I gotta rant here fellas if ya don't mind. I have been chasing a hard metal knocking sound under the front of my 99 Ranger. Of course I started with wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. All are fine. I then replaced the shocks with Monroematics. Helped some but noise still there. Well today I replaced the sway bar bolts n bushings. I had to grind the left one into so I had to remove the wheel. Once done with the sway bar, since I was there, I grabbed the upper control arm and give it a good yank and shove. Ah ha. There's the sound. I put a ratchet on the control arm bolts and they weren't tight. SON OF A.... I look up the torque spec and not even close. Those fools at the alignment shop put upper ball joints in for me and didn't tighten the bolts to spec. I have my doubts they even put it on the alignment machine now. It drives straight enough but both front wheels lean in at the top some and wears the inside of the tires too.
Back to the A arms. I torgued all of them and took a little drive and wala, the noise is almost completely gone. I'll need to put on two new tires and find another alignment shop. I'll not be going back to that one again. And it's the biggest, best equipped tire store of the 5 in town too. It's crap like this the reason I don't like taking my vehicles in for work.
And what makes me so infuriated is this was my daughter's truck. They left suspension parts loose on my daughter's truck. She didn't think anything of the noise as if it was just the way the little truck was supposed to sound and with the tunes cranked up she didn't hear it much.
I'll get off my box now. Thank you.

 

Just name the damn shop, don't let it happen to others that actually look before they leap into a service.

I hear Ford Dealers have a good service department. Ford requires the service department to meet certain standards. And given the recent economic disruptions, the Ford Dealer is suprisingly reasonable, money wise. Besides knowing your Ranger like they designed, engineered, and built it.

 

Unfortunately not all mechanics have the skill set or work ethic to do the job right. I have had the same thing happen at dealerships as well. First thing you should do is go back and tell them what you found and your concerns about the alignment job. Most reputable shops will make it right if they are aware of it. If they offer to realign request another mechanic do the job or get a refund for the price of the alignment and get it done elsewhere.

 

Ah that tire store has been sold twice since this was done. At the time it was Mileage Masters I think. And the guys in the alignment shop have moved on as well. The daughter was out on her own at the time so I rarely saw the truck. She said Daddy I need tires and I called and made the appointment. She has a heavy foot and kept the truck moving. Always on the go. Like I said in another thread it's been a good little truck under her foot. I don't think I've ever had a car dealer do an alignment for me. I've just always used local tire stores.
I'm about to have 2 of our trucks aligned and you can bet I'll use some other store and I'll inspect their work real good too.