alignment shops, wtf?

[Toahk]

I went a few weeks ago to get an alignment, searching around for the best deal. I went to 3 places, one was a local mom and pop garage. The owner was tryning to convince me that my car was FWD, he wouldn't believe me that it was rwd, I could not convince him, and told him to go look at the engine if he wants, but I just left, because they wanted $68 bucks. Then I went to a second place which again told me I needed a 4 wheel alignment because my car is FWD, they wanted $50 so I left too. Then the third place said I needed 4 wheel because its FWD, but it was $29 bucks so I just told them to pull it up and do it, they found out it was RWD and said nothing. But 29 bucks for an alignment isnt bad imo, beats the $68 in town. :rant2:

[citizen]

full alignment for 29 bucks? whereabouts is this?

[nismo skyline]

i paid 40 for my 4 wheel alignment, those ass hats didnt wanna add any negative camber. said it causes premature tire wear like i give a chit.

[Heartwork]

why was it so hard to tell them to look at your driveshaft and diff?

[mike13]

for 29$ they probably made a small adjustment to your front toe and sent you on your way.
I got a *FREE* alignment last week, my brothers friend who works at an Audi dealership spent 3 hours dialing it in to my specifications. -I gave him a $100 tip. (one hundred dollars)

Dont be cheap. Alignment is the most important aspect of your suspension setup, and affects handling more than anything.

[mike13]

and also, YOU DO need a 4 wheel alignment, FWD or not.

[Toahk]

Dont be cheap? wtf. Im a student, thats my life. My car drives straight down the road when I let go of the wheel, thats all I ask for. BTW I got an alignment because I put a new PS rack + outer tie rods in, and I had major toe problems, and the 35 mile drive there made both my tires feather the outer tread.

[andrave]

you do need a 4 wheel. but there isn't too much adjustable on our cars anyway. When I had my fastback with front lip and it was lowered, no one around here would align it. they all said it didn't clear their racks. it wasn't ever that low I don't know wtf was up with that, I took it to like 5 shops.

[mike13]

Dont be cheap? wtf. Im a student, thats my life. My car drives straight down the road when I let go of the wheel, thats all I ask for. BTW I got an alignment because I put a new PS rack + outer tie rods in, and I had major toe problems, and the 35 mile drive there made both my tires feather the outer tread.

Wow, hardcore drifter indeed. :jerkit:

[sykikchimp]

Wow, hardcore drifter indeed. :jerkit:

don't be a dick..

[Toahk]

Wow, hardcore drifter indeed. :jerkit:


Yeah dude, your cool now. :ghey:

[alkemyst]

I got told after 2 alignments they already did that I needed a set of camber bolts at $50 a wheel :)...I told them they already aligned this car within spec without them....long story short I had to get it aligned elsewhere as they weren't budging.

If they are lying to people like us that do their own work, I'd hate to imagine little old ladies and school girls.

[mike13]

I got told after 2 alignments they already did that I needed a set of camber bolts at $50 a wheel :)...I told them they already aligned this car within spec without them....long story short I had to get it aligned elsewhere as they weren't budging.

If they are lying to people like us that do their own work, I'd hate to imagine little old ladies and school girls.
industry phrase: "toe and go"
i'm sure you can figure that one out.

[theronin]

i had a place tell me that there was no way to adjust camber in the front of my car to dial in the neg camber i wanted... i had just installed my HE's earlier that day. fvckin morons

[old_s13]

why take it to a place where the guys dont understand WHAT you want and what type of customer you are?

its like going to jiffy lube asking them to install brembos.

guys.. if you want specialized services find reputable shops to do your work, not places that argue with you telling YOU that YOUR car is fucking FWD.

Jesus, i'de be out of that place without even turning off my car. wake up people.

[CleanS14]

I agree with Mike... why would you let these guys touch your car???

and then you have to deal with the old you get what you pay for thing... just *think* next time and I'm sure you won't be posting this kinda stuff hahaha

[ucfz31s13]

i'd pay $100 for a reputable alignment shop who knows what the eff they are doing any day of the week.

