taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Hey guys I just got an alignment for the first time and I want to make sure these guys did it right... attached is a copy of the alignment printout


Looks like almost everything is to spec, but I still don't know much about proper alignments so I was hoping someone could help me out. The car pulls to the left a little if I let go of the steering wheel but if I hold it straight it will go straight. I guess I could double check tire pressure?

Also, my steering wheel shakes/vibrates when I'm on the freeway... this is a balance issue, correct? I'm thinking I can take it back to them and have them balance the tires because it seems to have happened right after they did the alignment...

Thanks in advanced!

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Not bad, guessing you asked for an OEM alignment?

Did they rotate the tires? Why would doing an alignment change tire balance?

What speeds? Does it get worse as speed increases? If so, that is a static imbalance issue. If it has specific speed ranges (eg 62-63 mph) then goes away of phases in/out then its more likely R1H related. Only machine that can "see" that is a Hunter with RoadForce. Its not true R1H but the closest field machine you can use to gauge it.

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the response. Yes, I asked for an OEM alignment. These guys barely spoke english so I was a little nervous throughout the whole thing. Not meaning to be racist at all, it's just hard to trust someone's work when you don't know much about their work.

They rotated the tires, patched up a nail, and did the alignment for $70... I think it was a pretty decent deal?

I'm not sure how aligning the car would throw off the balance of the tires but I just figured that's what happened since it just recently started doing it.

The vibration is at almost any high speed (60+) and happens in any gear including neutral.

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Ah, braver man than I. Communication is key. Just how it is.

I bet they did not re-balance the tire they patched. Just marked and tried to re-install to same as before.

If it gets worse as you go faster, its static. First tire I'd check on balancer is that patched one.

eve-slow

iTrader: (68)

$70!?! Damn that's cheap! I bet if they spoke better english they coulda gotcha for $170. Take that one wheel/tire back like Smike says.

spdngdragon

iTrader: (3)

very mild alignment. I think the tech could have gotten the numbers to match a little better. He should have been able to get the fronts closer to 1.1 ish

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Not with the OEM camber bolts. That's average for the bolts and within the OE spec for them.

-2 setting might have gotten you -1.5. But not really needed for a DD. And I've found -.8 to -1 to be the same for feel. Not a significant change.

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Well honestly I probably could have gotten them down to $50 or $60 but I felt bad... they had no business
So the red numbers aren't bad? I'm not too good with suspension yet... just started learning.

I'll take it back to them though and see if they can balance the tires... They advertise $10 balance per tire... I'm gonna try and get all 4 balanced for $20.

As long as the alignment is good enough for DD with occasional spirited driving.

I'm sending my shocks to bilstein to be rebuilt over summer, then throwing on some GTworx springs (1 inch MAX, I just want the car to handle better). Will I need to get another alignment after taking off shocks and putting them back on?

spdngdragon

iTrader: (3)

Yep, you will need to get it re-aligned once you take the shocks off and put them back on. :-)

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Not if going from stock to stock (mark the camber bolts). Issue is he is lowering the car with the GTWorx springs in the future. That will change the alignment.

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Thanks. I'll be sure to keep all this in mind when I change them

spdngdragon

iTrader: (3)

That didn't work for me. I had to get mine aligned. Good luck.

nightwalker

Alignment looks spot on. The only thing they could have messed up on is the true straight ahead of the steering wheel. If that's off, then nothing else is going to be correct.

The Evo because of it's fast steering makes it hard for "normal" alignment places to understand how to do it properly.

A couple things I would do; have the tire that was repaired balanced again like everyone else has mentioned, and once the vibration is gone, rotate the front and rear tires to see if the pull goes away.

You just want to verify that it's not radial pull caused by the tires.