Dealing with Shops about an Alignment

[Andoy]

got it. I would be better off with the Home Depot thing.

but how bout:

say I buy an Ingalls or other rear camber kit, can the springs guy
just put 'em in when he's installing the springs?

so that when I go for an alignment they can just
adjust them??

[Skillz911]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>got it. I would be better off with the Home Depot thing.

but how bout: Â*

say I buy an Ingalls or other rear camber kit, can the springs guy
just put 'em in when he's installing the springs? Â*

so that when I go for an alignment they can just
adjust them??</div>


Yeah if you buy that kit they can put it in when installing the springs. But honestly with you only being dropped 1.5in in the rear your camber wont be bad so I highly recommend the home depot kit unless your not comfortable with installing it urself. But first things first get it aligned after you lower it to see where your camber stands.

[Andoy]

thanks man for the feedback ...

[Skillz911]

No problem. Any more questions feel free to ask.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Think I am going to ask around for a shop that does aftermarket stuff.
Goin to a regular alignment shop may be mistake- like they are uncomfortable with it and will overcharge with crap about how "hard" it is, etc. Â*
I asked one alignment shop and he told me" ooohhh, lowering spings!--
you gonna need an alignemnt kit and so I cant give you a quote"!!! Â*

RIP OFF</div> mach1s rule go ford

Its not a rip off, ANY vehicle that are lowered require more work to align properly.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Think I am going to ask around for a shop that does aftermarket stuff.
Goin to a regular alignment shop may be mistake- like they are uncomfortable with it and will overcharge with crap about how "hard" it is, etc. Â*
I asked one alignment shop and he told me" ooohhh, lowering spings!--
you gonna need an alignemnt kit and so I cant give you a quote"!!! Â*

RIP OFF</div>

Its not a rip off, ANY vehicle that are lowered require more work to align properly. Personally I'd be weary of going to a shop thats willing to do it for cheaper. For cars that a lowered I wouldn't charge less than $100 for aligning a lowered vehicle. Not to mention you'll probably need a camber kit, plus labor, plus the fact that its harder to get at the underside of the vehicle to properly adjust it within spec.

[g-ridda]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedGalant2k1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Think I am going to ask around for a shop that does aftermarket stuff.
Goin to a regular alignment shop may be mistake- like they are uncomfortable with it and will overcharge with crap about how "hard" it is, etc. Â*
I asked one alignment shop and he told me" ooohhh, lowering spings!--
you gonna need an alignemnt kit and so I cant give you a quote"!!! Â*

RIP OFF</div>

Its not a rip off, ANY vehicle that are lowered require more work to align properly. Personally I'd be weary of going to a shop thats willing to do it for cheaper. For cars that a lowered I wouldn't charge less than $100 for aligning a lowered vehicle. Not to mention you'll probably need a camber kit, plus labor, plus the fact that its harder to get at the underside of the vehicle to properly adjust it within spec.</div>



thats also true but once again he has tein springs his car will not be that low.and most shops dont kno shit about lowering springs jus cus u have them doesnt meen you have to have a 3inch drop there are lowering springs that dot even lower a inch.

[Skillz911]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(g-ridda)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedGalant2k1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Think I am going to ask around for a shop that does aftermarket stuff.
Goin to a regular alignment shop may be mistake- like they are uncomfortable with it and will overcharge with crap about how "hard" it is, etc. Â*
I asked one alignment shop and he told me" ooohhh, lowering spings!--
you gonna need an alignemnt kit and so I cant give you a quote"!!! Â*

RIP OFF</div>

Its not a rip off, ANY vehicle that are lowered require more work to align properly. Personally I'd be weary of going to a shop thats willing to do it for cheaper. For cars that a lowered I wouldn't charge less than $100 for aligning a lowered vehicle. Not to mention you'll probably need a camber kit, plus labor, plus the fact that its harder to get at the underside of the vehicle to properly adjust it within spec.</div>



thats also true but once again he has tein springs his car will not be that low.and most shops dont kno shit about lowering springs jus cus u have them doesnt meen you have to have a 3inch drop there are lowering springs that dot even lower a inch.</div>

Thank you...his car wont be that damn low. It will do fine on the alignment machine.

[Andoy]

First of all, an alignment is an alignment. If you automatically tell me I'm paying a big price only because its been dropped, I can't buy it.

But I expect installing a camber kit would take more time. If you tell me what you are doing, and how long the additional labor would take, that's different. I'm all for paying the additional labor and what work is put into it.

If it turns out that I dont even need the camber kit, why would you quote me $100?

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(g-ridda)</div><div class='quotemain'>
thats also true but once again he has tein springs his car will not be that low.and most shops dont kno shit about lowering springs jus cus u have them doesnt meen you have to have a 3inch drop there are lowering springs that dot even lower a inch.</div>

Actually I think you'd be suprised to see how many shops actually know about lowering vehicles. Just because a shop doesn't do it has no bearing on the mechanic knowing about lowered cars. At my shop TWO of my mechanics have full on drag cars, and know quite a lot about suspension. We lower cars, mostly domestics, but camber, caster, and toe are all affected when lowering springs are installed even if its .5".

Do you understand the geometry of the car is changed anytime the ride height is affected?

