Did I get ripped on my alignment?

3.8

Registered User
I recently had my Bird aligned and I'm not happy with it. I want to check with y'all if it's worth it to bring it back and have it redone, go somewhere else, or if it's ok how it is. It pulls a little, the steering wheel is crooked, and the car's steering feels uncertain when going around corners on entrance ramps to the interstate. Everything in the front end is new except the rack. To their defense, my crossmember was loose and I tightened the bolts after the alignment, but I'm still not sure I trust them.

Things they did/didn't do that bother me:

1. Didn't check my tire pressure to be sure the car was sitting level.

2. They raised the car off the rack to check the front end and rear IFS parts for wear. When the car was lifted off the rack the tires tilted in/out quite a bit as the result of the suspension drooping. After setting the car back on the rack, they didn't roll it forward/backward to "settle" the suspension.

3. He told me the rear suspension camber wasn't adjustable, which I learned from searching this forum that it is.

4. The guy doing the work had to ask another "tech" (if you can call them that :rolleyes: ) how to adjust the the front. They didn't properly torque the strut rod to frame bushing, so I did that after I got home, which may have also thrown the alignment off a bit.



They charged me $69.99 for a 2 wheel alignment since they didn't adjust the rear suspension. I'm thinking of asking for a refund and having another shop do the work. Would asking for a refund be reasonable instead of allowing them to attemp to fix the problem? Should I still trust this shop?


Also while you're here... will there be any damage to the brake booster if the key is left in the "run" position with the car's engine off and the brake pedal on?



Here is a printout of the alignment, although I'm thinking it changed after they moved the car... The rear camber is at -1.34 and -1.39, which is off more than when they started even though they didn't adjust anything on the rear.



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Gonna be hard, but...

It will be difficult to get a refund unless you paid by CC and have the ability to charge it back to them. Collect the info and data for the specs and adjustments for all 4 corners and bring it with you. Talk to the owner or highest person there and make it clear you ONLY want a Certified alignment tech working on your car. Insist that the alignment is NOT correct and you want it fixed. The problem should be corrected in good faith unless the shop is unscrupulous, in which case, you're most likely gonna fight them anyway. If you behve reasonably and they don't, it will be easier to escalate the matter through other channels if necessary. Take a notepad (or mini voice recorder) with you and document the conversations, sequence of events.

Good luck!
 
Personally, I would probably find another shop. I might actually try to get a refund from the first shop, although, I'm sure they would offer to redo the alignment before refunding your money. If they even offer to redo it.
 
Personally, I would probably find another shop. I might actually try to get a refund from the first shop, although, I'm sure they would offer to redo the alignment before refunding your money. If they even offer to redo it.

i would take the own/manger for a ride and show him and be like now you say this is right..........


and just remenber word of mouth is one or the biggest advertisements ;)
 
Tire pressure and settling the suspension were two critical steps for the several years I did alignments.
I would ask them to fix it and watch while they do.
 
Personally, I would probably find another shop. I might actually try to get a refund from the first shop, although, I'm sure they would offer to redo the alignment before refunding your money. If they even offer to redo it.
Thanks. I had the alignment done at Dobbs in Fairview Heights, just across the river from you. It comes with a 6 month warranty, so realignment shouldn't be a problem... if I let them try again. I usually go to NTB, so I may try them instead.





Tire pressure and settling the suspension were two critical steps for the several years I did alignments.
I would ask them to fix it and watch while they do.
I'm far from an alignment expert, but I was thinking they missed some important steps from what I've seen done on every other alignment I've had. I watched the guy from the garage door... about 12 feet from my rear bumper. I think I was making him nervous, possibly because he wasn't sure what he was doing.



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Thanks. I had the alignment done at Dobbs in Fairview Heights, just across the river from you. It comes with a 6 month warranty, so realignment shouldn't be a problem... if I let them try again. I usually go to NTB, so I may try them instead.

That's odd. Dobbs did mine and their computer actually showed the alignment points for the rear of the car (pretty sure it was Dobbs that had the computer display). Lucky for me, the one I go to has a perfectionist for an alignment tech....I swear his boss came back twice wondering why he wasn't finished yet :) I don't think the boss realized he was doing a 4-wheel alignment. :rolleyes:
 
Ask for a refund. If they did such a poor job the first time, there is no reason to assume they are going to randomly do it right the second time.
If you have to watch them to make sure they do, that is not what you are paying for, is it?
If they only offer you a re-do, demand that you ba able to watch closely, and be sure and be a big PITA about every little detail. You may find they can't give you a refund fast enough!
 
Thats why!

