$300.00 at the local porsche dealer when I bought the car in 2003. $138.00 at the alignment shop( yes they did a very good job 4ooo miles ago with even wear onthe tires....I am happy

 

Damn, you guys (most of you) pay a pretty good price. Around here it's $125 and up, depending on how long it takes. I once called the dealership for a quote, about four years ago, and they said $450!! Unfortunately, we have had nothing but trouble with various mechanics who don't want to listen to the no-lift instructions. We have yet to get a decent alignment from a so-called "professional" shop. Been through lots of tires over the years.

Recently, we have been contemplating getting a set of those do it yourself alignment tools before we have to go back again, but hadn't come to any conclusions. I'm glad to hear someone else does it themselves. Might I ask which brand of alignment equipment you use, Jim?

 

Pirellis

 

I got a price of $440 from David Lloyd over at Musante Motorsports just outside of Hartford Ct.

I also got a base (not-to-go-below) price of $517 from IRA Porsche in Danvers MA. They said they figured 4.5 hours of labor to start with, and the price could be higher if they encounter problems. Highly recommended by David Chamberlain.

But geez, this seems expensive. So far nobody is admitting to paying that much.

 

I'm so glad you asked.

(start of rant)

I have had my car for over 60,000 miles. I have had it officially aligned THREE times in that time. I have worn out so many sets of front tires I can't remember how many it has been. It has NEVER been right. It wanders and tramlines constantly. The price for an alignment is $350 where I have taken it. I plan to take my head into a head inspection shop for repairs soon because it keeps directing me back to the same place that has been unsuccessful at alignment. (maybe I just need new air in my head, eh? I mean, if it happens once, **** them, and if it happens twice, **** me, and if it happens THREE times, I don't know who else to **** then.) The second time I had it aligned, I shook the wheel /tires when I picked it up and I could detect a wobble: the freaking wheel bearings were loose!! I mean, wtf??? I always thought it advisable to verify the condition of all components BEFORE beginning the alignment, but what do I know about it, right?

So I'm zooming through the desert one day in Utah, minding my own business at around....well, I won't admit around what I was traveling....and I happened upon Dave Lomas' shop in SLC. Nice people. Dave heard me grumbling about how screwed my steering was, so he pops it up on his rack and shows me my problem: a worn steering rack. Of course I was short a few dollars so I promised to drive back to SLC to have it fixed later (Hey , I only live two days away at triple digit speeds). So he fixes me up with some "new" old tires he found in his dumpster to replace my worn ones which were showing strands of wire, and I was on my way again. You guys should try his shop actually if you're driving by (no affiliation), and SLC is clean and nice.
Well, I resolved the reason I had for returning to SLC (or some goons I know did), so I still haven't solved my steering problem yet. This is the worst steering P car I have ever known. Sometimes I feel like stopping the freaking car and punching someone just to vent. Hate this rack. But I have a piggy bank and I'm working on buying a replacement rack which I can soon afford. Then I might have to go back to SLC or LA or wherever to find someone to align the monster properly.

(end of rant)

Oh yeah. Good freaking luck trying to find an alignment shop. I think I'll do it myself. It will hurt less if I stick it to myself.

 

wheel works, $85 bucks and just make sure they dont lift the car (roll the car back to 0 out the sensors) and you are fine!
Mk

 

OK, now for the "but..." qualification.

I took the car to a recommended shop that has done several 928's. Keith W posted the rec on our SoCal website. I'd just done motor mounts so the lower arms were removed and replaced. Tires were worn on the inside in classic fashion, so I'd picked the front and rear heights back to spec, driven 100 miles on new tires to get everything settled, then onto the rack.

Results: Car drove OK, a slight pull to the right that I attributed to road camber most of the time. 15,000 later, a set of PS-2's on the front were worn on the outside edges. Too aggressive in the corners? Not enough tire pressure? (36 PSI) Or too much toe-in.


So I re-read Earl Gilstroms excellent primer on DIY 928 alignment. Took it a step further by building a couple laser fixtures that attach to the wheels. Cost for the whole setup is under $100, with enough metal to make another set of brackets. An afternoon of tinkering to get the lasers dialed in perfectly, then onto the car for a toe-in check after setting the camber. It took a couple hours to get everything just right. Adjustments are very interactive. Keeping everything centered on the car was a secondary challenge to boot.