[ryan hagen]

our local nissan dealership has a mechanic with a nissan race truck, and he just got every thing to do "race alighments" he got the alighment stuff and and a set of scales. all of the stuff he got is portable to bring it to the track too. its not top of the line stuff with racks but it has these turn tables with some folding stuff on it, i guess its all made for lowered cars. he is pretty cool we go in and talk to him alot about the 240's

[russian]

while we on the topic, for road race/ autoX whats the ideal alignment for F/R?
-2?

[nokeone]

yeah, i pay $75 or so for an alignment each time...and i get to chill with the guy doing it and give him the exact specs i want on each aspect of the car...i watch the computer monitors and make sure everything is right where i want it...he's a super cool old timer who used to race cars and such..fun to talk to and i think he gets a kick out of doing "drift spec" alignments...he was laughing when i told him i wanted 8degrees of caster...lol..he was like, "uhhh are you sure?..ok, your call"..:D

more then worth the money i spend knowing it's exactly how i want it done by someone who knows what they are doing...

[theronin]

you guys know of any reputable allignment shops in sacramento? cause none of us here do.

[ucfz31s13]

he gets a kick out of doing "drift spec" alignments...he was laughing when i told him i wanted 8degrees of caster...lol..he was like, "uhhh are you sure?..ok, your call"..:D

haha...same here, they were like, "holy $hit!! you sure you want 8?"

they ended up dialing 7, but damn it sure puts a beating on the outside of the tires.

even after my first night of drifting car pulled just a tick and the wear was noticeable.

gotta pay to play though hehe :duh:

[nokeone]

i just run enough camber to counter any wear..or so i like to tell myself...lol...3 degrees...they dropped their jaws at that one too...plus the toe in at the rear and toe out in the front...they thought i was crazy...but they were more then happy to oblige and wanted me to come back and tell them my thoughts...:D

[Ranger_Man]

i'd pay $100 for a reputable alignment shop who knows what the eff they are doing any day of the week.

thats what i did. surprizingly enough the best alignment shop around here is a ford dealership out in the sticks. each time i show up with my service manual and a peice of paper with the specs i want and the guy goes at it and knows what hes doing. whats even better is that if he hasnt seen anything like what i have on my suspension, he comes and *asks* me, rather than just doing it how he thinks it should be done, or even just telling me he cant adjust whatever.

the thing i like about the place is that everyone there in the service department races cars of some kind, so they all know about suspensions.

paying more money for an alignment done by people who know what they are doing is worth more than any other mod ever. your suspension is what connects you to the road so do it right.

[Ricer240sx]

HAHAHAHAHA SUCKER!!!! i get my alignments for FREE!!!!! hahah, i guess it helps that i am going to school to become a mechanic and get to work in the shop 19 hours out of the week :D

still gotta do one on teh 240 though..................i guess i gotta get it running first though :(

[Dousan_PG]

i pay 90 bucks and they set it perfect to how i want
HIROS auto repair in COsta Mesa
but make an appointment about 4 days in advance or you wont get in

they are super cool

one time, Kazu Hayashida (D1GP japan driver for RS*R) even helped me set up my car (he was in the shop and gave some advice)

pretty cool!

[nokeone]

one time, Kazu Hayashida (D1GP japan driver for RS*R) even helped me set up my car (he was in the shop and gave some advice)

you lucky bastard!..lol..i expect a full detail of specs in my private message inbox by 0900 tomorrow morning!..

:p

[DuffMan]

Just do your own alignment. Its not hard and the equipment costs less than having a shop do it one time.

[JuJuBee]

haha, you guys are picky AND cheap

not a good combination!

[ryan hagen]

so what would be a good set up for my car? i dont drift, well i like to try to every now and then, but otherwise i plan to do a autocorss style event, and a couple drift events in minnesota, but other wise just alot of spritied driveing, i get my new wheels/tires friday or monday, 17*9 +15 fn01r-c and 245-40 front, 255-40 rear tires. i was thinking like 2 or 2.5 camber, and wasnt sure about toe and caster.