i was wondering when you get a wheel alignment do they actually jack your car up all the way or none at all?
Usually performed on an alignment rack. Car is driven onto two ramps, lifted via the wheels into the air, then raised off of the ramps via the frame, leaving the suspension completely unsprung.
1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
ok, a guy i talked to at school said that he believed our local co-op had little ramps that they run the tires on that have swivel plates so no lifting involved. im asking because we are usually not allowed back in the shop and when i had my new wheels put on they broke a strut mount dropping it down and i was pretty much stranded for a while and i just wanted to be causious cause those things arent cheap. lol
Hope your local shops are better equipped than the ones in my hick town. They couldn't even perform an alignment on my car until the stock wheels were back on it.
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
that must suck, i just have to watch out for bad shops, one shop but balance weights on the outside of some 24's!! i didnt think anyone could be that dumb!
Chris Denley wrote:that must suck, i just have to watch out for bad shops, one shop but balance weights on the outside of some 24's!! i didnt think anyone could be that dumb!
OMG.. I would have smacked dude.
I used to do alignments all the time when I worked in a dealer. Drive on the rack, lift car, calibrate alignment heads, lower car, pull locks from turntables, jounce car, make measurements, and then make adjustments. Full weight of vehicle is on the tires when it is done.
I have made customers put the stock wheels on before doing an alignment before. If you come in being an ass about not wanting your wheels marked up im going to be an ass about the wheels you have on your car. Some wheels I wasnt even going to chance and I kindly asked the customer to bring the vehicle back with the stock wheels on it. Im not going to risk marking a wheel if i can avoid it.
Also if the wheel has a lip on the outside for wheel weights, then guess where they are going to be put unless specified by the customer. the lip is for the weights and not for looks. I have thought ahead before and used stickies instead of putting a weight on the outside, but only because I kinda gave a crap about making my customers happy.
