i just got s-techs and i was wondering if there is anything specific i have to do with alignment. do i just get a normal front end alignment or do all tires 4 have to be aligned. sorry, i dont know much about cars. also anyone know wheres a good place to get springs installed in the philadelphia area?

 

See the FAQ sticky in this forum. 4 wheel alignment for sure.

As for "where," try posting in the Northeast regional forum and see if anyone has any suggestions.

 

an alignment is an alignment :D

just roll in like you own the place...toss them the keys...and say STRAIGHTEN EM UP HOMIE

dont kno bout philly tho! any shop should be able to align it...

 

Some say to wait a month for the springs to settle..........

 

watching because of the above post.

 

I've read a lot of things that say they take a little while to settle and some things that say most aftermarket springs don't settle anymore. So it may not be necessary. I wouldn't recommend waiting too long though if you're going to... a bad alignment (which you WILL have after installing springs) can ruin a set of tires real quick.

 

I worried about that too when I installed my springs, but the guy who installed mine told me I don't have to wait them to settle, and there were a shop that does alignment right next to his shop, so I did an alignment right after done with springs. After 2months, I got an alignment again to make sure what he said was true, and yup there weren't any out of specs according to the sheet that I got. But my springs are trd, I'm not sure about s-tech tho.

 

I just got mine done today after waiting a month... and it was a pain in the butt trying to find a dependable shop that would even touch the car. A lot of places that use computerized alignment have stock height information... and from what they told me, can't compensate for the new ride height. Needless to say, the dealer can do it, but it's rather expensive. ($100 is what they told me, but their machine was down.) they ended up referring me to a place that only charged $90. So far, so good.

 

^^Yes, that should be the main criteria in picking a shop - someone with experience on dropped cars. Ask for his name, meet him in person if possible, and request he do the alignment.

I got my alignment at a Tire Kingdom store because they have a guy who's aligned lowered cars before.

Tire Kingdom has good prices for 3-/5-year alignments, with warranty, if you're keeping the car that long.

Most other shops I talked to also wanted $90-100 per alignment, with no warranty.

 

give it a couple days then get a foru wheel alignment, unless the alignment is really off...such as the car pulling hard to one side.

 

Ok now I have a question -

I'm planning to get some new rims/tires next month but also planning to drop it too. What should I do first?

Take it to the shop, get my car lowered and let it settle for a couple of days. Then go back to the shop, put on my new rims/wheels and then get an alignment after everything has completed??

or

Take it to the shop, put on my new wheels and rims, get an alignment. Then within a week or so take it back again, drop it and then get an alignment again.

I heard that you're suppose to get an alignment for lowering your car and putting new wheels/rims. But if I do two wheel alignments within two or three weeks, doesn't that kill my thread of my new tires? and steering?

Help me out guys, because i'm still figuring out how I should do this.

Thanks!!

 

I am not sure why you would need to wait on the tires and rims. There is no need for an allignment when you rotate your tires for instance.

 

What do you mean? I'm not rotating my tires.

 

get your drop, then get your rims on, then wait 2-3 weeks, then get an alignment.

 

ok now I understand. thanks!

 

^^^^
Same thing as putting on new rims--does not effect the allignment.

 

i've had s-tech springs and then switched to tein coilovers , and now back to stock and never once got an alignment. had 4 sets of wheels and tires in various sizes and offsets and not one set of tires had any sort of abnormal wear. if getting an alignment will give you better peace of mind then go for it, but i personally wouldn't worry about it. IMHO of course!

 

I drove on my newly dropped tC for 2 weeks before getting a 4 wheel alignment.. I have the Hotchkis springs and the alignment shop got all 4 wheels back into stock spec. They were impressed that Toyota gave the tCs a lot of room for adjustments. S-Tech's drop is very similar to Hotchkis so i'd imagine you won't have any problems either.

I'm just glad we all save close to $200 for a camber kit thanks to Toyota ;)

 

$200 for a camber kit? my Ingalls kit cost $25. It's just two bolts...

 

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