one linked to the left front lower front control arm and the other linked to the left rear front lower control arm, but not automatic height adjustment per se. Wonder what the shop really meant.
No special dealer tool needed. Locally here in Silver Spring, MD, a full-up four wheel alignment at the stealer runs $180. The only thing that can be adjusted at the rear is camber, front is toe.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

NOT so, certainly not best bet for an audi. If you wanted low prices and quality work, an audi is not the car to buy. You get what you pay for, good work, fast work, cheap work, pick two.
I'm not saying a dealer is the only place or even the best place considering the wide range of dealers. For example, one of the best places for alignment and balance work in the DC area is a Goodyear tire shop over by Lee Highway...it just so happens that the owner of the chain (there's a couple of Craven Tire shops) is/was a local Porsche club president. Just excellent work...his shop was the only one in this area that could fix a friends' Lotus Turbo that the dealer in Baltimore was tearing his hair out..the dealer put new wheels, tires, rotors, brakes, swaybars(?) and multiple alignments on the car and it was still vibrating above 60mph. Lo and behold..bad balancing. Had to override the 1/2 oz default (15gm) on the machine to get a close enough balance not to upset the car.

If you can't find a good shop on your own, check with the local (audi first, of course) Porsche club guys and find out where they take their cars.

hyde

Strange - I wonder why they would turn away work. The answer though, is in the question: I don't want them doing the alignment if they are confused about if they even can or not... Thanks - I'll check around Monday.
-hyde

twosticks

OK, so long story short, I was hit while parked (right front). I took my car in for repairs: steering rack, FR quarter panel, bumper, wheel. The dealership fixed it, aligned it, etc... We got our first snow and I swapped out my tires for the winter set. When I looked at my front tires from the summer I noticed the belts were exposed on the inside of the tires. When looking at the car from the front I can see that the camber is negative by several degrees. The suspension is stock, not lowered. There is one local shop that will do an all-wheel alignment, and they have messed up every one so far so I don't want to go there again. The nearest dealer is about 5 hours away, and I think they messed up the last alignment. I want to resolve this myself, but I am not sure how to go about it as there is no camber adjustment on these cars, only equalization by moving the sub-frame. My front suspension is new, replaced it myself with a Meyle kit from Blau parts. (aligned it after that also, looked better then) How could my camber be so far out of whack now? Is it possible that the dealership loosened the upper control arms and threw the camber out? Any thoughts on what might have happened and how to fix it would be greatly appreciated.

bigdadi

http://www.sunvalleyimports.com/service_repair.htm

Sun Valley ImportsAddress:‎
950 N Stadem Dr
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 949-2813


This services European cars and offers alignments.

twosticks

Barry at Sun Valley Imports referred me to Eddy at Bullit Alignment (480)-446-0484 for more specific Audi questions on alignment. Eddy said that for an Audi this old the most likely culprit is the springs and to replace them. I don't know what happened to mine, looks like they just started sagging quickly this year. Eddy mentioned that stock springs can sag up to 19mm and that is plenty to put the camber way out. He likes to see -1.1 to -1.2 (degrees) for high speed stability but there was a car that had the springs replaced and got the camber back to -0.8. Oh, and for anyone wondering about adjusting the set point of the upper control arms in order to correct this problem, don't do it. You will just ruin the bushing in the arm and not fix the problem. Also check the bearing carrier (knuckle) for damage, could be bent if you got hit like me.

Just Me

you must be kidding. Good equipment run by idiots produces bad results. Tape measure, blocks of wood, and bernie produces good results. QED.

twosticks

No, not kidding. Who is Bernie?