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why is it so hard...

SELLERSRODSHOP

SELLERSRODSHOP

Well-Known Member
to find a decent alignment shop close to home? out of five that are close & do alignments, two have tried to screw me in the past so they are out. one tried selling me balljoints on my truck. they had already loosened the upper arms,took the shims out & then proceeded to show me the slop in the wheel. to add insult to injury, after I caught the balljoint act, they tried to charge me an extra $90 to install new shims above the normal alignment cost. when I questioned that, they tried telling me the front was so far out, they had to install "special" shims to correct it. I blew a head gasket & they fixed the bill. not going back there...

the second shop was to align the mustang last summer after I rebuilt everything underneath. kept it almost a week then said they couldn't do it unless I bought a new steering box. WTF?

called the third today & was informed that they cant do anything older than 1974 due to not having specs on anything older. told the guy "no problem, I have my own specs I want it set at". he then told me he couldn't do that, they go by factory specs only. heck, just say up front if your guy isn't smart enough to do an older car....

the other two are goodyear, which i'm not a big fan of their service, & budget brakes which probably couldn't tell the front end of the car from the rear.

I know eventually i'll end up buying the stuff to do it myself, but don't have that kind of money in my "play fund" right now so was hoping to get it done one more time without having to drive 25-30 mi on these new tires to get it done. :rant
 
Geez, and here I have two very good alignment shops that are extremely well know to service anything from vintage Ferrari's to Mustangs to daily cars.

But will say that regardine one of them.....when then old man in the back kicks the bucket, we will lose an alignment god.
 
I have an alignment shop down the street from me that does alignments for $35.00. They also work on cars from the 1920's to expensive exotic cars. They are old school and say the new technology alignment racks aren't worth it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
I had the same problem near me Steve, tried NTB and they didn't even adjust the strut rods after I had put new bushings on years ago, heard of an old timer that supposedly did classics but when I called he had stopped doing them he said.

I plan to learn to do my own alignment for when my car is running so now would be a good time to learn. I was planning on getting the longacre CC gauge at least (soon if I can find one <$100) http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/prod ... ber_Gauges

and doing the toe tapes, tiles or wax paper with grease, etc. home stuff for the rest. If you have the time to learn together on your '69 maybe we can put this stuff together and I can supply the CC gauge?

I didn't have time to read it yet but check this home setup out:
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/sh ... ost1372973

I noticed the $40 one above only does up to 15" wheels which would be fine for me but not big enough for Steve's wheels. If I get one I'd rather have one that will work on most any size wheel just in case.

Jon

*EDIT: I may have found one not to far away for sale Steve if you're interested I'll get the CC gauge (I want one anyway) if they still have it.
 
I'm concerned about this too. The only old school guy retired early this year. Guess I'll have to learn to do it myself because all the others around here can barely rotate a tire.

Bill
 
Add me to the list of concerned people! It seems two important specialties in the automotive repair industry can be rife with crooks and hacks.....alignment and automatic transmissions. I'm really hoping that I have solved my problem for alignment when the coupe is ready. While doing a collision investigation at work several months back a young man involved didn't have the insurance paperwork for the truck he was driving. He told me the owner of the truck was on the way with it from just down the street. In pulls an elderly fellow in a tricked out '59 Impala (really NICE looking car!). After I finished up we started talking about his car. When he popped the hood I saw he had a 409 in it, which shocked him a little that I knew what it was. That got us on the subject of "old school" stuff. Tada! He runs his own alignment shop and does old cars... no problem! If he does as good at alignments as the work I saw, I'm all set!!

p.s. The young man worked for him and lo and behold, I find out he's a relative of my wife!!!
 
&quot;Jonk67&quot; said:
I had the same problem near me Steve, tried NTB and they didn't even adjust the strut rods after I had put new bushings on years ago, heard of an old timer that supposedly did classics but when I called he had stopped doing them he said.

