WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
Has anyone done there own front end alignment and have it drive nice?
FRONT END ALIGNMENT
- Thread starter WAYNE0
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WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
The closest alignment shop near me is pertty far away. Just want to get so i can drive it without being squarly
WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
The closest alignment shop near me is pertty far away. Just want to get so i can drive it without being squarly
WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
The closest alignment shop near me is pertty far away. Just want to get so i can drive it without being squarly
Yes, I do all my own alignments and my cars drive well. It does take some practice. And some special equipment, I use a Fastraxx caster/camber gauge, a set of turn plates and toe plates.
WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
thats awesome but i would think it would be cheeper to have it toed to a shop than buy all that for a one time use
Depends on the shop. Most large chain alignment shops won’t even do an alignment on my car because of the aftermarket control arms and modified parts on my car. If they will, they will usually only set the factory alignment, which should NEVER be used with radial tires.
Custom alignments cost quite a bit more money, and a Fastraxx gauge and a set of used turn plates can be picked up for decent prices.
Plus, alignments are not a thing you set once and never again. If you change the ride height, add a new suspension component, or even clobber a pothole you need to at least have the alignment checked.
With all the aftermarket components on my car and the alignment specs I use it makes more sense to do my own.
I took off my front fenders and aligned my car with a digital angle finder and a tape measure with specs from a alignment chart for radial tires. is it perfect probably not but it drives well and there is no uneven wear on the tires.
WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
all my front parts are original style The seam pertty straight with the steering wheel. I would say if any thing the bottom of the wheels look in a bit.
autoxcuda
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Shops are not going to Toe it and not do the Caster/Camber. They do it all or nothing. One price.
I started doing alignments back in 1973. I still do my own . Watch some You Tube videos to get the basics.
You don't need much in the way of special equipment. Ball park with a bubble gauge for caster and camber + or - and you will be fine.Toe can be set with a tape measure. A helper makes it easier.
You did not say if the car is a driver or not,if it is basic specs is all you need. Remember to adjust caster/camber first and Toe last.BUT if you are still un-sure do some research for a shop that knows older cars.
Computer run new equipment may not have old car specs.
They can be overridden IF the tech knows his stuff and older cars.
You don't need much in the way of special equipment. Ball park with a bubble gauge for caster and camber + or - and you will be fine.Toe can be set with a tape measure. A helper makes it easier.
You did not say if the car is a driver or not,if it is basic specs is all you need. Remember to adjust caster/camber first and Toe last.BUT if you are still un-sure do some research for a shop that knows older cars.
Computer run new equipment may not have old car specs.
They can be overridden IF the tech knows his stuff and older cars.
I have to say that since I don't have access to an alignment rack no more and have had no choice but to farm mine out I have had results that are nothing short of maddening. Most recent is my 12 truck, had it aligned, had to pay extra because shop owner claimed cam bolts were frozen and he had difficulty getting them to turn, so he stuck it to me for extra time. I then went and spent $600 on a PAIR of 70k rated Michelins. I hadn't spent $600 on any SET ((yeah all4) of tires before and I've bought Michelin before too. But with today's times and this being the first vehicle I've ever had with 17"rubber but that $600 pair of tires was worn damneer into the cords on the inner most rib, (from edge to first groove) and like new the rest of the tread. I rotated them to the back and didn't get to 20k and they were gone
At about 1/2 of the 13k miles they spent on the front, I got a nail in one. I took it in and had it patched and switched sides with them. I was noticing the tread wear then. I didn't want to put them on the back because I had Cooper all terrain ones out back and I wasn't wanting highway tread out back with AT's on the front. But for the last 6-7 k miles I had no choice before I re replaced all 4.
My last alignment debacle was on my wife's Durango.
