Wheel alignment for lowered cars
06-02-2010, 11:07 PM
#22
all depends on the manager incharge at the moment because some don't care and others won't even touch the car with a 1" drop which is nothing from what i've experienced.
06-02-2010, 11:18 PM
#23
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LMAO!! "Evasive" yeah kinda contradicting don't you think haha
eva·sive (ē vā′siv, i-)
adjective
1. tending or seeking to evade; not straightforward; tricky; equivocal
2. hard to catch, grasp, etc.; elusive
06-02-2010, 11:35 PM
#24
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When I got the lifetime alignment I was told by 3 separate Firestone managers that it doesn't matter if it's dropped or not but the newer machines might have a problem. Had no issue with S-techs on a newer machine. In fact, in the notes on my receipt I had them note that I'm lowered 2" (to be safe) and on 16" wheels. For $70 for all 4 wheels it's not bad or $160 for life which is good for those of us who will be back several times. I can see where some managers might be jerks but if you have them note it on the receipt you should be fine.
06-03-2010, 12:03 AM
#25
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just got charged $105 from Bear Wheel Alignment..
didn't know that adjusting camber cost so much...
the guy, Jorge, did everything by hand so that was awesome..but...105??
...i'm broke now
didn't know that adjusting camber cost so much...
the guy, Jorge, did everything by hand so that was awesome..but...105??
...i'm broke now
Last edited by night87; 06-03-2010 at 01:56 AM.
06-03-2010, 02:00 AM
#28
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s-techs are too too low for getting the car up the machine, i know because i've been doing alignments daily as in every week since february and did work on mine when i was on s-techs and now am on lower. to be honest Will you need to find out what is done to an alignment because your suggestions to others or going to a shop and asking for just the front to get worked on will give you around trip to an alignment shop or wear your tires like no other because you HAVE to do all 4 corners or the alignment work will be point. what they do is adjust the toe at all 4 corners to the factory specs which will be on the machine and the rear factory camber arms can be slightly adjusted if you want them to fix that if not then they can leave it at however negative it currently is at (yes the tc rear camber arms can be slightly adjusted but the front require the camber bolts) and fix the caster but that's another story on how it works and also make sure they readjust your steering wheel so it can be set centered and not to the sides before adjusting anything. if your not sure what the TOE is or how it works then please search it up and read up on it really well before you go throw your money away on something that could of been fixed in the first place, best thing to do is take 2 long 2x4's to the shop to be able to get the car up the ramp. last time i aligned my car the frame scraped on the ramp because i'm lowered 2.6" front and rear but i made it up and down the ramp which is something no shop would do but i have access to the machine so it's up to my risk of "damaging" my car as shops would say but being slammed you get used to scraping the frame on steep driveways.
just got an alignment but it was really ackward how i had -2 camber on my front driver side :/
the rears were on -4 so that's ok.
what i saw him do to the front was take off the 22mm bolt(?) that's holding the strut (it was only the top one he took off) and got a weird took and pulled it toward him.
and adjusting only that side cost an extra $35
06-06-2010, 03:32 AM
#31
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s-techs are too too low for getting the car up the machine, i know because i've been doing alignments daily as in every week since february and did work on mine when i was on s-techs and now am on lower. to be honest Will you need to find out what is done to an alignment because your suggestions to others or going to a shop and asking for just the front to get worked on will give you around trip to an alignment shop or wear your tires like no other because you HAVE to do all 4 corners or the alignment work will be point. what they do is adjust the toe at all 4 corners to the factory specs which will be on the machine and the rear factory camber arms can be slightly adjusted if you want them to fix that if not then they can leave it at however negative it currently is at (yes the tc rear camber arms can be slightly adjusted but the front require the camber bolts) and fix the caster but that's another story on how it works and also make sure they readjust your steering wheel so it can be set centered and not to the sides before adjusting anything. if your not sure what the TOE is or how it works then please search it up and read up on it really well before you go throw your money away on something that could of been fixed in the first place, best thing to do is take 2 long 2x4's to the shop to be able to get the car up the ramp. last time i aligned my car the frame scraped on the ramp because i'm lowered 2.6" front and rear but i made it up and down the ramp which is something no shop would do but i have access to the machine so it's up to my risk of "damaging" my car as shops would say but being slammed you get used to scraping the frame on steep driveways.
