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Steering angle sensor reset with alignment?

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MD18EcoStang

MD18EcoStang

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@bankyf Thanks for taking the time to post such an informative reply. I'm not sure if I'll take this up with them, or just chalk it up to live and learn. I've saved countless thousands by doing my own work over the years, on my vehicles and home, so money isn't really the issue, but maybe I'll talk to the owner just on principle. I struggle to justify paying anyone for anything I can do myself, but alignments and tires are obviously not things a DIYer can do. I've also rarely, if ever, had a deep sense of trust with any shop. So, there goes this one...

A few follow-up questions - when you say "LKA calibration," is that synonymous with the "steering angle reset" I paid for? Because, lane keep was never even mentioned, and the car was definitely not driven anywhere. Also, would there be any indication of the date or time of the last reset or calibration that could be seen using something like FORScan? I am concerned that they were not able to produce any documentation or printout related to the steering angle reset.
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@bankyf Thanks for taking the time to post such an informative reply. I'm not sure if I'll take this up with them, or just chalk it up to live and learn. I've saved countless thousands by doing my own work over the years, on my vehicles and home, so money isn't really the issue, but maybe I'll talk to the owner just on principle. I struggle to justify paying anyone for anything I can do myself, but alignments and tires are obviously not things a DIYer can do. I've also rarely, if ever, had a deep sense of trust with any shop. So, there goes this one...

A few follow-up questions - when you say "LKA calibration," is that synonymous with the "steering angle reset" I paid for? Because, lane keep was never even mentioned, and the car was definitely not driven anywhere. Also, would there be any indication of the date or time of the last reset or calibration that could be seen using something like FORScan? I am concerned that they were not able to produce any documentation or printout related to the steering angle reset.
LKA = lane keep assist. There absolutely is no other calibrations for your car. I even double checked the “web specs” on Hunternet to be sure and lane keep is the only calibration available for your car. Lane keep absolutely requires a 5-10 minute minimum drive to run the calibration with the hunter codelink connected that you showed in your screenshots above. If they didn’t drive it you need to get your $125 back. I can probably get you a screenshot from hunternet showing what calibrations are required for your car a little later tonight but I’m currently sitting in an airport. I would also question the integrity of any shop that didn’t test drive your car after aligning. It sucks that people like that perpetuate the image that many of us shop owners are battling to fix. Who still hand writes receipts these days anyway??

Forgot to mention, no time stamp or any type of evidence is recorded that it was done or not. I don’t think hunternet stores that either. The good news is that you can do it yourself with Forscan.
 
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If you can send me screenshots of required calibrations, that would be great, if that's convenient for you. Much appreciated! Also, please PM me your shop address if you don't want to advertise it outright here. I very well may end up making the drive next time. Thank you for the info and opinions you've shared.
 

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@bankyf alignments and tires are obviously not things a DIYer can do. I've also rarely, if ever, had a deep sense of trust with any shop. So, there goes this one...
Honestly, they're not that hard to do. You need access to a flat piece of ground (many garage floors are 'close enough') and a couple of alignment tools. After that, it really all comes down to taking your time and having the patience to do the job correctly.
 

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LKA = lane keep assist. There absolutely is no other calibrations for your car. I even double checked the “web specs” on Hunternet to be sure and lane keep is the only calibration available for your car. Lane keep absolutely requires a 5-10 minute minimum drive to run the calibration with the hunter codelink connected that you showed in your screenshots above. If they didn’t drive it you need to get your $125 back. I can probably get you a screenshot from hunternet showing what calibrations are required for your car a little later tonight but I’m currently sitting in an airport. I would also question the integrity of any shop that didn’t test drive your car after aligning. It sucks that people like that perpetuate the image that many of us shop owners are battling to fix. Who still hand writes receipts these days anyway??

Forgot to mention, no time stamp or any type of evidence is recorded that it was done or not. I don’t think hunternet stores that either. The good news is that you can do it yourself with Forscan.
With the above said - wouldn't an LKA adjustment only be necessary IF the S550 was equipped with LKA?

For instance, my 2018 does not have the LKA option package, so if there are other S550's like mine, shops should not be charging any LKA fees with an alignment, correct?
 

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With the above said - wouldn't an LKA adjustment only be necessary IF the S550 was equipped with LKA?

For instance, my 2018 does not have the LKA option package, so if there are other S550's like mine, shops should not be charging any LKA fees with an alignment, correct?
They shouldn't be.


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Norm Peterson

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Honestly, they're not that hard to do. You need access to a flat piece of ground (many garage floors are 'close enough') and a couple of alignment tools. After that, it really all comes down to taking your time and having the patience to do the job correctly.
Front end alignment on an S550 wouldn't be much different from other strut suspension.

Rear alignment tends to be a different story, there being significant crosstalk between camber and toe adjustments. Neither of the LCA pivots is located on the rear axle centerline, so adjusting toe moves the bottom of the rear tire outward in the camber direction as well as in the toe direction. Likewise, camber adjustments have the potential for affecting toe unless the hub-side toe link and the rigid LCA pickups are located in the same longitudinal-vertical plane.


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Front end alignment on an S550 wouldn't be much different from other strut suspension.

Rear alignment tends to be a different story, there being significant crosstalk between camber and toe adjustments. Neither of the LCA pivots is located on the rear axle centerline, so adjusting toe moves the bottom of the rear tire outward in the camber direction as well as in the toe direction. Likewise, camber adjustments have the potential for affecting toe unless the hub-side toe link and the rigid LCA pickups are located in the same longitudinal-vertical plane.


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Exactly. As I mentioned above, I suspect his rear toe is so far out because they didn’t want to have to deal with the camber.
 

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With the above said - wouldn't an LKA adjustment only be necessary IF the S550 was equipped with LKA?

For instance, my 2018 does not have the LKA option package, so if there are other S550's like mine, shops should not be charging any LKA fees with an alignment, correct?
Absolutely correct. There is no calibration required for S550 without LKA.
 
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Absolutely correct. There is no calibration required for S550 without LKA.
Which is interesting, since they quoted the SAS reset without even knowing my car had LKA. I suspect it's a relatively small percentage of Mustangs that even have the option.
 

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Front end alignment on an S550 wouldn't be much different from other strut suspension.

Rear alignment tends to be a different story, there being significant crosstalk between camber and toe adjustments. Neither of the LCA pivots is located on the rear axle centerline, so adjusting toe moves the bottom of the rear tire outward in the camber direction as well as in the toe direction. Likewise, camber adjustments have the potential for affecting toe unless the hub-side toe link and the rigid LCA pickups are located in the same longitudinal-vertical plane.


Norm
The front is a piece of piss. No problem at all. Put the camber at max & then set toe.

The rear really isn't that bad. Yes, you have to go back & forth between camber & toe. Camber influences toe more than the inverse. If you take your time, though, you can hit your numbers to a greater accuracy than the local alignment guy at the tire shop ever would.

You also don't have to argue for an hour about how you want an alignment which is not what the factory specs. I find that conversation a bit tedious.
 

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You also don't have to argue for an hour about how you want an alignment which is not what the factory specs. I find that conversation a bit tedious.
Amen to that.

It took me just one shop-performed alignment back around 1973 to convince me that I'd be better off learning how to do my own alignments. Been right so far . . .


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This is a good start. If you get their toe strings and camber gauge, you can pretty much align any car you need. The next step would be scales, which just turned your 2-3 hour alignment into a 4-6 hour chassis setup.

https://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartstrings
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