Matt O.

Ok, I need an alignment on all four wheels (is that possible??) because my back tires have some funky wear and are near useless now because I did not notice it. I won't pass inspection because this state is stupid like that.

Anyway, the Firestone place wants to charge me $24.95 for a complete alignment...

That seems awfully cheap. I had put it off because I did not have the $150 I heard folks talk about with these cars.

Are they just retarded, or are they going to give me a POS alignment?

He also wants to sell me two rear Bridgestone Potenzas, 225/50ZR16 for $300 installed (those are the tires I have now). Good price?

Also, one more question, in leveling the back by adjusting the eccetric bolts after installing 200# springs up front... would that throw the back out of alignment?? I didn't even know you had to align the back.... maybe I'm just dumb, who knows.

Your thoughts?

TIA,
Matt

Carl Nall

A couple of us Rennlisters recently used a local Firestone shop for alignments. I am very pleased with the results. I think I paid about $100 for a lifetime alignment deal and rear ride height adjustment ($24.95 seems totally unbelievable).

$300 for S-03's installed is a good deal. Tirerack gets $150 each plus shipping and then you have balance & mounting charges.

You should get your alignment done after (or at the same time) that you adjust rear ride height.

ELLSSUU

Are they So3's?

Matt O.

Carl,

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I already did the ride heigh adjustment, and I'm wondering if by doing that I screwed up the alignment?

That's good to know taht $300 was a good deal. He seemed like a nice guy, so that's good to know. I'll probably end up doing that soon (although for now the phones are going back on because I have no dough! )

Maybe it's $24.95, then they upsell you on the lifetime deal. Is that worth it you think? So basically, if it ever goes out of alignment, you take it back to them. Is it ANY Firestone, or just the one you get it at??

Thanks,
Matt

Matt O.

Holy crap I have 2839 posts. I haven't looked at that number in a LONG time. I need to get a life!! Ha.

Carl Nall

Matt, in my case, lowering the ride height appeared to slightly alter camber settings, i.e., increase negative camber.

The lifetime alignment deal is good at any Firestone store but you would have to bother finding a store familiar with P-cars. Certainly, if you can get a good setup for only $24.95 I would forget the lifetime deal.

'88-924S

my shop charges $165--man I'm going to look at Firestone, that's an unbelievable deal. By the way Matt--you were the first person to reply to my first post, helped me answer questions that got me into my first(not my last)Porsche.

stupenal

Hey Matt, there are MANY different potenza tires offered by bridgstone. RE73, Re950, So3, etc etc. If they are so3s, thats a good deal. If you need tires, Kumho is a good brand, especially the 712 and Mx. Mx is supposedly comparable to So3s which are an arm and leg more. ES100 is supposedly also a good compromise for track and street use with long lasting wear.

Is your car lowered? If so, you'll need different caster/toe in settings.

*Michael.*

I have had the rear end of 944's completely apart before and I don't see how the rear camber or toe could be adjusted. But I know it can be. The German mechanic that I sometimes use tried to explain it to me but there is a bit of a language barrier.

zakk

Michael: Look at one of the pictures here, specifically the one showing the ride height eccentric bolt and the trailing blade.
<a href="http://www.tech-session.com/kb/index.php?page=index_v2&id=62&c=4" target="_blank">http://www.tech-session.com/kb/index.php?page=index_v2&id=62&c=4</a>

Now, in that picture, notice all the way to the left there's a large hole? You insert a special porsche tool into that hole and that adjusts the toe. The bolt next to that hole (to the right of it) is a camber eccentric bolt.

bader$

I don't see how anybody can do a proper alignment for 24.95 on any car. That is probably for only a toe adjustment and then it goes up from there. Where ever you get it aligned ask for a printout of the before and after settings and that will indicate how good of a job they did.
Oh and yes they are adjustable in the back, camber and toe.

Matt O.

Thanks for all the feedback. Any idea how I can get the proper settings on a lowered car, since you mentioned they are now different?

88 924S, glad I could help at least one person!

-Matt

keith

Man, we charge $110.00, and that's cheap - we take a hit on straight labor time (takes about 2 hours to do the job well).

Most shops that use Hunter and other computer-based alignment machines have the rear camber and toe adjustments mis-labeled on their software. They label the rear eccentric (for ride height) as one of the two. - Be sure to watch for the rear of the car dropping when the job is done!

Anyway, at 24.95 - do the math and figure out how much time they are spending with your car. Remember, it takes some time to get the car on/off the rack, set up the sensors, enter the data, etc. BEFORE you actually perform any adjustments!!

83na944

Front and back is more like $80 'round here. $25 sounds unreasonably low. Especially since the local Firestone charged me $35 to align my headlights.

Jay W

I see it now. $24.95 gets it on to the rack, then the guy comes to the office and says, well now we have to adjust the camber/caster and the adjustments in the rear too. That'll be another $80.... Then what do you do? They got you on the rack and put you in a spot to spend more money. If I were a repair shop in the area and I could get a good alignment for 24.95 I would send all my alignments there and mark them up to $79.95...... Cha ching!