Toe is easilly brought back into spec... but the proper order would be:
1) Adjust camber first (camber adjustments cause toe changes). The rear actually has a good amount of adjustment. The front has no adjustment, however you can loosen the strut bolts and pull to get part of a degree out of them. Getting the fronts to -1.5 is more than ok on your tires for the street, especially if you rotate them like you should (every oil change). I ran -1.75 for a good year on mine. I now have camber plates, so I run -1.5 on the street and -2.75 for autox. Camber bolts will get you back into factory spec as well. You have completely over-lowered the car as far as good handling is concerned, so I assume all you care about is not shredding tires rather than it handling well (or you would not have lowered that far to begin with).
2) They then adjust the toe to compensate for the induced changes from changing camber settings. They should easilly be able to get this back into spec.
3) Caster is not adjustable on this car.
If the wheel was straight to start with and it pulls now, it is because the alignment is royally hosed right now. Dont drive it much at all until you get it corrected.
06-06-2010, 03:37 AM
#32
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nice nice
just got an alignment but it was really ackward how i had -2 camber on my front driver side :/
the rears were on -4 so that's ok.
what i saw him do to the front was take off the 22mm bolt(?) that's holding the strut (it was only the top one he took off) and got a weird took and pulled it toward him.
and adjusting only that side cost an extra $35
just got an alignment but it was really ackward how i had -2 camber on my front driver side :/
the rears were on -4 so that's ok.
what i saw him do to the front was take off the 22mm bolt(?) that's holding the strut (it was only the top one he took off) and got a weird took and pulled it toward him.
and adjusting only that side cost an extra $35
Please tell me you dont mean he left the top bolt out.. if so, go punch him in the face now and take your money back. He could have easilly gotten crash bolts (smaller diameter bolts for one hole) from toyota, off another car or bough camber bolts to correct. I am going to hope (Although you see all kinds of crap work these days) you dont mean he just removed one bolt, rigged up something and tightened the other.. and then actually charged you for screwing up the job.
And -4 in the rear is NO where near ok. -2 can be ok if you rotate the tires a lot, but -4 is going to be dead tires in no time. Again.. assuming you meant before the alignment and he got it way closer to spec than that.
06-06-2010, 04:03 AM
#33
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Please tell me you dont mean he left the top bolt out.. if so, go punch him in the face now and take your money back. He could have easilly gotten crash bolts (smaller diameter bolts for one hole) from toyota, off another car or bough camber bolts to correct. I am going to hope (Although you see all kinds of crap work these days) you dont mean he just removed one bolt, rigged up something and tightened the other.. and then actually charged you for screwing up the job.
And -4 in the rear is NO where near ok. -2 can be ok if you rotate the tires a lot, but -4 is going to be dead tires in no time. Again.. assuming you meant before the alignment and he got it way closer to spec than that.
And -4 in the rear is NO where near ok. -2 can be ok if you rotate the tires a lot, but -4 is going to be dead tires in no time. Again.. assuming you meant before the alignment and he got it way closer to spec than that.
well it's a good lesson that i now know hot to adjust the fronts.
and for the back, they are -4 and i do want to put them around -2. now how can i just do it w/o taking it to a shop
06-06-2010, 04:37 PM
#34
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Unless you have camber gauges, or take the time to level the car and use the proper measurement techniques, you wont get it set right on your own. (You can align the whole car in a garage with it leveled up properly, but if you dont know how to do it then you are better off taking it in).
Its not only BS what he did, it is down right messed up and I would be asking for my money, and strut bolts, back from him (factory strut bolts are about $30 - $40 for 2 of them from Toyota). And then make sure no one you know goes back there.
He should have:
1) Slotted the top holes so he had some adjustment room. But if he does the type of work you describe I would not trust him
2) Bought crash bolts
3) Used camber bolts. (About $20 for a set of Ingalls)
But running one bolt significantly raises the risk of failure (bad failure if the strut breaks loose) and will probably result in your camber setting slipping while driving. I honestly would not drive it that way at all. There is a reason there are 2 high grade, large bolts holding each strut.
Get some camber bolts and take it to another shop that will do it right.
My recommendation is to run down near -1 degree in the rear and about -1.5 in the front for better handling, but again, you have the car way past over-lowered as far as great handling is concerned.
And even if you change the camber yourself.. you then have to set the toe again since that is to be done after the camber is adjusted, not before. So unless you are willing to set up and do a full alignment yourself, just take it in.
Even here in the Twin Cities (shop work is expensive here as well) I pay $100 for a full alignment to any spec I want. I tweak the settings myself when I want, but I let him get it where I want for he starting point. It is worth the time it takes to do the home alignment myself
Its not only BS what he did, it is down right messed up and I would be asking for my money, and strut bolts, back from him (factory strut bolts are about $30 - $40 for 2 of them from Toyota). And then make sure no one you know goes back there.
