No one to blame but myself. (Alignment)

The Rev

The Rev

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Ok ok ok, I know about Jamie's problem, and everyones alignment issues.

Because of my impatience, I decided to forgo Ford and get it done now. In the back of my head I thought to myself that I wasn't paying for the alignment anyway, which I didnt. I also have to get the recall done so I was going to Ford anyway as a safety net.

So yeah,

I replaced the upper/lower control arms and the swaybar end links and now....

It pulls to the left really bad on the highway.
If I straighten the wheel, it drifts off to the right.
The steering wheel is still crooked when the wheels are straight.
The wheel is still set back in the wheel well (maybe even more so)

So heres my question, do I give these guys another chance at it? I didn't want to sound like a d!ck when I dropped it off but I casually left the specs that someone posted on here printed on the shifter, it doesn't look like they caught the hint. They did everything else well, I assume. Balanced/rotated the tires, greased up all of my joints, topped off fluids, simple stuff I know but I'm not sure what to do, I did spend a few bucks on this though.
 
did they give you a print out with the specs after the alignment?????

take the car back, and go straight to the service manager.

the dealer ive been to actually has done a good job on my alignments, but after they f'ed up with the recall on my car im looking for a new place to do my alignments.
 
Did you also replace the strut rod bushings as well? If they are shot you need to have parts disassembled in order to get them on, and then get the front end aligned.

I suspect that the staff there doesn't have enough training to competently do your front end, never mind understanding the specs you gave them, and not setting up the proper caster, and clear vision (steering whell centering). You should have a place that does 4 wheel alignment do it as well. If you have a good FOMOCO dealer so be it. I have been lucky to have gotten in there with the techs when they did my car and we assured that we met the specs in the shop manual, eventhough they computor in the alignment machine had some slightly different ones.

The steering wheel is held by a device meant to stop it from turning while they adjust the front end. If per chance it moves during the adjustments, they must do it all over again.

One other item is that the whell base is 113.0". If your rear end is in good shape you should be able to take a tape and stretch it towards your front wheels and the center line of the wheels should be at 113" on both sides of the car. This should get those fronts closer for you.
 
ugggggggggggg ( bites his tongue ) after what i went through, no they do not deserve another chance, if they are in the business to do an allignment there doesnt need to be second chances. if they know what they are doing, it only takes one shot. oh i cant even go back into what i went through i'll blow a gasket thinking about it again.
 
Yes I replaced the strut rod bushings as well, I ruined the old ones while doing the front end. They're closed today. My plan is to leave it there in the a.m before they open with a kind note (with photos of a mark with wheels centered in the wheel wells, along with the specs) and call em later in the day. I can't get to ford until later in the week, this place is just closer. I know for a fact they didn't test drive it before or after (are they supposed to, I'd assume so?) because the mileage is the same. I'm going to tell em to drive it because this sucks. If its the same way tomorrow then I'll switch into a$$hole mode.
 
its not weather they deserve a second chance or not. you paid for an alignment and you deserve to have it done properly. if they cant do it properly they need to refund you.
 
exactly what i had to do after i allowed them 3 chances then i turned into a$$hole too, i had to, because the fat slob at the counter tried to tell me they did what they could and thats the best its going to get, i dont think so, thats not the best its going to get, i'm going to have my money handed back to me right here and now and everyone sitting right there in the waiting room is going to hear about my experience with you moron's who cant align a car. i was ok with it the first time i went to get, mistakes happen, the second time i was losing my cool, by the 3rd time i was ready to knock someone out in there, not only did i get my money back, i brought it to ford across th street from my shop and had it done ONE time, had it back 2 1/2 hrs after i dropped it off there, it was perfect and only cost me 10 bucks more than tire condom charged but i spent 10 bucks in gas driving to and from there 6 times.
 
I'll talk to the manager tomorrow. He seemed very nice and had a whole wall of certifications and degrees and what not, unfortunately the person who did it must not have been as qualified. I don't like when they do that, promote your best person (whether it be a mechanic, or in my profession retail sales person) to manager, because I'm confident he would've done the job right. I'm the best PC tech in the district for my job and they promoted me to manager in training, but I know more than my tech does d'oh.
 
The Rev said:
I'll talk to the manager tomorrow. He seemed very nice and had a whole wall of certifications and degrees and what not, unfortunately the person who did it must not have been as qualified.
Click to expand...

the guy that did it was probally a $8/hr lube tech. line techs dont do little stuff like that unless they are REALLY slow in the shop.
 
Took it back this morning before 7, spoke to the young kid who did the alignment (he was outside for the manager sitting in his Civic...figures) and he said he didn't get a chance to drive it before or after he did it (admitted his problem) but said he's never had a problem before. I explained to him my problem and he said he'd have his boss look at it. At about 11:30 I got a call saying it was done.

At 3 I get there and he explains (like roadboss said) that the wheel kept moving tiny bits, throwing the entire alignment off. Something about everytime he changed something on one side the other would need to be changed as well. I suspect the first time they didn't even align it (didn't get a printout, this time I did). The manager again was very nice and he told me he drove it before/after and felt I would notice the difference. They said their specs weren't up to date (you can see in the printout there specs are a little more forgiving.)

Looks like I got lucky (still haven't gotten a chance to test it really, but it feels better) Are these results acceptable?

100_3296.jpg
 
Any red to me would not be acceptable. There are "tolerances" that are "allowed" but my understanding is that a good alignment should be as centered within those as possible, well most of em, and equal side to side, ideally. Yours dont look far out of spec, but out of spec is still out of spec.

Here are my specs, these are close to the "aggressive" ones posted in another thread:

web.jpg
 
No specs showin unity? I tried to go to ford unity I really did, the wait was too long, my recall is delayed to say the least. Oh and they centered the wheel in the wheel well perfectly woohoo.
 
within a tenth of a degree is probaly within the tolerances of the machine itself, or some other insignificant factor.

If that were my car, I'd probably drive it away smiling.. unless it "did something really stupid" while driving it.

Looking at the tolerances it looks like that drivers front is a little "toe in" from what it should be, and more than likely a "good bump" in the road would put it to "right into spec".

how does the car drive?
your opinion/input means much more than that computer printout.

I've seen "all green cars" that wouldn't go straight in the rain if you tied them to another car and drug them down the road {<-joking grin)
 
sorry that's caster, not toe..

THAT might make it do some dumb stuff.. seems they could easly get a handle on caster.
 
It drives like a totally different car. I'm happy, but idk if thats because of the new parts or alignment. Either way its still way better than before the front end was done. I just don't wanna be treated like a schmuck (even if sometimes I am). Now the next problem, the squeaky wheel and some a/c.
 
looks good.

not perfect but thats reasonable. dont worry about the caster.
 
web.jpg


Does that post? This new MobileMe crap from Apple is ticking me off.... LOL
 
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