Your alignment is off because you have to do the rear first because the front are based on the rear settings. If they are off everything else is off as well. Not too many shops with older equipment, I realize, know that the T-Bird is a 4 wheel alignment to begin with. The first shop I took it too said the same thing about the rear not being adjustable. After I showed them where it adjusted at, I nicely asked them to remove it from there shop and I would find another shop to do it. Didn't pay anything, but then again, they didn't do anything either.

Ask nicely to speak to the Manager and let him know the situation and go for a ride, then see if they will do it right this time, perhaps give them the chance to correct there scre up with a different/more experienced tech.

The owner/Manager doesn't want bad word of mouth to spread if it is a small business in a small town.

Have a good one!

Smitty
 
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At least they gave you a print out of the Before / After specifications.

Some of them are barely within specs, but they are okay.

Your Rear Camber is not within factory specs ... so the alignment is not finished.

All 4 wheels are tied together, what you do with the adjustment on one wheel will affect the other 3. Usually one of your front wheels will lead the other tires.

Take it back, explain to them your driveability concerns ( if it doesnt feel right, it is not right ) .. explain the adjustment points of the rear wheels ( camber is done on the upper control arm to spindle knuckle ) so their tech can do it right. And ask to watch the tech do the alignment while it is being done, dont leave your car there or sit in the office while they play around.

They didnt tell you that any of your suspension components should be replaced before doing the alignment? If they do, thats their way of getting out of doing a re-alignment, or if anything wears prematurely, unless you had them correct the worn components. If they didnt ask you to replace anything, you should be able to get it re-aligned.

- Dan
 
Are you tires worn evenly? If you tires are not perfect it will align according to the computer, but the tires will cause it to not drive correctly. I usually get the lifetime alignment that Firestone offers. I also make sure the tech on duty is capable of alignments. Usually the good alignment techs do not work on weekends, when I have time to get an alignment done.
 
Quick question: the rear camber is -1.5 on the left and -1.1 on the right. The specified range is -1.0 to 0.0

The rear toe is -.13 on the right, with a range of -.07 to .18 The left toe is fine.

With these numbers out of range, are my tires going to wear out quickly? The alignment guy says that the specs are close enogh it shouldn't matter. The car still pulls a little even though the front is within specs.





Ok, I got a refund for the alignment and then took it across the street to a different shop. The front end was out like I expected. This shop also claims that there is no camber adjustment for the rear suspension. The guy said I need to buy a camber kit that comes with the washers that go on the bolts. I may try to see if I can get the bolt loose and adjust the camber way out of specs then bring it back in for a warranty alignment... and let him wonder how it got so far out.

I just got new tires after replacing the front end parts. My old tires had some edge wear from the worn parts up front.
 
Question .. is your car Lowered, or stock height ? Do you have stock wheels / tires ? Or low profile ?

If youre on a factory suspension and tire size you wont need a "camber kit" - for one, there is no such thing for this car .. usually if you are lowered that far and ned more camber, you'll slot the hole on the upper control arm.

Your numbers are close enough to spec that they wont really make a difference on a stock set of tires. If you had low profile tires, you might have more tire wear since you wont have as much sidewall flex. But the whole reason for getting your car aligned is to bring it back to spec .. why pay for a service if the Tech is going to tell you its close enough that it doesnt matter. They just dont want to do the work.

Ive had my Bird with an adjustable air suspension and the car was aligned years ago .. on a stock set of tires, I havent noticed any tire wear at all and my specs are so far out of range, and will never be in spec. :D

- Dan
 
I'm at stock height with stock wheels and tire size. As long as I won't have increased tire wear, I probably won't worry about the alignment being off a little.

Thanks all for the help.
 
This shop also claims that there is no camber adjustment for the rear suspension. The guy said I need to buy a camber kit that comes with the washers that go on the bolts. I may try to see if I can get the bolt loose and adjust the camber way out of specs then bring it back in for a warranty alignment... and let him wonder how it got so far out.

I just got new tires after replacing the front end parts. My old tires had some edge wear from the worn parts up front.
Hmmmm.... I coulda sworn that the rear lower control arms had the same adjustable bolt/washers that the front had.. Now maybe somewhere along the line someone installed a new set for me, but I'm quite sure I never paid for one. I'll see if I can get a pic later... but I'm 90% sure they are there as I've had both cars aligned within the last year and they adjusted the rear. :confused:
 
The rear lower control arm does have alignment cams on the bolts, but from what I've read, these cams will adjust the toe. The rear upper control arm is supposed to have a bolt where the control arm attaches to the car that has a hidden internal cam inside the bushing for adjusting the camber.
 
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