After all that time and effort, I can say that the car has never driven better. The $85 alignment on the Hunter machine was nowhere near this good. The car is absolutely rock-steady after the dr bob procedure.


Maybe the opening question should be something like "cost of an alignment you were happy with 10,000 miles later."


I think it was Nicole who raved about how well her car drove after the Devek alignment. Bill Ball mentioned that the car drives a lot different/better after he did his pre-race alignment at home. Most owners will never know what a difference is in store for them when they go looking for an alignment.

 

Ok Bob, I am interested now. Can I a) buy this second kit from you? b) could you put together a list of supplies so that i can make the tools per your specifications?

Then you follow Earls procedure?

I would imagine its very difficult to get to the adjustment points as the car is pretty low. How do you overcome this? Perhaps driving on a stack of long 8" wide planks to raise the car 4 inches or so?

I cant imagine ever paying $400 to do an alignment. But If i spent even a whole day to fool around with it the first time and ended up having a dialed in car, then alignment isnt something I would have to worry about for a couple years probably. I need to get mine done. Its not been aligned since i put the shocks in some 6 months ago. And now that I have $400 a piece tires on front i better make damned sure they dont wear out due to excessive toe.

Would love to get more information on this tool setup.

I was just in HF today and saw they had lasers. I thought to myself hey, i wonder what i could use those for????

 

Paid $235.00 at Dieter's Independent Porsche Repair in downtown San Diego. Have about 3500 miles on shark since it was aligned and tire wear is even and car steers straight as a pool cue.

 

I too would be interested in your list of tools or a description of them, Bob. I need to replace my rack and MM / pan gasket soon, and will need an alignment. I could bank the $350 and some extra money for tires I won't need to replace if I do it all myself. The only problem I imagine is, as mentioned, having access to the eccentrics easily since I lack a way of lifting the car without unloading the suspension.

 

$175 for a four wheel alignment at Evergreen Tires in Tacoma, WA.

 

Maybe I should consider doing my own alignment. I have a pit, so access is not too bad.

I might just try a $100 alignment locally to hopefully get it close, then I can consider fooling around with the alignment this winter. I've had enough of my car being out of commission this year, tires be damned, I've got some driving to do.

I know a local bodyshop owner who has an alignment machine, I should go see him.

 

I previously promised to do a write-up on the fixtures themselves, and I've just been lazy on that. Anybody ion the soCal area is of course welcome to use them, and we'll probably schedule a "clinic" day soon so locals can come get things checked out at least.

The materials list is pretty simple. I stopped by the local metal supply place (Industrial Metal Supply in Burbank, Ca.) and found some 2" aluminum box tubing with .125 wall, and 1" angle stock. They sell cut pieces by the pound, and my box tube was 7' long. Angle stock was 6', and that's available also available at Home Depot stores. Nothing keeps you from using steel forthis, BTW; I like the light weight aluminum stuff since it's easy to cut. The lasers ar Harbor Freight specials, nothing fancy. I also used a dozen machine screws 10-32 x 1", nylocks and washers to match. I added some packaging tape on the edges that contact the wheels so no damage from the contact there. A couple plain old rubber bungy-type tie downs are needed to attach to the wheels. I used masking tape, a 12" carpenters square, a pen and a tape measure for the actual measurements. I also used a small 6" machinists' rule for the centering exercise. A rack centering bolt is nice too, if you want the rack to be "just right" relative to the wheels and tie rods.

Now that you have a shooping list to work from, go get the materials and I'll go shoot some pictures and do a few diagrams that show how to assemble and how to use them. This will all be moved to its own thread too. It's getting away from Greg's question.

 

Access to the adjustments isn't tough. The tie rods are easy to reach for adjustment. The caster/camber adjustments are a little tougher but not really impossible with the car sitting on the floor. You can drive the car up on planks I guess, but that wasn't necessary on my car. Part of the procedure will include rolling the car forward and back between toe adjustments. Using planks long enough for that means the planks will be in the way of access behind the wheels for the tie-rod adjustments. The ideal setup would be a pit or an alignment rack, with slip plates under the wheels. I released the tension by rolling the car a few feet instead.

Earl's method is a lot more technically pure than mine, and he goes through a bit of effort to get there. I shortcut some of his steps, and that may or may not affect the outcome some. I made an executive decision since I seldom drive an perfectly flat roads, that my garage floor would have to do for an alignment platform. YMMV, of course.

 

The Gilstrom page is linked to the 928 tips page isnt it?