He should have:
1) Slotted the top holes so he had some adjustment room. But if he does the type of work you describe I would not trust him
2) Bought crash bolts
3) Used camber bolts. (About $20 for a set of Ingalls)
But running one bolt significantly raises the risk of failure (bad failure if the strut breaks loose) and will probably result in your camber setting slipping while driving. I honestly would not drive it that way at all. There is a reason there are 2 high grade, large bolts holding each strut.
Get some camber bolts and take it to another shop that will do it right.
My recommendation is to run down near -1 degree in the rear and about -1.5 in the front for better handling, but again, you have the car way past over-lowered as far as great handling is concerned.
And even if you change the camber yourself.. you then have to set the toe again since that is to be done after the camber is adjusted, not before. So unless you are willing to set up and do a full alignment yourself, just take it in.
Even here in the Twin Cities (shop work is expensive here as well) I pay $100 for a full alignment to any spec I want. I tweak the settings myself when I want, but I let him get it where I want for he starting point. It is worth the time it takes to do the home alignment myself
06-26-2010, 01:09 AM
#38
Cyrus at JC Autohouse is truly a perfectionist!
"Good work is never cheap, cheap work is never good." is what it says on the back of his Hunter alignment machine.
I finally got a real alignment done today, my alignment settings were really off due to adjusting suspension components multiple times, messing with springs and ride height and my buddy trying to fix my toe. Also my steering wheel was off when driving straight.
BEFORE/AFTER
left front
-1.7/-2.2 camber
1.13/0.00 toe
right front
-0.9/-2.2 camber
0.13/0.00 toe
front
-0.8/0.0 cross caster
1.25/0.00 total toe
left rear
-1.5/-1.4 camber
0.07/0.15 toe
right rear
-1.4/-1.4 camber
0.20/0.15 toe
rear
0.27/0.30 total toe
-0.07/0.00 trust angle
Cyrus does awesome, fast, and efficient work. He was very thorough with everything he did, one thing that impressed me was how careful he was with placing the alignment machine on my wheels and the first thing he did was check my tire pressure. After the alignment he insisted that i drive around to make sure the steering wheel issue was fixed. Most alignment places will only put everything near manufacturer spec, basically if the monitor shows them that its green, they're good with that... but Cyrus insists on getting everything equal and to your liking and explains everything that he's doing while you sit right in front of the Hunter alignment machine. I will only be going to JC Autohouse for all future alignments.
I was charged $90 to do all four wheels on my TC.
JC Autohouse - Cyrus
9237 Lower Azusa Rd. Unit 0
Temple city, ca 91780
626-287-7781
There are other alignment shops in the same auto repair complex so look for the jc autohouse banner and Cyrus who is an older asian guy.
Bring cash! Lowered cars friendly.
"Good work is never cheap, cheap work is never good." is what it says on the back of his Hunter alignment machine.
I finally got a real alignment done today, my alignment settings were really off due to adjusting suspension components multiple times, messing with springs and ride height and my buddy trying to fix my toe. Also my steering wheel was off when driving straight.
BEFORE/AFTER
left front
-1.7/-2.2 camber
1.13/0.00 toe
right front
-0.9/-2.2 camber
0.13/0.00 toe
front
-0.8/0.0 cross caster
1.25/0.00 total toe
left rear
-1.5/-1.4 camber
0.07/0.15 toe
right rear
-1.4/-1.4 camber
0.20/0.15 toe
rear
0.27/0.30 total toe
-0.07/0.00 trust angle
Cyrus does awesome, fast, and efficient work. He was very thorough with everything he did, one thing that impressed me was how careful he was with placing the alignment machine on my wheels and the first thing he did was check my tire pressure. After the alignment he insisted that i drive around to make sure the steering wheel issue was fixed. Most alignment places will only put everything near manufacturer spec, basically if the monitor shows them that its green, they're good with that... but Cyrus insists on getting everything equal and to your liking and explains everything that he's doing while you sit right in front of the Hunter alignment machine. I will only be going to JC Autohouse for all future alignments.
I was charged $90 to do all four wheels on my TC.
JC Autohouse - Cyrus
9237 Lower Azusa Rd. Unit 0
Temple city, ca 91780
626-287-7781
There are other alignment shops in the same auto repair complex so look for the jc autohouse banner and Cyrus who is an older asian guy.
Bring cash! Lowered cars friendly.