I hate alignment shops

So I went on Sat. Found the instructions showing SPC LCA cam bolts require 150ft/lb. Told them. They said they have to remove the scrape plate. Time passes and they come get me to look at the issue. Due to the nature of the SPC cam bolts the bolt head sticks out the rear toward the steering rack. Impossible to get a tq wrench on there, but they can get it on the cam and could TQ it into place which I know would be tough. They said they would have to remove the steering rack to get to this bolt and wanted more money for labor. I said just tighten it all down and got my money back.

I left and was able to TQ it down with my wrench and it has not moved at all. I have ordered up the new revised SPC ball joints and going to bring it to a real shop that specializes in lifted and performance alignments. Hopefully they can put some TQ down with out trying to move the rack.

Needless to say this has been a big PITA. If I would have bought OEM cam bolts im sure it would have gone a bit smoother. I guess live and learn.
 
csp said:
I'm late to this but will also recommend Rex Tire.

For whomever asked about High Country, they are good, but their specialty really is solid axle vehicles and they have a pretty long wait list currently for alignments (a friend just checked with them earlier this week).

I found a pretty competent alignment guy at Les Schwab in Parker of all places. I never thought a chain would have a good alignment guy or one that stuck around for long if he was good.
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Called Rex, looks like about a 1-2 week wait, got appointment setup for next week. They sounded like they knew there stuff. Said they would fine tune it and could take 2 hours. They knew all about the LCA bolts slipping and said they can tq them correctly.
 
I remember going in there in the early 70s with my dad. He's been a customer of theirs for that many years and has never had one problem.
 
Rex Tires was awesome. Never been in a shop like this in my life. Customer service was amazing. Owner ran the front desk. Every customer he knew by name. Not a spec of dirt grease or grime anywhere. Cleaner than a restaurant. Established 1939. Son runs it now.

They worked on it 1/2 hour past closing. Let me talk with them. Watch him work. Tech been doing alignments for over 30 years. Does all the lifted rigs from local shops. Complimented me on my part choices and work I have done.

Now for the alignment. They quoted $129 to fine tune uca and lca's. They worked on out 2.5 hours. He found lots of play in the newer steering rack with poly bushings. Really list on how much play in rack. He also told me the rear spc cam bolts need installed backwards to get a better tq on the bolt but think they got them good enough.

He put me at 4* caster. He showed me how the more he pushed lca out for positive caster the more it threw the front off from the rear end which I didn't know was possible. At 5* caster rear was over an inch off but at 4* only .7" off. They suggested adjustable Panhard and he could make it perfect.

After some BS over lifts and hot rods they do he rung me up and charged me $69 for the troubles I had with other shops. Said get the Panhard bar. Flip cam bolts and they will finish it up for another $30. I was simply amazed by this place. They gained customer for life and will recommend them to everyone.
 

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JayRolla said:
Rex Tires was awesome. Never been in a shop like this in my life. Customer service was amazing. Owner ran the front desk. Every customer he knew by name. Not a spec of dirt grease or grime anywhere. Cleaner than a restaurant. Established 1939. Son runs it now.

They worked on it 1/2 hour past closing. Let me talk with them. Watch him work. Tech been doing alignments for over 30 years. Does all the lifted rigs from local shops. Complimented me on my part choices and work I have done.

Now for the alignment. They quoted $129 to fine tune uca and lca's. They worked on out 2.5 hours. He found lots of play in the newer steering rack with poly bushings. Really list on how much play in rack. He also told me the rear spc cam bolts need installed backwards to get a better tq on the bolt but think they got them good enough.

He put me at 4* caster. He showed me how the more he pushed lca out for positive caster the more it threw the front off from the rear end which I didn't know was possible. At 5* caster rear was over an inch off but at 4* only .7" off. They suggested adjustable Panhard and he could make it perfect.

After some BS over lifts and hot rods they do he rung me up and charged me $69 for the troubles I had with other shops. Said get the Panhard bar. Flip cam bolts and they will finish it up for another $30. I was simply amazed by this place. They gained customer for life and will recommend them to everyone.
Click to expand...
thats great that you found a shop willing to do all that for you.

I question though, how can they even stay in business? doing that much work, for so little compensation?
 
nevada said:
thats great that you found a shop willing to do all that for you.

I question though, how can they even stay in business? doing that much work, for so little compensation?
Click to expand...

I'd guess they are "investing in a customer" which is pretty rare these days. Most business models are to gouge everyone for as much as you can get expecting to never see them again. If they do come back, hit 'em again.

Glad to see the positive review!:thumb:
 
nevada said:
thats great that you found a shop willing to do all that for you.

I question though, how can they even stay in business? doing that much work, for so little compensation?
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing. I talked with him about my other offroad buddies. Told him I would send my brother over.

He has gotten me as a life time customer. He said he would even match online pricing for tires. So he has maybe gotten me and others as life time tire, alignment customers.
 
JayRolla said:
Now for the alignment. They quoted $129 to fine tune uca and lca's. They worked on out 2.5 hours. He found lots of play in the newer steering rack with poly bushings. Really list on how much play in rack. He also told me the rear spc cam bolts need installed backwards to get a better tq on the bolt but think they got them good enough.

