I havent had an alignment on a vehicle in a rather long time. I was just wondering what to look for in a shop in order to get a good alignment?

Thank You My Friends..!!

Ratz

 

A certified experienced technician using modern state of the art equipment. Ask how many alignemnts are done by the shop each day. If a shop is not doing at least 5 a day they probably don't have the experience that a shop doing at least 5 a day would have.

Ask for before and after print out specs. This assures that the alignment was actually completed and not just run up on the rack and later backed out. The printout should have your specific alignment vehicle listed on it.

An alignment on an F-150 is pretty straight forward. Don't pay for a 4 wheel alignment as the rear are not adjustable.
I hope this helps....

 

True the rears are not adjustable, but don't they have to set the fronts to match the rear? (i.e. even though they don't adjust the rears per-se, they have to hook up the equipment and see which way they're pointing, don't they?)

-Joe

 

Just having a master certified tech and state of the are equipment doesn't always get you what you want. My 03 ran thru a local Ford garage 4 times and they still never got it right. A sure sign of shoddy work is a steering wheel that's no longer centered after the alignment.

This dealer had their best and most experienced tech working on my truck. 4 visits and I told them off.

Many shops with the new state of the art equipment will tell you BS, as they did with my alignment flop. That this new equipment garantee's that the wheels will always be centered. 4 times and it was still off. If that state of the art equipment isn't properly calibrated and all it just doesn't matter.

I always look for techs how really know what is required to give a good alignment. Not one's that just have new fancy racks.

Good luck

 

It's too bad that a non-centered steering wheel is the only part of an alignment that is not at all scientific.

It is the tech saying...that looks straight.

It's too bad you condemed a shop for that...it is just a crap shoot to get it straight, but everyone thinks that is the sign that it is done right.

All 4 alignment heads are hung on all alignments, that doesn't make it a 4-wheel alignment.

Too bad the salesman guaranteed you the steering wheel would be centered. I hate saleman that don't know what they are talking about and are blowing hot air to make a sale.

Where the tech failed was he did not test drive after the alignemnt to make sure the wheel was straight...but that doesn't mean the alignment wasn't the best as far as spec.'s the very 1st time it was done.

[QUOTE=svt2205]I always look for techs how really know what is required to give a good alignment.[QUOTE]

What is that?

 

It's not a crap shoot, you set the wheel straight before you start. I had a shop align my Dodge Ramcharger twice. One time they got 10* to the left, and the next 5-10* to the right. 9 out of 10 shops that know ANYTHING about aligning front ends can get it right. It's just pure laziness in my honest opinion. On the second time they did not hook up the equipment to it, so I have no clue what they did, or if it was even done right. All parts in that front end were new (and urethane bushings), so it was not a question of slop. Yes the rag joint is new also.,,,,98

 

They suggested I take the wheel off and reinstall it straight. The shaft and wheel do not have alignment marks for nothing. I felt like telling them to do it, but of course I probably would have been in an accident when it came off on the way home. ,,,,98

 

OK, that scares me. The only vehicles that used to get the steering wheel removed and re-installed were vehicles that only had total toe setting and no adjustment for steer-ahead like the old late '60's pick-ups.

DON'T PULL IT.

Make them do it right, not removing the steering wheel.
I was trying do defend my 20 years of doing alignemnts at 1st, but it is obvious that some of you are getting hosed. Unfortunately an alignment is one of those items that lots of shops abuse as profit generator instead of a service to provide for the customer.

On that Ramcharger, I believe that there is a total tow setting in the center link, and an adjustment for steer-ahead(steering wheel stright) between the knuckle and the box. So a quick adjustment on the steer-ahead will align the steering wheel and not effect any real alignment angles.

 

I have been to two shops that have taken me back to show me the specs and they sometimes give you a print out of specs National Tire and Battery(NTB) was pretty good and let me see the guy while they did the work. Alignments are rarely 100% perfect they are usually always off by very small margins that are considered acceptable. Make sure they have the factory specs for your vehicle. Also ask around town at shops and such and usually they can tell you who is a better shop around town. I went for an alignment to goodyear and the guy referred me to a nearby firestone center and said they had a good mechanic there that did the work. I went to Big O tires and they also recommended the firestone dealer as well.