I had replaced some front end parts and the first place I went to try and get an alignment was the last place I worked as their alignment guy. The business had changed hands after 70 some years, but some of the same people were still there. I went and asked the salesman behind the counter who'd been there 35+ years and stayed on with the new owners. I mentioned that my Durango has a "slip shaft" style adjustment on camber and caster and he replied that he didn't think that the alignment guy he had there had ever done a slip shaft. When I was there (94-05) our other alignment guy could never get those right and I ended up having to do all of the cars and trucks that came in with that setup. I got sent to another shop down the street. When I left there it drove worse than it had when I took it in, and I had guessed at where to bolt down the control arms when I put them back in here at home. I took it back, and no improvement.
I ended up having to take it in to another shop and pay for a second alignment to get it done right.
At about 1/2 of the 13k miles they spent on the front, I got a nail in one. I took it in and had it patched and switched sides with them. I was noticing the tread wear then. I didn't want to put them on the back because I had Cooper all terrain ones out back and I wasn't wanting highway tread out back with AT's on the front. But for the last 6-7 k miles I had no choice before I re replaced all 4.
My last alignment debacle was on my wife's Durango.
I had replaced some front end parts and the first place I went to try and get an alignment was the last place I worked as their alignment guy. The business had changed hands after 70 some years, but some of the same people were still there. I went and asked the salesman behind the counter who'd been there 35+ years and stayed on with the new owners. I mentioned that my Durango has a "slip shaft" style adjustment on camber and caster and he replied that he didn't think that the alignment guy he had there had ever done a slip shaft. When I was there (94-05) our other alignment guy could never get those right and I ended up having to do all of the cars and trucks that came in with that setup. I got sent to another shop down the street. When I left there it drove worse than it had when I took it in, and I had guessed at where to bolt down the control arms when I put them back in here at home. I took it back, and no improvement.
I ended up having to take it in to another shop and pay for a second alignment to get it done right.
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I do my own alignments also. If your expectations are reasonably low or just want it good enough to get to an alignment shop or don't mind a little tire wear indication to adjust later, you can get by with the use of ramps, two jack stands, string, a tape measure for toe, a $10 digital protractor, and a level area. If it is off, tire wear, steering wheel not centered, and pulling to one side or the other will let you know. Two plywood panels with grease sandwiched between them work ok for turn plates to reduce tire friction when checking caster and the same amount of steering wheel turns for each side. There much better tools out there to make the job easier.
I cut and pasted the early Dodge specs with standard suspension and ride height. When ride height is a factor and the wheels and tires are not standard diameter, most shops won't touch it for liability reasons. If they will perform the alignment, request a print out of the before and after adjustment.
I cut and pasted the early Dodge specs with standard suspension and ride height. When ride height is a factor and the wheels and tires are not standard diameter, most shops won't touch it for liability reasons. If they will perform the alignment, request a print out of the before and after adjustment.
I have another alignment story. Not good either.
Back when I bought the 99 Dakota I used to have, it came with a pile of receipts from the last 50k miles and like 17 years of the trucks life.
The reason that truck came available for sale was that the PO was 84 to and had his driver's license taken away because of health issues.
He had a "go to" shop that he apparently told them "fix it"(whatever "it" was) and wrote a check for whatever they asked him to.
Given the history of that truck while I had it and seeing some of their work, if I wasn't 100+ miles away I'd have been inclined to walk in and sucker punch the first employee of that business that I encountered right in the face as bad as they had screwed this poor guy over the years.
Pertaining to the alignment, that service was in a couple of the most recent bills I had on the truck.
In 2 consecutive months he had taken it there for alignment. Less than 300 miles between transactions.
And the last only 1200 miles before I got the truck.
On the first bill it said he complained about it "pulled left". They "aligned" it (supposedly, they charged him for it) in July of that year. Then in August he took it back again for another alignment. They charged him again.
1200 miles later I bought the truck. In between a relative had had the truck for a couple of months. I had gone 80-some miles from home to look at it. Well I'm the way home I had a hell of a time trying to keep it from dragging me right into the ditch. Once I had gotten it home I checked the whole truck out a little deeper than I could in the street in front of the seller's house and the short test drive I made with it while there.
