I just lowered my car this weekend, and I went to Goodyear to get an alignment. The price was about $65, but the couldn't do it!!!! So I called a front end shop and they gave me a price of $185! I was wondering 1) why can't anyone align a lowered car....I understand it's different specs, but why won't the original specs work? 2) Why such a huge difference in price???
Also, if anyone knows a place in North Jersey/Southern NY State, please let me know! I drove up to school (50 Miles away) and I don't feel like driving it anymore until it is aligned. Thank you guys soooo much!
Sam
Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.
185 is a rip off thats like double the amount you should pay. any good shop should be able to align it w/ no problem
How much did you drop it, whith what kit, what struts?
If it's even a moderate drop (>1.2") on stock struts, I wouldn't touch it either.
$185 is ungodly high. $65 is expensive too, although guessing where you live, that might make a difference too. Around here ~$40 is average, and many places run specials down to $25. You only need the front aligned, the rear doesn't change easily.
Yeah, $185 seemed really high to me. I usually pay around $60-$70 or alittle higher around me. I have the Eibach Pro-kit (1.4" drop all around) sittin on AGXs. I really like how the car looks, so does my friend who helped me--he likes it more then I do!
CTS, I'm not stupid enough (not pickin on you, just stating) to lower a car and use the stockers....plus they were installed wrong so I needed new bearing plates in the front that really pissed me off. All the shocks were blown, its a 97 and the original shocks in the back were still on. The springs were done too. You could def hear noise every bump, but I was lowering it anyways so it didn't bother me.
All I know is that Goodyear and Firestone will NOT touch my car, no matter how low, anything less then stock they said the specs change......
Thanks for help---more help would be nice too, like a shop or something...
Sam
Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.
If you don't have camberbolts, they can't really do anything unless they butcher the car. I had a shop that wanted to drill out my strut tops to fix the camber on my bonneville 1989 Bonneville, at the time it was 10 years old.
The way they explained it:
We drill out the hole on top of the strut tower so we can move the strut.
it sounded like butchering to me, and the car was already in spec so I told them NO.
less than 1.5 inches shouldn't need an alignment.
If you do get one, just tell them you want the toe adjusted. Leave the camber and caster alone.
Eibach and progressive both sell strut bolts that allow you to adjust the camber +/- 1.5 degrees.
-Chris
i have eibach sportlines and koni reds. i have no problem getting an alignment.
i pay $35
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Just go to a place that has a lift low enough for the car.
Well....the car is at the alignment shop now, should be around $90, which hoenstly isn't too bad according to everyone I've talked to. It might take few days, because I need to get the lower isolator, no one has it
Sam
Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.
^^^a shop just needs a lift that thats sits low enough so it will be able to accomodate the height of your car. other than that, you should be able to get an alignment. just sucks that you have to pay $90, seems a bit high but i'm not in your area.
Blown.
Sam wrote:1) why can't anyone align a lowered car....I understand it's different specs, but why won't the original specs work?
Wrong. The specs don't change if the car is lowered. The tire didn't move in relation to the ground, the only thing different is ride height. In fact, you should tell them the specs you want, then have them give you the print out when they're done. That way, you know exactly what you got.
Sam wrote:2) Why such a huge difference in price???
There shouldn't be a difference in price. If someone is asking more than $50-60, tell them to shove it. And don't ever bother to get a 4 wheel alignment on any car (unless the rear is really off) since alignment machines base the front specs off the rear. If you've ever seen a car going down the road "sideways" (meaning the rear track isn't following the front) its because the shop didn't know what they were doing and neglected to do a rolling compensation on the alignment heads.
IamRascal wrote:If you don't have camberbolts, they can't really do anything unless they butcher the car.
Not true. 95% of FWD car service manuals have instructions for slotting the upper strut to spindle bolt hole. If the camber can't be set by slotting that holes (I'm talking factory specs here, not -3 degrees), then there is something wrong (bent control arm, etc).
You shouldn't need a "camber kit" at all (unless you want to be able to adjust it yourself, and even then its still a waste of money) since there is plenty of adjustability in the J suspension. If you go to a shop, and they tell you they won't/can't do it, or want to charge you more because its lowered, tell them you will never recommend them to anyone for as long as you live. Period. They are hacks and shouldn't be trusted. Any competent alignment tech can do it, in fact, even a monkey can read a screen and turn a wrench.
To me they were just being @!#$s, like it's been said..the specs don't change. A lowered j-body requires the same specs as a oem suspension height(talking normal street use not the track). Actually no matter what car it is, the oem spec is what is needed(again normal street use). You don't even need a proper lift to get a lowered car onto, there are all kinds of ways. I sometimes work on a 4 post about a foot off the ground and i can get an aston martin on in like 5 mins..wood blocks at the front of the ramp and your good to go. Ne-waz I don't see any reason why they couldn't perform the alignment on your car..lift being too high
...different specs
..way too hard to align a lowered j-body(within reason, not talking an insane 4inch slam)
.
And if there gonna try and charge you more for the alignment with some kind of story behind it because it's lowered 1.4". Ask what certification he has to back this up, ase..etc. Because it's all
!!!!
hehe..I love the way the flags all come out at the same time..priceless, ne-waz
Just aligned mine and had to notch out the drivers front strut---cake!!!
And I have Sprint springs (1.8" drop). Just had to use some boards to get on the rack so I did not drag front bumper.
i paid aroudn $40 as well...
Sam wrote:Well....the car is at the alignment shop now, should be around $90, which hoenstly isn't too bad according to everyone I've talked to. It might take few days, because I need to get the lower isolator, no one has it
Sam
You're getting raped.
My springs dropped me 1.5 inches. Put them on myself. went to get the alignment checked for $15 (normal rate) everything was in spec. They normally charge 30-35 for front wheel alignment.
Man i have ground control and Konis and dropped 2.25" and Tirekingdom does for me to OEM Spec. YOu just need to find a better place. With the drop you have any good place should not have a problem they should be able to do it like any stock car.
2004 Grand Prix GTP (Competition Group)
SOLD-->1999 Z24 5M-#30 to register on JBO
"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people'
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