Suspension upgrade separate from alignment

[mtstream]

Would you buy a suspension upgrade and have it installed by a shop that does not do alignments?

Backstory - I want to throw some business to a shop owner for helping me out with some minor things. I want to upgrade my suspension and add a couple of inches along with fixing some minor tire rub that started when I changed the wheels.

I asked the cost of an alignment and he said I would need to get that somewhere else. I’m pretty ignorant on these things and don’t want to have an odd issue with the ride and two unrelated shops pointing the finger at each other.

Is that even a legitimate concern with getting a new suspension from one and alignment from another? Or is it normal?


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[patkelly4370]

We never had issues at a shop I worked at.
We sold and installed lift kits, among other things.
We outsourced the alignments to another shop.
The same with engine rebuilds. We'd pull the engine, disassemble, send the block and heads out to be machined, then we'd reassemble and reinstall.

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[rdruss]

Many on here do their own suspension work at home in their garage and are not alignment capable so it shouldn't be a problem. It should be drivable when finished and drive it to your selected alignment shop.

 

[Dorobuta]

We never had issues at a shop I worked at.
We sold and installed lift kits, among other things.
We outsourced the alignments to another shop.
The same with engine rebuilds. We'd pull the engine, disassemble, send the block and heads out to be machined, then we'd reassemble and reinstall.

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this was my experience. shop installed the suspension, sent to to someone else for the alignment. They handled it all and the bill was a pass thru for the alignment.

 

[mtstream]

this was my experience. shop installed the suspension, sent to to someone else for the alignment. They handled it all and the bill was a pass thru for the alignment.

That wouldn’t bother me. Outsourcing is fine because as the customer I am only dealing with one business and they have influence with their parter because of the volume they represent. That cuts down on the chances of finger pointing.

I’m going to go ahead and get the install done and alignment elsewhere. Seems the consensus is minimal risk. We’ll see how it goes.


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[riceandpho]

if they have an alignment machine at the shop that is doing the install, i would give them some base numbers to start with.

if they recommend you to a another pro shop, just take there word, the other shop might be a pro at doing all the off road type of alignment.

i bought my truck to a good year for an alignment after suspension work, they put it on the machine and said it was so off that they wont touch it, they dont have a master tech that can even touch it.

i ask around and went to 4wheelparts, got quoted a 300+ dollar job and 4 hours.
that didnt happen, so i drove a few miles and went to a tire shop, they just set the toe and didnt really do an alignment, so that was 70 down the drain.

the next day i went to my tire and alignment guy, gave him a number for the caster, told him it needs to be close to 3 and that helped him out, they were able to do the full alignment and i only paid 150ish.
havent had to do any more alignments, my tire wear is not abnormal.

 

[96RedRunner]

Would you buy a suspension upgrade and have it installed by a shop that does not do alignments?
Is that even a legitimate concern with getting a new suspension from one and alignment from another? Or is it normal?

I would look for a shop that does both one stop shop.
To what degree of "upgrade" are you talking Lift, stock replacement some work requires doing things different ways.
Depending on circumstances a 5-mile drive to alignment shop can damage tires.
Who is doing transfer to alignment shop? You or mechanic shop?
It is less hassle to drop it off pick it up ready to roll.

 

[pDubs]

You are fine installing a lift and then driving, even for a few dozen miles before getting an alignment.

If something is slightly out, it's not going to do anything unless driven on for hundreds to thousands of miles.

A lot of manufacturers in the car world (lowering normally) recommend to let the suspension components settle before getting aligned even.