I discovered 3 of the 4 ball joints ready to fall out. They were very bad. The 97-04 Dakota and Durango were notorious for this back when they came out. How in bloody hell could they even attempt to align it with 3 sloppy ball joints? I don't mean slightly loose ... So I replaced the ball joints and took it in to the guy who more recently aligned my 12 ram 1500 that is currently eating tires... He had done a great job on that Dakota.
He was also the 2nd shop to align my 96 Dakota and corrected an alignment gone bad from another place I had taken that truck.
So I took my '12 to him first this time. And he did me wrong. I wish I could get him to make it right and pay for those expensive Michelins that got scrubbed off after he last aligned it but I know that won't happen.
I occasionally see alignment racks for sale on market plans CL, this crap makes me wish I had enough garage space to buy my own
And this is exactly why I refuse to pay to have anybody work on my cars but me unless I absolutely have to. Every time I pay to have something done I end up pissed off
Back when I bought the 99 Dakota I used to have, it came with a pile of receipts from the last 50k miles and like 17 years of the trucks life.
The reason that truck came available for sale was that the PO was 84 to and had his driver's license taken away because of health issues.
He had a "go to" shop that he apparently told them "fix it"(whatever "it" was) and wrote a check for whatever they asked him to.
Given the history of that truck while I had it and seeing some of their work, if I wasn't 100+ miles away I'd have been inclined to walk in and sucker punch the first employee of that business that I encountered right in the face as bad as they had screwed this poor guy over the years.
Pertaining to the alignment, that service was in a couple of the most recent bills I had on the truck.
In 2 consecutive months he had taken it there for alignment. Less than 300 miles between transactions.
And the last only 1200 miles before I got the truck.
On the first bill it said he complained about it "pulled left". They "aligned" it (supposedly, they charged him for it) in July of that year. Then in August he took it back again for another alignment. They charged him again.
1200 miles later I bought the truck. In between a relative had had the truck for a couple of months. I had gone 80-some miles from home to look at it. Well I'm the way home I had a hell of a time trying to keep it from dragging me right into the ditch. Once I had gotten it home I checked the whole truck out a little deeper than I could in the street in front of the seller's house and the short test drive I made with it while there.
I discovered 3 of the 4 ball joints ready to fall out. They were very bad. The 97-04 Dakota and Durango were notorious for this back when they came out. How in bloody hell could they even attempt to align it with 3 sloppy ball joints? I don't mean slightly loose ... So I replaced the ball joints and took it in to the guy who more recently aligned my 12 ram 1500 that is currently eating tires... He had done a great job on that Dakota.
He was also the 2nd shop to align my 96 Dakota and corrected an alignment gone bad from another place I had taken that truck.
So I took my '12 to him first this time. And he did me wrong. I wish I could get him to make it right and pay for those expensive Michelins that got scrubbed off after he last aligned it but I know that won't happen.
I occasionally see alignment racks for sale on market plans CL, this crap makes me wish I had enough garage space to buy my own
And this is exactly why I refuse to pay to have anybody work on my cars but me unless I absolutely have to. Every time I pay to have something done I end up pissed off
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I still do a lot of suspension work at my job as a fleet mechanic for the state of IL, but we have to farm out all alignment work. And the ones that are fully adjustable but the alignment guys only do toe and go's on, blows my mind. Even when they send a printout, and camber and caster is horrible, the only thing different "after" than "before" is the toe setting..,..
I hate when people stand over me and tell me how to do my job. When I first left the (last) place I did alignment, they used to let me do my own even though I didn't work there no more.
After that I would insist to be right there and watch the guy do the work and more than once I'd say "pull the front of that control arm out another 1/8" or crank that right side tie rod sleeve another 1/4 turn", I couldn't resist.
But now that I actually have a bankers hours job (7-3:30, M-F) I have to drop my vehicle off and can't be there while it's being done. You're seeing those results above. I guess I'm just going to have to take off a sick day any time I need an alignment so I can be right there while it's being done.
