Does a wheel realignment need an ADAS recalibration?

[martinsaunders]

Hi,

The alignment on my XC90 T8 is out, especially at the rear where the left rear toe is -0.06 deg and right rear is 0.25 (should be 0 to 0.12 according to the Hunter machine). The garage (non-Volvo but good guys) are nervous of fixing this though as they think the ADAS (Pilot Assist etc) will need recalibrating. Volvo predictably want a fortune to even look at it.

Right now the car pulls gently to the left and with Pilot Assist enabled the car sits on the left extreme of the lane to the point it's not really safe to use, so my by reckoning fixing the alignment will bring it back centre, but has anyone else been warned that changing the alignment of the rear wheels will cause problems with ADAS please?

IMG20240105142613.jpg

Best

Martin

[sandys]

After hitting a pothole and blowing some tyres I took mine for an alignment as steering was out a fraction, didn't even consider it could be an ADAS issue, I've had no Ill effects, or computer issues, tyre wear is perfect across the tyres 9 months later.

Not a definitive answer I suppose but can't see it being an issue, bigger issue for ADAS would be car not steering straight surely as your steering input would be one of its parameters

[martinsaunders]

Thanks, it's not hugely out so I can't imagine it would be a big issue, but I'm having a bad run with my T8 (see ERAD thread) so wouldn't put it past Volvo to cost me more...

[JonathanD]

I would suggest a read of this thread will be informative:

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=290981

Admittedly the thread title Pilot assist struggling after replacement windscreen may not on the face of it appear to be directly relevant to the query in this thread, however one useful nugget from the thread is that prior to ADAS being recalibrated the wheel alignment needs to be checked and if required fixed. Post #30 by NickRno77 from 13 December 2023 will I think be of particular interest, and note that NickRno77's car went to an ADAS specialist and not to a Volvo dealer.

[sandys]

stands to reason wheel alignment needs to be accurate, if not the small extra input on the steering wheel to correct for a misalignment will have the cars ADAS looking in the wrong place even with a snall degree of offset as its looking many metres down the road, so the delta between where you are going and where it thinks you are going will be amplified.

[Basill]

It needs fixing first anyway, get it done and test ADAS.
I find with pilot assist enabled I occasionally gently correct the road positioning anyway, with your alignment out its just like you are constantly steering against the computer moving you away from its chosen line. Hopefully with the car running true the road position will improve.

[Mad Malc]

Using common sense and logic. If the ADAS was set and working prior to the tracking going out of adjustment and has never been re calibrated then it follows that when you get the tracking done you will be back where you started so the answer is no.
If there were to be any problems you would see/feel them now as the ADAS was calibrated when the tracking was correct.

[sk546]

I took mine to have a re-alignmnent at a trusted (non-volvo) BOSCH service centre as it was pulling left and had a similar level of adjustment made to mine. I was quoted 2 prices for this by the garage, first for just the wheel alignment (£75) and the second for alignment + ADAS Camera/Radar adjustment if needed (just under £700!!).
Thankfully for me, as I dont have the full Pilot assist + ACC (I like to keep things simple), my car only required the wheel alignment however, if it had all the radars etc for Pilot Assist & ACC, it should have had the full alignment of all systems.
This is an insurance/warranty thing apparently as these are safety systems that if not re-calibrated after an adjustment to the car (wheel alignment etc) may not operate correctly and lead to/cause an accident. If you have an accident and its found that an adjustment was made without a re-calibration of the safety systems, the insurance may decide not to pay out.
Its just one of the many things adding to insurance premiums as following an accident repair, all cars with these safety systems require a re-calibration adding £700-1,000 to an insurance claim where previously it would not have been needed.

[sandys]

In the pages of warnings related to pilot assist, nothing in there is related wheel alignment, the systems are looking around with cameras and radar, none of these move due to a bad alignment, the only thing a bad impact and misalignment will do is have you adding steering input contrary to the direction of travel which will cause these thing to look in a different position in the same way your LED lights would not look straight ahead if you add extra steering input to keep car straight on really bad misalignment.

Get your alignment done and carry on with a straight driving car all will be good.

If you had an accident and these things were damaged them yes new bits would be added and need calibrated.