Hey-o

just wondering if any one knows of a good alignment shop that when done, the car will actualy hold the alignment?

my family's had bad experience's with alignments, my mom's aero wont hold an alignment to save it's life; my aero needs an alignment, and i don't want to go down that path. so.... any body on here know of a good alignment shop in portland?

 

I used to have problems with alignment just like you, until I bit the bullet and changed all the bushings, balljoints & tierods. The alignment actually held up well and my last set of tires actually lasted me 67K miles with regular rotation.

 

copper

rig won't stay in alignment if front end parts are loose and worn out.

I've had good luck with the Les Schwab on NE Columbia Blvd
they specialize in 4wdr. did a great job on my AWD the last 2 times. have them align front and rear together. mine tracks like a laser beam.
top gun alignment tech.

 

I'll third it, you can't aliagn a front end if everything is loose.

 

hmmmmmmmm good point i'll have a shop check all that out soon then

 

All good posts.
If a vehicle won't stay in alignment it usually isn't the shop. I would think though that a shop would tell you something is wrong rather than soak you for service knowing it won't last. They usually guarantee their work though, unless they advise you of a problem and you refuse to fix it.

 

I use to align wheels onece a year...

 

For 5 years I had excessive front tire wear due to bad front alignment problem. I paid for new tie rods & had 2 shops tell me there was no problem with alignment. I also paid to have alignment done when tie rods were replaced. Trouble is it takes 10,000 kms or so before you can notice the tire wearing unevenly, by then the "labour" guarantee is out !
I then decided to go to a tire & alignment specialist, they had a deal on for $45. It took them about an hr in the shop. However 3 years later & tires are still wearing evenly . I seem to get about 75-100,000 kms max on the aero, but those are "cheap tires". The front ones go first at about 75,000. The rears get toasted at about 100,000. IMO not worth skimping on tires they will fail if cheap, better to spend out & get good rubber, in the long run you'll save money.


ATB Aeroman

BTW I went to a Firestone tire shop to get my alignment done ,thats all they do; fit tires & do suspension & alignments. They also found out my steering "wheel rattle" problem (the cause was a bulged rear tire).

 

Yeah, that's where I got mine aligned. They really do a good job for me.

 

yeah i love their lifetime alignment deal. a friend of mine went through the faze of messing with his ride hight alot, and bought the life time alignment deal. he would take it there alot... they always welcomed him back... but then he wrecked the car on accident

 

The manager at my local Firestone shop gave his tech a hard time for spending too much time with my Mustang. They have the practice of "check the toe and let it go", which is too bad, since they have this really good alignment rack. I was working with the guy to ignore the stock settings listed in his books, and dialed in my own settings, since the suspension was no longer stock. It took a little longer, but less than an hour. But if that guy does not want my business...

 

I do aligment myself. 1 hr deal. Fortunatly there is Truck Aligner on my work

 

The shop here in Houston, TX were I take my 91 for alignment would not do the work the first time I took it there. They pointed out that my upper control arm bushings and my inner tie rods had too much play in them. After I fixed that they aligned it and it has been perfect for many miles.....

 

you guys don't suppose these shop's do free inspections do you?

 

no, but try your local community college. many of their auto repair courses have hands on that do low cost or free labor work. owner supplies the parts