He put me at 4* caster. He showed me how the more he pushed lca out for positive caster the more it threw the front off from the rear end which I didn't know was possible. At 5* caster rear was over an inch off but at 4* only .7" off. They suggested adjustable Panhard and he could make it perfect.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what setting did you end up using with the LR UCA to get the 4* of caster? Additionally, around where did they set your LCA cam bolts?

I have the lifetime alignment deal at Firestone and they've always been decent, but never really made any drastic changes. If I bring it in with 2.1* of caster on one side and 2.5* on the other, they'll move one to match the other, make sure camber and toe are in spec and send 'er out.

I feel like if I can get it in the ballpark of what I'm looking for, they'd be good enough to make sure I'm not going to chew through tires.
 
endgame56 said:
Out of curiosity, what setting did you end up using with the LR UCA to get the 4* of caster? Additionally, around where did they set your LCA cam bolts?

I have the lifetime alignment deal at Firestone and they've always been decent, but never really made any drastic changes. If I bring it in with 2.1* of caster on one side and 2.5* on the other, they'll move one to match the other, make sure camber and toe are in spec and send 'er out.

I feel like if I can get it in the ballpark of what I'm looking for, they'd be good enough to make sure I'm not going to chew through tires.
Click to expand...

This is wish we had a little time and they where not closing. We ended up on the A setting I believe. Most positive caster setting. Thats where I was before and he recommended that setting. I tried to talk him into maxing the LCA arms out but he said it would make the front go off from the rear and it wont track right without the adjustable panhard/track bar. He said get the track bar, flip cam bolts and he can get me 5+* caster with the A setting.

We are also going to try the E setting with maxed LCA's and use the SPC UCA's to finish up the camber to see how it performs. It will have a less caster angle, around 3.5* but will move the strut assembly forward giving maybe a better suspension angle. Only issue is this is where front stock bumper rub and windshield wiper res can get in the way but thats fine in my situation.
 
JayRolla said:
So I went on Sat. Found the instructions showing SPC LCA cam bolts require 150ft/lb. Told them. They said they have to remove the scrape plate. Time passes and they come get me to look at the issue. Due to the nature of the SPC cam bolts the bolt head sticks out the rear toward the steering rack. Impossible to get a tq wrench on there, but they can get it on the cam and could TQ it into place which I know would be tough. They said they would have to remove the steering rack to get to this bolt and wanted more money for labor. I said just tighten it all down and got my money back.

I left and was able to TQ it down with my wrench and it has not moved at all. I have ordered up the new revised SPC ball joints and going to bring it to a real shop that specializes in lifted and performance alignments. Hopefully they can put some TQ down with out trying to move the rack.

Needless to say this has been a big PITA. If I would have bought OEM cam bolts im sure it would have gone a bit smoother. I guess live and learn.
Click to expand...

that's what a crowsfoot is for, to be used in places like this.
 
JayRolla said:
If they slip maybe I will get on them about that. Be a good time for them to get some new ones if they dont have them right!!
Click to expand...

they come in flare style as well. that's where a real tech improvises and makes tools. i've made tools for certain jobs. it's part of the business. you don't have it or it's not available, make it. i do fab work as well as welding so no problem for me.
 
As Jay said, it's hard to get an accurate torque reading with a crowsfoot. I thought that was his point regarding their use.
 
I like your positive results with Rex tire. I have used the new Les Schwab on powers and they did a hell of a lot better than anybody else in town I have tried, but I am currently installing a new oem rack in the 4runner and will probably give Rex a call. Thanks for the updates
 
Using a crows foot on a torque wrench is doable as long as you do the math first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
IBallEngineer said:
I'll inquire for you and get back to you. For the record, Haweka is a german company that makes virtually all the tooling for wheel balancers sold by Coats, Hunter and John Bean/Snap-on/Hoffman. So a Haweka adapter doesn't say a whole lot. I believe they are referring to a pin plate adapter and collet as opposed to the cones.

"Road force" is a marketing term made up by Hunter, the actual term is Radial force variation, or RFV. The real problem is that a tire wheel combination can be balanced and still have an RFV that creates a vibration. The Hunter machine and the John Bean or Hoffman equivalent are the only machines sold in the US that can solve this type of problem. But I can't stress enough, it is the TECHNICIAN that will ultimately tell you if match mounting can help or not.
Click to expand...



Any word on Bay Area shops you think I should take my 2 sets of tires to for a mount and balance?...

Greatly appreciate your time
 
JayRolla said:
This is wish we had a little time and they where not closing. We ended up on the A setting I believe. Most positive caster setting. Thats where I was before and he recommended that setting. I tried to talk him into maxing the LCA arms out but he said it would make the front go off from the rear and it wont track right without the adjustable panhard/track bar. He said get the track bar, flip cam bolts and he can get me 5+* caster with the A setting.

We are also going to try the E setting with maxed LCA's and use the SPC UCA's to finish up the camber to see how it performs. It will have a less caster angle, around 3.5* but will move the strut assembly forward giving maybe a better suspension angle. Only issue is this is where front stock bumper rub and windshield wiper res can get in the way but thats fine in my situation.
Click to expand...

Nice. Thanks for the detailed report!

Did you guys ever get around to trying the E setting with maxed out LCAs? I'm currently on the D setting with 2.1* caster, but 3.5* sounds about perfect and I'd like to get there if I can. I've done a fair amount of trimming/hammering so I'm not super worried about clearance - I can always trim more.
 
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