I've taken a vehicle in exactly twice to quick lubes over the years. On the first was a diplomat ex cop car. It was cold out and I didn't feel like laying on cold concrete to change oil. So I took it in.
They wanted to sell me an air filter when I had just replaced the one that they wanted to chuck in the can, like 2 weeks before. And I seen them grease only the 2 outer tie rod ends. I asked if they were gonna grease all 4 ball joints. The guy went back under and only greased those. Then I asked about the inner tie rods. They greased those. I asked about the idler and pitman arms and had to go point those out as the kid didn't know what they even were. And then the kicker I had to ask them AGAIN to grease the u joints and was told those don't have fittings. I said THESE do. He couldn't believe it.
The next time was.moms intrepid, when she was in the hospital and I was in my way to see her. And no that car doesn't have as many grease fittings on it as my diplomat did, but I still didn't appreciate them wanting to put the smallest filter in that would screw on, (not what the Car called for) and the parts it didn't need they tried to sell me. I'm a mechanic FOR A LIVING for God's sake, you don't think I stay up with such needs? C'mon now and why I do my own work any time my vehicles need anything.
After that I would insist to be right there and watch the guy do the work and more than once I'd say "pull the front of that control arm out another 1/8" or crank that right side tie rod sleeve another 1/4 turn", I couldn't resist.
But now that I actually have a bankers hours job (7-3:30, M-F) I have to drop my vehicle off and can't be there while it's being done. You're seeing those results above. I guess I'm just going to have to take off a sick day any time I need an alignment so I can be right there while it's being done.
I've taken a vehicle in exactly twice to quick lubes over the years. On the first was a diplomat ex cop car. It was cold out and I didn't feel like laying on cold concrete to change oil. So I took it in.
They wanted to sell me an air filter when I had just replaced the one that they wanted to chuck in the can, like 2 weeks before. And I seen them grease only the 2 outer tie rod ends. I asked if they were gonna grease all 4 ball joints. The guy went back under and only greased those. Then I asked about the inner tie rods. They greased those. I asked about the idler and pitman arms and had to go point those out as the kid didn't know what they even were. And then the kicker I had to ask them AGAIN to grease the u joints and was told those don't have fittings. I said THESE do. He couldn't believe it.
The next time was.moms intrepid, when she was in the hospital and I was in my way to see her. And no that car doesn't have as many grease fittings on it as my diplomat did, but I still didn't appreciate them wanting to put the smallest filter in that would screw on, (not what the Car called for) and the parts it didn't need they tried to sell me. I'm a mechanic FOR A LIVING for God's sake, you don't think I stay up with such needs? C'mon now and why I do my own work any time my vehicles need anything.
It's all about money now. I was a mechanic ( technician) at a government fleet (medium and heavy trucks) and was told all the time by the higher ups that they could get repairs done cheaper by dealers. Fortunately most of the dealers for the mounted equipment were hours away. Usually had to repair the repair done by outside people because of poor quality work or not inspecting related parts. "Time is money" is all they know now.
Yup. I know that feeling. There's an international truck place about an hour away that it never fails... We take a truck there, and without fail it leaves us on the side of the road on its maiden voyage back to the IDOT yard I'm out of ... They have locations in opposite directions another hour from the bad one that we've taken trucks to with better, but still unacceptable results.
There's a state mental health facility about 40 minutes away that sends me lots of work. Their employees/drivers are pure savages.
THAT'S a story for later in itself.
They sometimes take a vehicle to a local shop that's like 5 minutes away which sometimes makes sense as an hour and 1/2 to drive to me and back, plus however long it takes me to do what's needed, for a small quick job//or something that needs a tow, as often the cost of a tow exceeded the cost of the repair.
Often they can limp something those few miles by driving but can't make 32 miles to me without a tow. Towing ain't cheap either.
The supervisor and I both have to initial the bill from any shop or parts invoice for work done in house, , before it is submitted downstate for payment. So I see what they charge for every job they do for us.
