front end alignment & jackass mechanics...

I hear that!!!

besides, i leave that to the service writers...

 

I have to agree that SOME mechanics are liars so are some plumbers,electricians,roofers etc,etc. but dont say that all mechanics suck and lie to customers. we are a specialty shop,and most people come to us after the quickie shop couldnt align their vehicle properly.most of the customers wont tell you that they have had a problem,they expect you to figure it out yourself. we frequently hear"I've had it aligned 3 times,but it is still not right" they may have paid for 3 alignments, but sometimes the factory slugs were never removed from the upper control arm brackets,or the factory square washers are still in their ford upper control arm brackets.the first question is why do we charge $xxx to align the vehicle when quickie did it for $19. 95.quickie set your toe in and maybe centered your steering wheel if you were lucky. its sort of like going to earl sheib,if you want a $119. paint job thats fine,but dont expect a $2500. paint job for $119.

 

GOOD, FAST, CHEAP. Pick two because you can't get all three.

 

You need to supply no measurements...just finde someone that was trained thirty years ago and has been working at it since. If you have a manual or can hunt down the recommended toe in, camber and caster than great!

I would suggest going to your local "old man"cruise, and trawl for names and take in the learning experience... then research who is doing the alignment.... I was fortunate enough in my area to know of the shop that does most of the repair/brake/alignment/engine work for the men with more money than time in my area. Took my chevy in, put it up on the rack and let him go for it... one of the best educations and experiences I could ask for. Besides the look on his face as he revved my car to get it up on the rack was worth it all.

It helped that the gent's been a rodder since the 40's but he didn't need my stinking book and even with my Chevy riding a 1/2 " from the bumpstops he got everything right where it needed to be. He mentioned because it was lowered, he would get it as close as he could but ended up getting the Caster/ Camber/ Toe in dead on and adjusted for the slop I have in the steering arm... there is no substitute for experience, so look around.


If you're interested and patient, I have an article from an old Street Rodder about doing the alignment yourself. PM me if interested.

Mark-ANthony

 

Definitely interested! Message sent & thank you to all who replied with useful information.

Jeff

 

I got lucky and found a young guy at a shop here in Dover, DE, that was trained right! It's a family owned shop, and the kids old man and grandpa taught him the ropes.

One thing about the production type shops -- they rely on the computerized equipment to get cars in and out fast. Can't blame them really. I have factory service manuals for my 63 Rambler, and haven't done any radical lowering (just an inch in front). The rear is a different story -- Jag axle -- but not a problem. Anything that is out of the range of the computerized equipment takes more time. If it's close to factory like mine, they can type in the specs and get it done. If it's altered very much the factory specs aren't much good. The best thing to do is ask local rodders who to go to, then expect to pay a bit morethan a normal alignment job. It doesn't hurt to tell the shop up front that you expect to pay a bit more. If you've made a lot of mods, they have to set it to what they think is right, put weight on the tires, check everything, then make corrections -- sometimes 2-3 times to get it within specs. Most cars can't be set directly on the specs for one reason or another. If they can get close it should be fine.

I took my car to the local Firestone Service Center before finding the "good" shop. I asked for as much camber as they could get. One side was set to 2*, the other 3*!! They told me it might pull a bit, but I got what I wanted!! Now what real technician would do such a thing?? I didn't think I'd have to explain that both sides should be the SAME!!! I took my wife's car to the same place for a simple oil change later. How can you mess that up? Well, they didn't really, just charged me extra! They (supposedly) put synthetic blend oil in instead of the standard oil and charged me $15 extra. I didn't ask for it, and they didn't say anything about it. I should have argued with them, but instead looked at the bill, paid it, and decided I'd never take anything back!!

 

The last time I went to an alignment (really a tire) shop was with my old '87 Celebrity. The guy said I needed an outer tie rod. Since it was about 20 degrees in my garage I told him to go ahead. The car steered straight as an arrow, afterwards. Unfortunately when you tried to turn there was a "catch" in the action like a tie rod that hits something. It turned out that the guy wrenched off the tie rod without holding the rack on the R&P steering. He had cracked one of the teeth. He said it wasn't his fault! My garage temp was up to above 40 by then so I learned how to replace the R&P! I did the toe-in alignment myself. The car never handled better!

 

Any alignment guy worth his weight should be able to GUESS logically. About a degree or so positive caster (for stability, and so the steering wheel returns to neutral after a turn), somewhere near zero camber for tire wear, and about an 1/8 inch toe in to theoretically have wheels straight after forward motion takes up the slack in your suspension components. I repeat, this would/could be ballpark for almost any car of that era if no info was available. You WON'T get hurt with these settings in a pinch.