Repairs; Care Of Alloy Road Wheels; Road Wheel Alignment - Aston Martin V8 Vantage Workshop Manual

Road Wheels and Tyres (04.04)
Suspension (04.00)

Repairs

In view of the high performance capability of the vehicle,
damaged tyres should be renewed and not repaired.
When a new tyre is installed, always renew the tyre

Care of Alloy Road Wheels

Aluminium alloy road wheels are covered with a protective
coating. To prevent corrosion it is essential that this coating
is not damaged. When removing or installing tyres only
equipment utilizing spigot or stud hole clamping must be
used. The equipment must not have any moving parts which
contact the road wheel, and tyre levers must not be used.
To clean road wheels use warm soapy water; stubborn stains
can be removed using a soft brush or by using a proprietary
alloy road wheel cleaner.

Road Wheel Alignment

It is important that correct road wheel alignment be
maintained. Misalignment causes tyre tread to be scrubbed
off laterally because the natural direction of the road wheel
differs from that of the vehicle.
A sharp 'fin' protrusion on the edge of each pattern rib is a
sure sign of misalignment.
• 'Fins' on the inside edges of the pattern ribs, particularly
on the nearside tyre, indicate Toe-in.
• 'Fins' on the outside edges, particularly on the offside tyre,
indicate Toe-out.
With minor misalignment, the evidence is less noticeable
and sharp pattern edges may be caused by road camber
even when the road wheel alignment is correct. In such
cases it is better to make sure by checking with an alignment
gauge. Road camber affects the direction of the vehicle by
imposing a side thrust and, if left to follow its natural course,
the vehicle will drift towards its nearside. This is instinctively
corrected by steering towards the road centre and, as a
result, the vehicle runs crabwise. The diagram shows why
nearside tyres are very sensitive to too much Toe-in and
offside tyres to Toe-out.
4-5-6
Caution
valve.
It also shows why sharp 'fins' appear on one tyre but not on
the other, and why the direction of misalignment can be
determined by noting the position of the 'fins'. Severe
misalignment produces clear evidence on both tyres.
Front road wheels on a moving vehicle should be parallel.
Tyre wear can be affected noticeably by quite small
variations from this condition. It will be noted from the
diagram that even with parallel road wheels, the vehicle is
still out of line with its direction of movement, but there is
less tendency for the wear to be concentrated on one tyre.
The near front tyre sometimes persists in wearing faster and
more unevenly than the other tyres, even when the
mechanical condition of the vehicle and tyre maintenance
are satisfactory. The more severe the average road camber,
the more marked this tendency will be.
Workshop Manual October 2005