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Alignment Ordeal


PCGUY112887

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So I just got my intrax springs installed, and new ball joints put on, and new KYB struts and HD mounts, and I needed an alignment.

 

I took it so a local shop because my regular mechanic doesn't have alignment equipment, and after 45mins with it they came back and told me they wanted to do nearly $500 worth of alignment. My front right tire is within spec, but front left is so off they want to drill my strut plate to get it aligned, that + aligning that tire is worth $160 to them.

 

The rest of the money was for my backs. My back tires were out of spec but I have never had any type of issue so I am really just thinking of leaving it, I have nothing lowering the car back there (car just sits about equal in the rear as front with my subs) so I can't understand why it's so much for the rear.

 

I am thinking of asking another shop here too...

 

Comments?

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definitely go somewhere else!!

 

and... No MATTER WHAT..... NEVER LET THEM DRILL YOUR STRUT TOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is to correct caster and/or camber. that is usually a sign that either: A) your control arm's mounts have shifted (I've loosed the bolts and physically moved them before) or B) your strut is bent.

 

 

Out of curiosity, did they tell you whether the issue was caster (front to back) or camber(side to side) angle?

 

If I have a car that has an issue with that, I tell them not to correct

 

as for the rear... did they give you the problem specs?

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He has lowering springs, which means his camber will be outta spec. You have no choice in the front but to drill out the strut towers to allow the movement to bring it into spec... Or suffer from crappy handling and bad tire wear..

 

Our cars have no adjustment for camber and caster up front, and drilling out the strut towers is the only way to bring it into spec once its lowered. If you think otherwise, you have obiously never worked in a shop and/or never done an alignment.

 

With the rear, the alignment tech more than likely has to fight with, or replace the adjuster bolts/cams for the lateral link at the subframe, and had to use a camber bag and loosen the strut bolts and fight with it to get it into spec..

 

Alignments when you are lowered can get costly quick... Needless to say, Im glad I work at a shop and can pull my car on the rack and align it anytime I want.

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lowering them affects the car that much???

 

and why one side but not the other????

 

 

 

 

if thats correct, then lowering would only affect camber, and caster would stay the same. What are they trying to correct?

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lowering them affects the car that much???

 

and why one side but not the other????

 

 

 

 

if thats correct, then lowering would only affect camber, and caster would stay the same. What are they trying to correct?

 

Caster angle is also modified if it is lowered... Think about it a bit.

 

And yes, lowering fucks with camber a lot... Even 1/2 in ride height will throw it outta spec and cause some unever tire wear.. Why do you think BMWs wear through 3 sets of rear tires before the fronts wear.. They have a lot of camber in the rear.

 

Why one side and not the other, simple. Chassis flex over time, possible unever ride height from weight distro, and some normal wear and tear on bushings and such on the one side..

 

Also, we dont know how far outta spec the one side is.. There are extremes to specs, and one side could be right at the border of that and the other can just be all outta wack..

 

If you have the printup from the alignment, post the specs, im curious how far it is out and which specs..

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If you have the printup from the alignment, post the specs, im curious how far it is out and which specs..

agreed!

 

and duh! if caster was ZERO, it wouldn't be affected, but I think it would still be less significant. lets see the spec sheet!

 

 

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If you have the printup from the alignment, post the specs, im curious how far it is out and which specs..

agreed!

 

and duh! if caster was ZERO, it wouldn't be affected, but I think it would still be less significant. lets see the spec sheet!

 

 

Yeah, but our cars have some caster stock, so it changes with ride height...

 

Imagine how far off my 84 TA was on caster spec when I lowered it 4 inches :willynilly: They run a shitload of caster as it is

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I will get the spec sheet as soon as I can, I told them to hold off on the work and I am going to talk to another place tomorrow to see if I can get a better deal.

 

Can an out of wack alignment cause a vibration? Ever since the springs and balljoints went on, I am getting a vibration sometimes when taking off from a stop, starting around 7-8mph and ending around 20mph. It's not too violent but very noticeable.

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FWIW, when I put the coil overs on my car it was lowered 2 inches for the alignment, they had no problem getting the front into factory spec, and didn't have to touch the rear alignment at all (I'm just that good).

 

Jamie

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FWIW, when I put the coil overs on my car it was lowered 2 inches for the alignment, they had no problem getting the front into factory spec, and didn't have to touch the rear alignment at all (I'm just that good).

 

Jamie

Same here, I had my car aligned after I had the intrax springs installed and they had no problem aligning it, and they didnt have to drill anything

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Here is the sheet. Talked to another shop (a seemingly better one) and he asked for $350 to take care of all this. This includes parts (adjustable camber bolts, see numbers in sheet) for the rear and for slotting out the front plate.

 

alignment.jpg

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Well does that left front camber look like too much to adjust, it has to be drilled in order to make it that far? Or can you even adjust camber on these cars?

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I remember when I got mine done, they said it took a lot of pounding to get my rear toe's back into spec. Although, they couldnt get my front passenger wheel into spec. They wanted another 80 bucks to do another alingment. I said no. I went back 2 weeks later saying my alignment was out. They fixed it for free. (Warrenty on the first alignment) :lol:

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Well the car got aligned yesterday, for $310 total after tax. I can tell a huge difference just by looking at the car, you could see how bad it was out of alignment before. It also drives a lot different, feels like it rolls easier (because before it was toed in so far it tore up the tires). I still have some vibration in the front when accelerating from low speeds though...

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