maserati QP wheel alignment specifications

flat-12

Member
Messages
120
It is disappointing that so many shops will not do the alignment job on a Maserati. I know that those fancy alignment machines look intimidating, but the fact is that we are really only messing with 3 parameters, Camber, Toe, and Caster. I sometimes think they want us to believe this is some mystical rocket science. If you have 20 inch wheels on your car, and you measure at the outer "Lip" of the wheel, for every 0.250 inch you move the toe or camber....that equates to 0.68 degrees. So if your rear wheels tilt inwards at the top a half inch, then you have a negative camber of 1.36 degrees.

When doing this work yourself, you need to make sure that the last movement of the car is in the forward direction, before making any adjustments, so all of the suspension is biased as in normal driving. After each adjustment I did, I drove the car around the neighborhood and then confirmed the measurements. Right now my rear camber is at -0.6 degrees, and the toe at "0". So this should result in more even tire wear.
 

Ozmurc

Junior Member
Messages
91
I tried HR Owen who, after they'd glared down their nose at me no doubt checking whether I was wearing the right old school tie, announed that they would only "deem" to take mine in after a full diagnostic scan costing £127 plus VAT! What a bunch of snobs :rolleyes: My Hunter effort is as above in thread. Does run much better now than before, even though its rear end isn't complete. What a faff around for such a prestige production car!

There's also SuperCar Italia next to Biggin Hill airport who quoted me £200 +VAT. I don't know whether they stock the shims or not. Yes, others claiming to be Italian supercar specialists just sighed into the middle distance when I asked... :confused:

Chichester or Soton's a bit of a run out for me. Luckily was at Southampton as a student (in the 60s ;-) so wouldn't lose a day.

CatmanV2's recommendation Wheels in Motion are Chesham. They seem to have other names -- Blackboots and Chesham Tyres. There's also an address listed in Tonbridge. But dunno if that's uptodate

I thought going to the dealer for a wheel alignment was a joke.... but apparently not! As a first step I will get a quote from HR Owen; to be fair they have not been bad to me parts wise- have gotten a trade price on my Lambo parts, and the recent wheel bearing for the QPV. I've just never used them for actual labour/service.
 

Ozmurc

Junior Member
Messages
91
I tried HR Owen who, after they'd glared down their nose at me no doubt checking whether I was wearing the right old school tie, announed that they would only "deem" to take mine in after a full diagnostic scan costing £127 plus VAT!

Well I just got quoted £510+VAT for a 4 wheel alignment by HR Owen.... I'm actually speechless..
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
Bwa... hahahhhhaaaaahhhhaaaa :p

The real concern is that there must be numbnuts around prepared to pay this!

Of course the H R Owen of today is not to be confused with the H R Owen of yesteryear that was owned by that criminal of the Guinness scandal Gerald Ronson. Oh no...

Thank you for your business. You were served today by Robin B'astard :as002:
 
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CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,547
Just means they don't really want the business. They'll need to have one of their people take it to WIM, wait for it and bring it back. All labour charges....

C
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
I finally got around to adjusting the rear toe alignment. As I stated previously I recently adjusted the camber, which resulted in a bit of toe-in. In dry conditions I did not have any issues, but yesterday we had rain and as I was driving on the highway the rear end was fish-tailing slightly depending on which tire had the most grip - it was very alarming - not safe. So as soon as I got home, I adjusted the toe to be "0". I was not able to rotate the rod-link for some reason, so I had to actually disconnect the inner rod end from the frame of the car and adjust the inner eye, and reconnect everything. It was a pain but the job is done.

Thanks for the update. I've got the QP5 '08MY with 19" rims -- think over there you refer to it as "Automatica"? Am planning on going to Lancaster Maserati today to see whether I can get anymore service history as I've only got service stamps in the service book but no invoices.

Having rear Toe at 0º seems to have been a common setting instead of between 0.17º - 0.21º recommended on the Hunter specs

When at the main dealer today will ask about shims -- whether they come as a set or how they're supplied? My Hunter set-up shop said they had no more thread to pull the OSR in anymore into what the Hunter database said it should be
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
Wot with everything else, including buying a Mas mug, forgot to ask about the "shims"

The Mas mug cost me £15 :confused: Fifteen quid! For a mug.
Dunno who's more the mug, me or the mug...
At least it came in a nice Mas tin. So I told 'er indoors it was a tea caddy...