I plan to learn to do my own alignment for when my car is running so now would be a good time to learn. I was planning on getting the longacre CC gauge at least (soon if I can find one <$100) http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/prod ... ber_Gauges

and doing the toe tapes, tiles or wax paper with grease, etc. home stuff for the rest. If you have the time to learn together on your '69 maybe we can put this stuff together and I can supply the CC gauge?

I didn't have time to read it yet but check this home setup out:
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/sh ... ost1372973

I noticed the $40 one above only does up to 15" wheels which would be fine for me but not big enough for Steve's wheels. If I get one I'd rather have one that will work on most any size wheel just in case.

Jon

*EDIT: I may have found one not to far away for sale Steve if you're interested I'll get the CC gauge (I want one anyway) if they still have it.
Click to expand...

we might have to have a "fabrication day" here soon. I think I can make a nice set of turn plates out of scrap way cheaper than the $500-$1000 that they sell for on ebay. saw one person on there that sells the replacement degree scale plates for those @ around $20. may have to fab up a special fixture for my wheels... 18" with no rim lip....
 
I've read a lot of people just use 2 pieces of vinyl floor tile with grease between them for the turn plates. I guess we could always use a perm. marker and use a larger tile on the bottom with the degrees scribed on it? Or I guess it wouldn't be that hard to make if we could find ball bearings in a cage that would hold up?

It looks like those instructions I linked were for no rim lip wheels? I really like the way he made his all in one for CC and toe to see how it affects any of the other settings at the same time.

I may drive out and get the gauge today, guy is also trying to sell me a set of scales but I don't think I can afford or use those for a while.
Jon
 
A folded-over plastic trash bag works great for turning the wheels for camber/caster checks.
 
So does 2 pcs of 1/8" Masonite with a little graphite powder between them!
 
Well I went ahead and picked it up for $85 (+~$15 in gas to get there/back), used but not bad with the case > $150 with case new.
DSCN2648_zps7dc456e0.jpg


DSCN2647_zps80c66329.jpg


There's a big bolt that holds the magnet on so if that won't work on your wheels Steve we could always fab some adapters from alum. stock like these:
Castercamberadapters_zps053b89e2.jpg


Castercambertoesetup_zps34519779.jpg


Jon
 
jon dropped off his fancy new device the other day & I did my first alignment today (I hope). :hide
it has a magnetic hub adapter, so took a little guesswork on what to fab up to attach it to my aluminum wheels. ended up popping the centercap out, cutting a disc out of 3/16" plate & making a spring clip to snap it into the wheel. worked like a charm!



used the specs listed on Opentracker's site & set the camber at -1deg. caster at +2.5deg. & set the total toe at 1/8" in (using a string method). biggest issues I had were with bolts that hadn't been turned in many yrs. will probably build a set of adjustable strut rods in the near future. after doing this myself, I can see how there can easily be some deflection & change in caster due to the flexibility of the stock rubber bushings. think I will also make some camber plates & do away with the eccentric setup. I marked the eccentrics/frame to see if there is any movement when I road test. had a heckuva time tightening these without any movement occurring. the car sitting so low didn't help matters, but got it eventually.

all in all, not a bad job to do at all once you have an understanding as to how things work & why.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
&quot;cmayna&quot; said:
You know I have one of those gauges if anyone needs to borrow one.
Click to expand...

He uses it to try and keep a level head.
It doesn't work. :roll
 
&quot;cmayna&quot; said:
Geez, and here I have two very good alignment shops that are extremely well know to service anything from vintage Ferrari's to Mustangs to daily cars.

But will say that regardine one of them.....when then old man in the back kicks the bucket, we will lose an alignment god.
Click to expand...

Could you please PM me the info for the two shops. I will be doing a Shelby drop soon.
 
Of the two these guys are good and much more reasonably priced.

Five Points Tire
2115 EL CAMINO REAL
REDWOOD CITY‎ CA‎ 94063
United States of America
(650) 365-0280
 
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