Hi I recently had a wheel alignment by a Ford dealership in Australia (2021 Focus ST-Line).

Attached is the report - see the circled part.

It says that the front wheel toe was out of spec by almost exactly 20mm on each wheel before they adjusted it (!)

It's been almost 2 years since I last had a wheel alignment (by a non-Ford tyre shop). The old alignment report looks normal, although they did do a 3-month followup check where they didn't give me a report, except to say they checked it again.

Ford says they are not sure why it was out so much, but they have recently calibrated their machine so it should be accurate.

 

So my questions are:

1. Would this have been very noticeable while driving?
(I think 20mm would be nearly 2 degrees toe per wheel instead of the spec 0.1 degrees.)

2. Is it even possible to adjust it 20mm wrong?

3. If this report is correct, could the old alignment have done any damage to the wheel bearings, suspension, steering?

The tyre wear looks normal as far as I can tell.

20mm each side and tyres would be worn to the cords in a few miles! . 

Ahh, so Ford's initial reading was probably wrong? Any idea how they could have got that wrong - maybe one decimal place off when they wrote it down? Seems like an unusual mistake to make.

I guess they were embarrassed to admit it but they should have.

Lately I've noticed more noise when slowing down, especially below about 20kmh (especially in undercover carparks). I thought it might be wheel bearing noise but maybe it's just tyre noise...

Maybe I've just never noticed it before - is that normal for the Focus Mk4? A low friction sound (I think equal on both sides or in the middle).

I moved my wheel noise question to
https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/153229-is-this-drive-trainfront-wheel-noise-normal-mk4

Also bumping this wheel alignment thread to see if any wheel alignment people have seen a measurement error like this before (probably/hopefully just a measurement error).

 

Do tyre shops offer free alignment checks in Australia?  I'd have it checked again tbh.  Maybe the laser hubs were fitted slightly wrong for some reason (shape of wheels, low ride height, inexperienced technician, etc) which could mean the wheels have been adjusted too far and are now toeing in too much instead.  That would also explain the extra tyre noise.

Hmm the noise was there before but I think you're right I should get it checked again.

No free checks but I might as well get new tyres early and get it done at the same time.

If it was correct before (positive toe = in, I saw) and they adjusted it out that much it would now be way out.

Anyway it's bugging me enough I want to solve the mystery, and new tyres will show me if the noise was the tyres or not.

(I'm going from Eagle F1 Sport to Michelin Pilot Sport 5.)