would changing Anti roll bar bushes affect the tracking on a ford ka

[paddi22]

I recently got an nct done and everything was perfect apart from the anti-roll bar bushes needing to be changed. I got these fixed and got the car retested the following week.

While it was being tested I could see the guy rechecking it at a machine for a good while. When he called me out later he said the car had passed (as the bar bushes were fixed and that was all he needed to recheck) but - as an aside - that I should check the tracking as it was very faulty and he had noticed it was bad and slipped a lot to one side. He said this was due to the garage probably not refitting something correctly when they fixed the new bar bushes.

I rang the garage today and they said that it was impossible that this could happen. They said there was no way the bushes could have effected the tracking. As far as I'm concerned I would see it as their problem as the car was passed as having perfect tracking, and it only went faulty after the new parts were fitted. There was only a couple of days between the new parts being fitted and the NCT, and the car wasn't on the road at all really as I work from home.

Does anyone with any Ford knowledge know if the tracking would be affected in anyway by the anti roll bar bushes being refitted? It would be much appreciated if anyone would have a bit of info before I go back to garage again.
thanks

 

[Pique318]

Tracking, no. Alignment, yes.
As the suspension components have been dismantled to fit the bushes, then a full 4 wheel alignment should be done to ensure that the 4 wheels are pointing in the same direction.1 degree off can result in your tyres being unevenly worn (badly) in a few thousand miles.
The Garage should have done this IMO as part of the repair.

 

[paddi22]

thanks for that. i haven't a clue about cars so all info is useful!