can pretty much any tire place give you a good alignment? The shop who installed my coils recommended a european tire shop that he works with. They're charging me $135. ETD and STS discount tire are charging around $80. Which should I go with? I want the job done right of course

 

No.


Generic shops generally provide generic alignments. That is, they play with things until the alignment machine lights turn green. They don't understand why it's green, or what it means, they just know the machine says it's ok.

A good alignment shop actually knows what they're doing and will align the car properly for your specific situation, rather than the generic setup in the machine.

 

what he said. i got new tires at TireDiscounters and the guy told me the alignment was so bad on mine that i needed camber bolts at the cost of $151 plus tax. I told him no thanks. Took it to a very reputable suspension/aligning shop and was able to get it aligned no problems.

I would not trust just any tire shop to do it. If you know the guys there and they have been doing it for a while, then sure. I would rather take it somewhere that knows what they are doing. I'm not bad mouthing any tire shops out there, just the one i went to didn't have a clue.

-D

 

What about the dealership? I think they charge $150.

 

and they'll give you a factory alignment.

Which is certainly not what you want, especially on aftermarket coilovers.

 

ok thanks guys!

 

so complete noob here... what should we ask for?

 

I'd try and find some guys (or some guys on a message board) in your local area who are into racing of some sort (not the straight line kind.. and not in beat up hondas either) and find out who they use.

Then call that guy and expect to have to wait for an appointment.

The guy I use it's pretty rare you won't have to wait at least a few weeks and when I pull my IS350 in it's easily the cheapest, and slowest, car in his shop.

But he knows his stuff.

 

ya I booked with a recommended shop locally here with an appointment for a week after my suspension install coming up in 2 weeks... do I just simply state I just installed coilovers, ask for an alignment and they just take it from there?

 

Well if you want you can be more specific about what you're looking for- (ie I want the best possible handling for X type of track/driving, tire life isn't a concern... or I want the best possible tire life, handling is less of a concern, or anything in between.)

 

If you just install coilovers, they can't adjust your camber for you anyways. So, all they can do is fix your toe and caster. You're limited as far as the alignment goes anyways.