The prices they charge, are obscene.
$80 to put a VAT40 on a battery for test.
A simple battery swap is rarely below $300 from this place.
I just got a Ford E350 shuttle bus in my bay that this shop charged the state $12 GRAND (yeah you read that right) to put a jasper engine into. This is a 5.4 Ford. 8 months ago, 7k miles ago.
Missing on 3 cylinders. One was a bad spark plug boot on a coil. The other 2 were weak coils.
So I just put a set of 8 ignition coils on it 2 days ago. You telling me they couldn't have included those in the replacement, without charging more for them? Especially when the engine was out! What a pain to work on the top of an engine in a Ford van chassis.... And I pulled the spark plug out of the first of those cylinders that was showing misfire, and I had to get my 2 foot long 3/8 ratchet on that plug to break it loose... Ridiculous again. I told the boos they should have taken it straight back to the place that did the engine. As it was 8 coils for that engine cost us about $275 plus my time to check it out, pull the doghouse and do the work. I bet this shyster place would have charged us $1200 to $1500 to do the job. That THEY should have done better to begin with.
There's a state mental health facility about 40 minutes away that sends me lots of work. Their employees/drivers are pure savages.
THAT'S a story for later in itself.
They sometimes take a vehicle to a local shop that's like 5 minutes away which sometimes makes sense as an hour and 1/2 to drive to me and back, plus however long it takes me to do what's needed, for a small quick job//or something that needs a tow, as often the cost of a tow exceeded the cost of the repair.
Often they can limp something those few miles by driving but can't make 32 miles to me without a tow. Towing ain't cheap either.
The supervisor and I both have to initial the bill from any shop or parts invoice for work done in house, , before it is submitted downstate for payment. So I see what they charge for every job they do for us.
The prices they charge, are obscene.
$80 to put a VAT40 on a battery for test.
A simple battery swap is rarely below $300 from this place.
I just got a Ford E350 shuttle bus in my bay that this shop charged the state $12 GRAND (yeah you read that right) to put a jasper engine into. This is a 5.4 Ford. 8 months ago, 7k miles ago.
Missing on 3 cylinders. One was a bad spark plug boot on a coil. The other 2 were weak coils.
So I just put a set of 8 ignition coils on it 2 days ago. You telling me they couldn't have included those in the replacement, without charging more for them? Especially when the engine was out! What a pain to work on the top of an engine in a Ford van chassis.... And I pulled the spark plug out of the first of those cylinders that was showing misfire, and I had to get my 2 foot long 3/8 ratchet on that plug to break it loose... Ridiculous again. I told the boos they should have taken it straight back to the place that did the engine. As it was 8 coils for that engine cost us about $275 plus my time to check it out, pull the doghouse and do the work. I bet this shyster place would have charged us $1200 to $1500 to do the job. That THEY should have done better to begin with.
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I worked for my ex-wife's family business. Her brothers were know-it-alls. Same as you stated they had the better idea when it came to maintenance. We had a large fleet of cars/trucks and forklifts. I was in charge of maintenance.Fleet/building etc.But had no say so when it came to expenses.
We will talk only about the sales men's cars. Brother Bob said lets have the sales men handle having the company cars serviced with a monthly allotment for the cost. This went on for a year. One guy put 30K miles on his and never changed the oil.Others drove till the brake rotors were so worn that they fell into pieces.one guy pulled into the yard and had no rear tire at all. Said he didn't noticed anything...Many sales calls were missed because of their cars being in the shop somewhere. I can go on and on.
At a meeting I said "You guys are the only people I know that will spend 5 bucks to save 5 cents...."
I worked for a truck driver training school ( semi) before working for a local gov. fleet. I would tell people I thought I'd seen everything at the school until I went to the gov. There is a difference between amateurs and professionals.
WAYNE0
Well-Known Member
no biggie happen to the best of us lolWayneo, Sorry for getting off track.Happens round here often.
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