Hunter Hawkeye alignment system-Good?

[Russell]

Is the Hunter Hawkeye high-definition wheel alignment system worth the extra trouble and cost?

My local tire dealer has recently installled this system and they are the first alignment place I have found that will properly weight my BMW for an alignment. You are supposed to have a full tank of fuel and them place weights in the car to simulate a driver and passenger. They charge $99 for a BMW.

They also do a centerline steering adjustment as well as front toe in. In addition they reference the front wheel alignment to the rear wheel thrust line as my rear suspension is not adjustable. As we know, caster and camber front/rear is not adjustable.

Also get a full printout of how the front and rear suspension meet factory specs. This may be the most useful part.

Just looking for the opinion of those knowledgable of alignment systems. TIA

[Scott C]

Is the Hunter Hawkeye high-definition wheel alignment system worth the extra trouble and cost?

My local tire dealer has recently installled this system and they are the first alignment place I have found that will properly weight my BMW for an alignment. You are supposed to have a full tank of fuel and them place weights in the car to simulate a driver and passenger. They charge $99 for a BMW.

They also do a centerline steering adjustment as well as front toe in. In addition they reference the front wheel alignment to the rear wheel thrust line as my rear suspension is not adjustable. As we know, caster and camber front/rear is not adjustable.

Also get a full printout of how the front and rear suspension meet factory specs. This may be the most useful part.

Just looking for the opinion of those knowledgable of alignment systems. TIA

The net is that the ONLY adjustment that can be made with stock parts is Toe In - hardly worth 100$. Now if you have problems - they can identify them for you. I would love to know how they do a centerline adjustment...

You are lucky, the only place that would touch my car is the dealer for an alignment.

PS I did a garage alignment - made a gauge to measure front and rear width, then took it into the dealer for $75 verification that I was spot on within their tolerances.

Scott

[Tiger]

Only those tech who doesn't know much about the principle of alignment needs that. However, Hunter equipments has set lifespan dictated by Hunter that once it is past the specified, Hunter officially will not further service that equipment so those places that uses Hunter stuff have no choice but to upgrade.

If you are Master ASE tech who specialize in alignment, you don't need that fancy stuff. My alignment guy... yes, Master ASE tech... has old ass early 70's equipment and does great job.

The latest trend is laser alignment... so simple to use... mount on car, roll car back and forth 3 times... and set the alignment and viola! Done! There are even protable laser system that is pretty affordable for those who wants to align their car anywhere... especially for track. You can buy this on ebay.

[Russell]

Interesting. As I have a bit of wandering, I am hoping that in additon to a proper alignment (weighting) I can find out if any component of my suspension is out of spec. Then I will repair as needed.

[repenttokyo]

regarding weights - you should weight the car to represent how it is most often driven. do you drive with a passenger and a full tank of gas most of the time? if so, then great, but if it's just you and a half tank or less most of the time, then weight it that way.

[Ferret]

In the uk where the 'untrained chimpanzee' aligning your car is very common... the uk E39 guys totally rave about the Hunter systems.

Some people who've done everything they possibly could, and still had a shimmy, took their E39s to places with hunter machines and had their shimmys cured once and for all.

I'm not saying it's the be all and end all, I'm just saying that the machines themselves are very, very good at spotting suspension faults and allowing the techs to sort them out fairly quickly.

Btw, you can micro adjust the E34s rear subframe by shifting the mount plates around - if you dont believe it, loosen the subframe mounting plate bolts and take the car around the block :) there's enough play that you'll get a pretty well defined clunk as you take up drive and then brake. It's not much but I bet it's enough that the back end always tries to move sideways.

[whiskychaser]

They also do a centerline steering adjustment as well as front toe in. In addition they reference the front wheel alignment to the rear wheel thrust line as my rear suspension is not adjustable.
The 'untrained chimpanzee' will charge £15-£20. They will do the toe-in but that wont stop the car crabbing, being bent or having duff suspension parts. So if this kit identifies those problems I'd say an extra £30 isnt too bad

[Tiger]

Tire pressure really critical here... but wandering in major way is suspension parts.

[Russell]

Hopefully, the print outs will provide me enough information to see what suspension parts are the problem. I just do not have the free funds to "throw parts" at problems.

BTW, what tire pressures do you reommend?

[whiskychaser]

Straight from the owners' manual and work fine for me:

[Russell]

Straight from the owners' manual and work fine for me:
Thanks,
I had not seen BMW's tire pressure recomendations for the UK. They are different than the US. The US recommendations for a fully loaded 1995 525i with any tire size 2.3bar/33psi front and 2.8bar/41psi rear. No difference in pressure for tires rated from H to Z. Nothing for partially loaded US vehicle like we drive most of the time.

[whiskychaser]

Thanks,
I had not seen BMW's tire pressure recomendations for the UK. .
Confession time. My handbook has dealer stamps for its early life - in S Africa. Dont have any problems with unusual tyre wear though. Honest!

[Tiger]

Lower your rear tire pressure a bit... I usually set 4 PSI difference between the front and rear. Factory settings is recommended for local road driving.

[Russell]

Is the Hunter Hawkeye high-definition wheel alignment system worth the extra trouble and cost?

My local tire dealer has recently installled this system and they are the first alignment place I have found that will properly weight my BMW for an alignment. You are supposed to have a full tank of fuel and them place weights in the car to simulate a driver and passenger. They charge $99 for a BMW.

They also do a centerline steering adjustment as well as front toe in. In addition they reference the front wheel alignment to the rear wheel thrust line as my rear suspension is not adjustable. As we know, caster and camber front/rear is not adjustable.

Also get a full printout of how the front and rear suspension meet factory specs. This may be the most useful part.

Just looking for the opinion of those knowledgable of alignment systems. TIA

Had the alignment done today. Ending up costing only $59.00. It turned out they did not have the weights after all. I sat in the car during part of the alignment with a full tank of gas. Also. tech is experienced on this machine and performance handling. First thing he did was take a test drive and noticed the wander issue.

Bottom line is the front toe was way off specs; plus 0.58 on driver's side and negative -0.31 on passenger side. When they were done the steering wheel was centered for the first time! Have not driven my normal commute route so I am not sure how well it will do regarding wandering. However on other driving it just seems much more precise.

The print-out (before and after) also indicated I do not have enough rear camber. Perhaps this is because there was not enough weight in car. As I have original rear struts and springs, they may just be tired. Also right front caster is slightly out of spec. Not sure why. It may be the result of a fender bender last year.

My next suspension work will be to verify proper rear ride height. I also need new rear struts and possibly springs.

This seems to be the best alignment I have ever received. Time will tell.