I heard that
<door slam!!!>

She's in one of her better moods today
:rolleyes:
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
Welp. It gets worse (or better depending on which side of the divide you sit!) Had a nice run down to Sports Italia this week. And even got a cup of tea plus delivery and collection to and from the local Tesco's resturaunt in Bursledon. They weren't able to do the tracking coz they found that one of the lower control arm bushes was torn. And they're changed out in pairs. I'm told that the pattern ones that are more robust than OEM are on back order due to Chinese lock down due to that thar' virus they're trying to control. So that leaves only the OEM prices and suppliers that've got stock.

Best price I've found is £278 +p&p for the complete set (seven off) for one side only. So two kits are needed. Not sold seperately.
Wot? £556 +p&p for a pair of bushes? Erm, I think not. There's gotta be another way.
There's one second hand complete control arm that seller says has good bushes for $140 +p&p from US of A. But for some reason seller remarks his eBay advert : "May not sell to the UK".

Still feeling the occasional "lurch" but it's much better now after Hunter laser track than when I came down to southeast London from Sheffield after car's purchase. Still, it's gotta be put right... somehow.65381
It's the one closest to item 26 I think

65382
 
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flat-12

Member
Messages
120
It is possible to change out only the bad bushing, but you will likely have to do it yourself unless you can talk a mechanic into it. And you'll have to buy a whole bushing kit to get the parts, as bushings are not sold individually. I had to replace only the left-upper-front bushing on my QP, it was not a fun job. I purchased the bushing kit from Maseratinet.com for $269 US..or about £209. Link below.
http://www.maseratinet.com//p-23174-front-suspension-bushes-kit.aspx
 
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RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
Thanks flat-12 for the reply. I'm enquiring with them now for p&p charge to UK.
Most USA outlets only use either UPS or Fedex coz sender gets a good commission.
Then there's the import duty and VAT to pay. Whereas being an EU item available in UK already there's none except VAT. Still, every little helps :cool: That nett price you suggest is now down to £188 (plus currency charge kindly levied by Mastercard). Will let you know what they say

From the MaseratiNet.com picture can you tell which item it is that I have to change shown in my pic above? They list part # but don't say which part # belongs to which item in their pic apart from the single bush
65390
 
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flat-12

Member
Messages
120
Hello RichardSEL...it looks like the bushing in your suspension picture is the right-upper-front? If so...then looking at the MaseratiNet picture - you will be installing the bushings shown at bottom-left and bottom-center of the picture. Unlike many cars where the entire bushing pushes in / out in one direction, as you can see Maserati's bushing are 2-Piece and are pressed in from each end of the Control Arm Bore. It's a pain in the butt to get the old bushings out, you have to be careful not to damage any control arm surfaces. Important tip - before torquing up the bushing bolt(s), raise the control arm into position as if the vehicle is setting on the ground, and then tighten things up......that way the bushing isn't under undue "twist" at normal ride position. If things aren't tightened up this way, the bushing will prematurely fail.
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
Thanks for the quick reply and informative ! I've got some more pics taken at the workshop that I'm posting if they help you to confirm that my torn bush is right upper front:
65398

There has to be a small patch weld made to the sub-frame too where the screwdriver blade's poking through. I'm fortunate. Down at the workshop I saw a whole sub-frame that'd rusted severely away in several places that they'd changed out.

Think I got the wrong arm in the schematic I posted earlier. From the pic I posted above it'd be marked "1"

It gets worse: have just heard from workshop that they want a set of bolts too. What are they? Titanium? "Upper bolts (2 per side) are £40 each and lowers are £95 (2 per side) inc VAT" Wonder whether at that price the nuts and washers come with?
 
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Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Just as an aside, I would not entertain changing only one bush. By all means replace only the uppers, or the upper fronts, but do both sides, let’s face it, if one is torn, the other is not going to be far behind.

Removing the bush is a PITA, but quite easy with the factory tool which the boys at Sports Italia have.
 

RichardSEL

Junior Member
Messages
130
My first time in my cars' and classic cars' life with something so highly strung -- so not yet used to this pricing regime :rolleyes: BTW, the snooty attitude of HR Owen, and being ignored by Sevenoaks has not been repeated at two out of the four indies I've approached. For some of us, Netley (about five miles north of Southampton) is a bit of a travel. I felt as if I was being looked after. I think that's worth the travel
 
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