Alignment

[tbm3fan]

Since having replaced the front end steering components and ball joints I knew I would have to get an alignment. Don't have a lot of free days to do it on so need to plan ahead for this. Called the place where I had gotten tires for three cars, with very good prices, to check it out. Told it was best to call at the beginning of the week to get the first time of 8am on Saturday.

So call this past Tuesday morning to schedule the Dodge and then the wife's Sable with a new suspension. We arrive at 7:55am which is not something I prefer doing on a Saturday morning but it is for a good reason. They are going to take the Sable first and after that the Dodge. I hand them the specs I want for the Dodge and it is stapled to the work order. Wife sits down and I go out to stand by the car parked off to the side so no one can get near it. Two older fellows did walk up and ask what year it was and talk about their Mopars. One a GTX and the other a Charger.

My wife's car done and they mention drilling out the welds at the top for some caster adjustment. Tell them that is not going to happen as we are close enough. My car goes back and eventually comes out and the fellow who moved it back goes my car did really well. Shows me the sheet and I immediately see green in the camber column and half the caster I asked for. The car was set to old factory specs which I said not to. Takes the car back and then back out front again.

I go in and ask what is going on. Counter guy says that there are two other cars ahead now so I would have to wait especially since I didn't have an appointment. WTF! Told him this car was scheduled Tuesday am first and then the Sable. Tell him they can either put it ahead and finish correctly or tear up the work order and I am out of here. He then tells me people do make mistakes. Really? What happens if I have to dig out a foreign body from your eye and start on the wrong eye? Oops, sorry? Blank look at me and I say I thought so and on top of it I get sued.

So work order torn up, pay me wife's and leave. The ironic thing is they have a very good reputation but they fell down here. On top of that they know I have a lot of cars and one they did an estimate for new tires this summer. Tires they will not be doing. So head home to sit down and eat my breakfast at 11am.

 

[commando1]

You couldn't have told me this tale at a worse time. Thanks.

 

['69FuryIIIConvertible]

My shop has an Alignment Rack, that's my bay for the most part, I don't mind SSB, Simple work. Follow the specs and dial it in, some vehicles do like to complicate things, especially here in the rust belt, oxy acetylene can be my best friend. Still a job should be complete as per specifications (either factory/OE or substituted) and shouldn't take more than once, if it does there's something else going on.



Nick

 

[1978 NYB]

Nice shop Nick!

 

['69FuryIIIConvertible]

Nice shop Nick!

It's not huge but there's 3 of us and 3 bays, so it works well. I do my best keep it clean and organized between jobs.



Nick

 

[1978 NYB]

With your motivation.........I can see you in your own shop in the future.

 

[BillGrissom]

I started doing alignments myself, since I was never assured what a shop was doing for big money. On my old Mopars I go for as much caster as I can (aft UCA all way in, fwd UCA all way out), then tweak the aft adjuster to get the camber close. With radial tires, we need all the caster we can get, not factory spec. If changing bushings, look for Moog offset bushings to help, which exist at least for my A-bodies. I like the wheels to lean in slightly at the top, vs the factory spec which had them slightly leaning out (+ camber) and looks stupid to me. Toe-in is the most important adjustment and not hard to set using a tape measure across the tires, fwd should be ~1/16" less than aft or ~1/8" if your steering linkage has slight play. Toe-in changes with ride height, which varies over time as torsion bars sag or weight on the front end changes, so something you should check every ~5 years if you want your tires to last.

 

[polara71]

That happens all to often and they usually get away with it. Good shops are hard to find. Even with a good reputation, the age of a car seems to throw them off their game

 

[commando1]

I started doing alignments myself, since I was never assured what a shop was doing for big money.

The day will be coming where I'll need your phone # and I'll have you on speaker phone and you lead me step by step...
Absolutely no one down here is trustworthy or capable beyond a toe-in/out adustment.

 

[tbm3fan]

I started doing alignments myself, since I was never assured what a shop was doing for big money. On my old Mopars I go for as much caster as I can (aft UCA all way in, fwd UCA all way out), then tweak the aft adjuster to get the camber close. With radial tires, we need all the caster we can get, not factory spec. If changing bushings, look for Moog offset bushings to help, which exist at least for my A-bodies. I like the wheels to lean in slightly at the top, vs the factory spec which had them slightly leaning out (+ camber) and looks stupid to me. Toe-in is the most important adjustment and not hard to set using a tape measure across the tires, fwd should be ~1/16" less than aft or ~1/8" if your steering linkage has slight play. Toe-in changes with ride height, which varies over time as torsion bars sag or weight on the front end changes, so something you should check every ~5 years if you want your tires to last.

That is pretty much what I gave them. New suspension so I wanted 1/16" toe in, minimum of -0.25 camber to max of -0.50, and caster at minimum +1.5 to 2.0 if possible.

The tech only got the toe-in, gave me positive camber and only +0.08 caster and wasn't paying attention to what was on the work order.

 

[tbm3fan]

Took the car into another shop I have used for tires in the past. Closer to home helps. Arrived at 11:45 AM, checked in, gave the technician the specs I wanted, and 10 minutes later the car is on the rack. The car was on the rack for 2:20 hours. That tells me it is tough going. The tech achieved +1.6 caster both sides, 0.00 camber both sides and that took some doing, and the toe-in was at 0.6 or 1/16. I'll need a camber kit in order to get - camber and it is on order. Nonetheless, the car now wants to track straight on level highway without constant steering input to keep it straight. In fact all I needed to do was rest my hands on the wheel and leave it at that. The final cost was $90.00 which was the deal of the day.

 

[polara71]

Finally some good news ..........

 

[commando1]

It's pathetic that it's literally Mission Impossibe to just go to a shop and get a damn alignment. A REAL alignment.