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Is it hard and does it require extensive alignment knowledge, or can any Joe Blow mechanic do one?
I'm asking because I've only found one shop in town that can do a four wheel alignment on a lowered C5 with 18" rims, but this shop has only been in buisness 3 weeks. On a plus side they do have a brand new shop with the latest & greatest of everything.
4 wheel is gonna cost you over $150, front wheels only is gonna cost you around $90.
There are only two places by me that I now of that can even do the alignment - - - one of them is a Corvette Specialty dealer and the other a momma pop mechanic shop in a nice area that services Ferrari's, Porsche, and the rest of the Euro trash, they have an alignment machine built at ground level (dug into a recessed bay) that you just drive the Vettey onto.
I went to the firestore in Austin, at Palmer and Mopac. Billy is the guy that worked on the car. He did a great job. Took really good care and explained what he was doing and asked how I wanted the car setup. Neutral/Z06... My car is slightly lowered and did not rub going on the ramp.
If you go there and your car is really lowered, then take some ramps, they did not have any there.
Cost was about 140 that included a lifetime alignment.
Around here in SoCal, a 4 wheel lifetime alignment runs about $110. It's quite easy with a fully equipped shop, all you have to do is to give them your specs(go with a Z06 camber!) and the laser sensors will determine the adjustments. I had lowered my daily driver and had them do a 4-wheel alignment to make sure my brand new tires do not get eaten up from the inside due to negative camber and give me more stability during high speeds.
Lowering a car by 1.5 inches requires alignment, and anything less than that, you might get away without one. When I lower my C5 (whenever that may be, if i decide to) I will have it undergo a 4 wheel alignment since tires are expensive compared to the cost of alignment. :thumbs:
Here in Philly you can get a 4 wheel alignment for 59.99 at pep Boys or Monroe shocks, I took mine to a specialty tire shop 4 wheel alignment 75.00, they let me watch.. their alignment rack can handle up to 21 inch wheels the tech has 18 years of experience and just had two days training on their new Hunter Lazer...
GM dealer wanted 110...
as far as a shop being three weeks old... they will take pains with your car to do it right.. having new equipment usually means the alignment manufacturer usually trains the techs... I would give them a try.. and ask them to let you watch... they should be doing the back wheels first..
I just paid 80.00 at the dealer,best darn alignment I ever had.Even thogh I'm at stock ride height,I have many T-1 pieces ,Konis front and rearmodded Z06 springs and they were able to get me Z06 specs with a bit more negative camber.
I can really feel the T-1 sway bars working hard and I can take curves at 75 where 50 was a squel and scrub with all the right pieces in ther,Dave Smilovic
PS:They removed my FRt,and RR sway bars and greasd my bushings at N/C and its a LPE 427 TT and they honor all my warantee work.When they do after market installs we fix all there problems along wit 60% of the dealers in town.Shortly they will forward all stroker/head cam/The Xtreme twin turbo kit a nd ATI and Magnassons,its opening up a whole new door to us to service the service Dept.(sounds kind of funny,but they shouldnt be installing Blowers out of manuals,these arent recipes there srious jobs with tons of timing involved)Dave