back to the dealership alignment issue
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 10
From: Next Stop Willoughby
back to the dealership alignment issue
hi everybody, i took my 04 coupe in to the dealership to have the tire wear issue (inside tire wear front tires) . i had them set it at a less aggresive setting now it floats to the right slightly when i let go of the wheel. i checked tire pressure in all tires all good. before the alignment it was straight as a arrow on center feel. i have the print outs before and after. what do you all think is the problem now? any thoughts? thanks in advance.....jim
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 935
Likes: 0
From: Trumbull CT.
Do a search and read the alignment threads, I did before and after my alignment. If you are running all specs right on rather than minus or positive it may just be the road you travel. Have you traveled on several different roads to compare if the drifting was still there? I am sure some of the tuning Gurus will chime in here and resovle the issue you have.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 34,873
Likes: 487
From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Alignments at the dealer are only as good as the technician or the amount of time he gets to spend on doing the work. Typical alignment jobs are a fixed cost in terms of labor hours. For example, if the job is spec'd at .75 hours labor to do the alignment, the tech will only get money for that amount of time; he is not going to spend 2 hours getting everything exactly right. If he can do the work in 20 minutes, he gets more money and off to another work order.
The dealer should have good computer controlled equipment to do a good job, but they make money in volume, not exacting work. This is why finding a reputable shop that will do the alignment correctly is important.
If you see the car drifting on the same roads where it was fine before, I would suspect that toe-in is not in spec. With stock alignment specs, you should not see excessive tire wear.
The dealer should have good computer controlled equipment to do a good job, but they make money in volume, not exacting work. This is why finding a reputable shop that will do the alignment correctly is important.
If you see the car drifting on the same roads where it was fine before, I would suspect that toe-in is not in spec. With stock alignment specs, you should not see excessive tire wear.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 25,058
Likes: 1,265
From: Virginia
St. Jude Donor '11
Originally Posted by jimbosr
hi everybody, i took my 04 coupe in to the dealership to have the tire wear issue (inside tire wear front tires) . i had them set it at a less aggresive setting now it floats to the right slightly when i let go of the wheel. i checked tire pressure in all tires all good. before the alignment it was straight as a arrow on center feel. i have the print outs before and after. what do you all think is the problem now? any thoughts? thanks in advance.....jim
Take it back and make them fix it properly
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
Likes: 9,821
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Originally Posted by c4cruiser
Alignments at the dealer are only as good as the technician or the amount of time he gets to spend on doing the work.
Bill
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,059
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From: AKA Harvey Mushman-I know just enough to be dangerous "Those who sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither"- B. Franklin
Senior Member
Cruise-In V Veteran
I am not an expert or autocrosser. I bought my car B/N and know that it's never smacked anything. My entire car was within factory specs, but the front was at the max toe in. The inside edges of the fronts wore badly. Here are some specs that I found online a while ago.
http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/h...ruct/align.htm
I am lucky that I found a small shop were the owner does the work. He also does dirt track and other types of race cars. He set the toe near but not to the max toe out. So far the new tires look good. He said if he went to the max toe out it would have a floating feel to it.
http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/h...ruct/align.htm
I am lucky that I found a small shop were the owner does the work. He also does dirt track and other types of race cars. He set the toe near but not to the max toe out. So far the new tires look good. He said if he went to the max toe out it would have a floating feel to it.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 16
Likes: 1
Dealership tire alignment
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Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 16
Likes: 1
Alignment
Another thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1380348
As to dealers and alignments, I learned the hard way to... RUN AWAY!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1380348
As to dealers and alignments, I learned the hard way to... RUN AWAY!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 8,222
Likes: 0
From: Norfolk VA
My advice.
1 figure out the exact specs you. Do some reading figure out what the #s mean and what they make the car do
2. find a good shop and give them the EXACT #s you want. If they ask for a range say 0. You want it exacty where you say not close enough is BS. Tell them to take the time to do it right
3. Be ready to pay extra and it doesn't hurt to tip the tech doing the work. Make sure you get before and after print-outs
1 figure out the exact specs you. Do some reading figure out what the #s mean and what they make the car do
2. find a good shop and give them the EXACT #s you want. If they ask for a range say 0. You want it exacty where you say not close enough is BS. Tell them to take the time to do it right
3. Be ready to pay extra and it doesn't hurt to tip the tech doing the work. Make sure you get before and after print-outs