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>First of all, an alignment is an alignment. If you automatically tell me I'm paying a big price only because its been dropped, I can't buy it. Â*

But I expect installing a camber kit would take more time. If you tell me what you are doing, and how long the additional labor would take, that's different. Â*I'm all for paying the additional labor and what work is put into it.

If it turns out that I dont even need the camber kit, why would you quote me $100?</div>

Yes an alignment is an alignment. But aligning a lowered vehicle is not like aligning a stock vehicle. If you aren't willing to price a premium price for proper alignment than don't bother lowering your car.

We've had customers with a range of lowered and custom vehicles ask us to lower their cars, examples like 32 Fords, 90s Hondas, Mitsus, Mustang SVTs etc etc.... Without fail we ALWAYS tell them the standard alignment pricing plus the hourly labor rate to properly align their vehicle. Minimum $100 to align a lower vehicle. Some people leave, some don't but I'm sorry if you want things done properly then you pay for the quality of the mechanic doing the work. I am sorry I won't sell my mechanics that cheap.

There is less room to adjust the jamnuts on the tierods, to adjust camber and caster, not to mention the extra time that will be needed to install a camber kit. If you don't want to tell the shop that your vehicle is lowered thats fine, but don't be surpised when they put in on their alignment machine and find out its lowered. Or even better tell you something is bent or damaged because your camber of caster is blown out.

[Andoy]

Caster, Camber and Toe are all adjusted with a regular alignment.
I wouldn't mind paying more if the shop is taking more time or installing
a camber kit.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Caster, Camber and Toe are all adjusted with a regular alignment.
I wouldn't mind paying more if the shop is taking more time or installing Â*
a camber kit.</div>

Camber and Caster on most vehicles is not adjustable. 90% of vehicles just require a toe adjustment nothing else.

On Galants specifically their is not factory adjustment for camber or caster.

[Danger DANJ]

I don't see why anyone would install a camber kit before they get an alignment or an alignment check because you don't know how many washers you will need. So, it doesn't matter if you get an Ingalls kit or make your own from Home Depot, you need to know how much negative camber you have before you can install the kit. Years ago, when I first dropped my Galant with Progress springs, I bought an Ingalls kit for the rear automatically. I just brought it with me to the shop and told them to use it if they need it, and they did.

When I swapped my suspension for the Tein SS-P Dampers, the same shop actually went around and adjusted the height of the car for me because the front driverside didn't match the front passanger side, but the rear matched fine. They also ended up adjusting the front camber as well via the built in adjustment on the front pillow ball upper mounts. The rear was fine with the camber kit that I already had. Anyway, the alignment did cost me a little bit more, but it was worth it for them to do it right.

[peanotation]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(furiousgtz)</div><div class='quotemain'>if u dont tell them that u have spring installed then they will do the alignement with the same orignial galant suspension specs..i dont see the point of doing that..so find a shop that do aftermarket alignement..</div>

yes....correct....that's exactly what he wants. are there "aftermarket" alignment specs? no. factory specs is the only place you want to be.

no matter how little you drop it, even 0.5" will affect your camber and toe. it won't be that much, but you'll notice uneven tire wear, most likely premature wear on the inside track of the tires

[g-ridda]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedGalant2k1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(g-ridda)</div><div class='quotemain'>
thats also true but once again he has tein springs his car will not be that low.and most shops dont kno shit about lowering springs jus cus u have them doesnt meen you have to have a 3inch drop there are lowering springs that dot even lower a inch.</div>

Actually I think you'd be suprised to see how many shops actually know about lowering vehicles. Just because a shop doesn't do it has no bearing on the mechanic knowing about lowered cars. At my shop TWO of my mechanics have full on drag cars, and know quite a lot about suspension. We lower cars, mostly domestics, but camber, caster, and toe are all affected when lowering springs are installed even if its .5".

Do you understand the geometry of the car is changed anytime the ride height is affected?</div>


actually im not suprised why the hell are u takin everyword i say so literally. i said most shops and i never said a .5 drop didnt affect caster and toe wut the fuck?

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(g-ridda)</div><div class='quotemain'>
actually im not suprised why the hell are u takin everyword i say so literally. i said most shops and i never said a .5 drop didnt affect caster and toe wut the fuck?</div>

I want to make sure people don't have the wrong idea about mechanic shops. And I should state again that I think you'd be surprised how many shops actually know a good amount about lowering vehicles.

And as for lowering any vehicle it affects the alignment because the strut and coil spring assembly, control arm, and/or axle is moved.

Why get so mad at me making sure people don't have the wrong idea or try to scam the shop that they want their altered car aligned at?

[Andoy]

There's a well-known tire shop in my area - that does a lot of aftermarket wheel/tire upgrades For alignment they are charging $69. I told them I installed new lowering springs - still that's the price ... (camber kit extra) :D

[peanotation]

just fyi, it cost me $70 for an alignment. $50 + $20 because i was lowered and had an adjustable front camber kit

[AVERAGE]

Basically, man; get the alignment. If your car is that out of whack like my old bf 323 was then they will let you know before they do anything. As the one guy said earlier on, they will give you a printout of whats out in your alignment. Then you can go from there as far as the alignmetn kit goes. On my 323, i paid the 100 for a year because of all the changes i was doing to my suspension, new struts/springs, poly endlinks,etc...That way once you do get lowered and aligned and decide to change something, you re covered. No more money to shell out.