Gunson G4008 Trakrite Wheel Alignment Gauge

As a mobile mechanic myself I once saw my grandfather use one of these in the workshop, given the advances in "laser" technology I dismissed it believing that you could never obtain any level of accuracy with a tool such as this. I had to carry out a repair on my own van late one evening and I had to drive it considerable distance for 3 days without time for alignment, so while digging for a tape measure to rough set it my mate suggested that I set it using his one of these. "Haha, that cr@p DIY thing? Well I guess it cant make it any worse!". I dialed the toe to zero following the guide, drove the vehicle and centered the wheel with equal adjustments, then rechecked/fine tuned the toe after. It was easy to obtain a constant zero scrub reading so i drove away thinking that it was roughly good for my journeys but I'd check it as soon as possible. A delay the next morning gave me a surprise opportunity to get it on the ramp and I was completely gob smacked, no spanner required, it was spot on for toe! ...So I brought my own and had a go on the wifes car with the same results when compared to the laser alignment kit. Ok, so its only going to set toe (which is often all that is adjustable on many cars), and although it cant have the perfect level of accuracy of the garage kit but wow its close enough to be within tolerance for every car or van I've tried it on. It now sits in the back of my mobile van and allows me to set the toe after a mobile suspension repair with ease. As many customers are too tight to add the cost of alignment to a repair I like to leave knowing that its at least good enough not to destroy thier front tyres in a few miles. A surprisingly good bit of kit but carry a brush to remove any gravel that might be in its way first and it will deliver consistant results. A lot better that watching the local minimum wage tyre monkey negate the expensive lasers accuracy by resting it on a balancing wieght or setting the tracking for the wrong vehicle model! Any kit is only as good as its operator.

These have been around for years and I have allways thought of them as a bit of a gimmick until a client showed me his and how it works. I read the reviews and purchased one. The plus points are I have numerous vehicles and two of them needed the tracking doing. My local tyre fitters charge £40 per vehicle (and I have to take the car back until they get it right) so after 2 x vehicles I have allready saved £35. Also found it very easy to use. Followed the instructions and also used a straight edge along the tyre to ensure that it ways all in line. Negative points are it reads in degrees and the toe in/out measurements from the manufactures are usually in mm. Not a big issue as long as you know if it should be toe in or toe out. The other negative was each time I drove over it before (and after adjustments) the readings were all ways slightly different, maybe my drive and I may need more practice with it aswell. Overall a very good product, saved me some money and the affected vehicles (one is a 3.5t transit horsebox) drive with the steering straight.

Work just. You need really smooth surface, have to make sure is exactly in line with the car and have to give on car quite few meters run before every check. If need slightly adjustment on one of the tyres all right, in my case both sides was out of adjustment, spend 2 hours and still not quite right. Trouble is you can't straight tyres in line with steering wheel. And the whole thing is made of plastic, look like a toy. I feel like better spent this money for garage.

I was pretty sceptical at first, given the cost and apparent simplicity of this device. But I'm pleased to say that it worked incredibly well in practice. It was very simple to use - slightly tedious having to keep driving over it, adjusting and repeating - but after a few cycles I was able to get a perfect reading. I took my car (a 1965 Mustang Coupe) for a test drive before and after the adjustment, and what a difference - no more squealing tyres when going round corners. The only downside is that it is pretty flimsy, being made entirely of plastic. I managed to dislodge the pointer several times at first when the adjustment was way off, making the pointer deflect beyond the limit. But it was very easy to pop everything back in place. I'd say this is by far the cheapest and most accurate way of setting the toe-in alignment on pretty much any car that you can carry out yourself. Highly recommended!

I was a bit dubious about this product that appeared a bit flimsy for the price. The white pointer came loose and I found the best way to put it back in place was to hold the gauge right side up and slide the pointer onto the top fitting and gently lower onto the base whilst holding the pointer. That way the rollers don't fall out. I used this device on two cars. My steering wheel was a few inches off to the right following my fitment of droplinks and track rod ends to a citroen xsara picasso. Using the gauge permitted me to adjust the track rods so the wheels were aligned and steering wheel centred, I found that one of the wheels required three full turns of track rod (wondered why I need a tyres change when I purchased the 12 year old car). My other car an old Audi a3 Quattro had recent tyres and laser alignment by a reputable company. I measured the alignment following the laser with the gunson trakrite and found a wheel i was slightly out. The steering wheel was not dead centre either. I will adjust this at a later date. I shall be using this gadget to do all my wheel alignments in the future as seems pretty accurate if used correctly. Plus saving a lot of money by not paying £30-£45 a time to a company to align my wheels

Attrezzo molto comodo per un veloce controllo dopo interventi all'avantreno. Verificati i dati forniti con altre apparecchiature molto piu' sofisticate , senza riscontrare particolari discrepanze

Super easy to use, In just 10 minutes you can whether your wheels are aligned. Good tool to have on hand just to affirm your car is aligned.

Das Spurmessgerät Gunson Trakrite funktoniert perfekt. An meinem GT86 waren nach Tieferlegung und für die Eintragung vorgeschriebener Spur-/Sturzjustage die Innenseiten der Vorderreifen extrem abgefahren. Nochmaliges kostspieliges Spureinstellen wurde mit Justage der Spur mit der 'Schnurmethode' erspart. Der nächste Satz Reifen war dann an den Außenkanten vermehrt abgefahren. Nun wurde die Spur mit den Trakrite geprüft und siehe da, sie war deutlich verstellt. Nach viermaligem Überrollen und Justieren der Spurstangen nun beidseitig auf perfektes Maß '0' justiert. Laut Anleitung und technischer Logik muss auf beiden Seiten das selbe Maß der Spur mit dem Zeiger angezeigt werden. Falls nach der Justage auf '0' eine Spurstange stärker als die andere verstellt wurde, kann das Lenkrad bei Geradeausfahrt minimal schief stehen. Abhilfe schafft beidseitiges Justieren der Spurstangen in dieselbe Richtung bis das Lenkrad bei Geradeausfahrt gerade steht. Die Spur muss mit dem Trakrite zwingend auf '0' justiert werden, da diese im Fahrbetrieb gemessen wird. Bei Spurjustage im Stand sind die Abweichungen für Grad Vor- bzw. Nachspur einzustellen. Im Fahrbetrieb stellt sich dann durch die Belastung der Gelenke idealerweise Spur '0' ein um einen gleichmäßigen Reifenabrieb zu gewährleisten. Dies ist jedoch selten der Fall. Für Werkstätten jedoch zu zeitaufwändig, da gut und gerne 30 Minuten Zeitaufwand. Schieben des Fahrzeugs über das Gerät und Überfahren mittels Motorkraft und Fahrer brachte keine Unterschiede. Wichtig ist zudem ein waagerechter Boden. Trakrite ist genial, genial einfach, genial logisch...

C un bon produit

Muito bom