Why can't anyone align my car!
09-15-2006, 08:14 AM
#1
Why can't anyone align my car!
So after I lowered my car I immediatly took it in to have it aligned. The guy whined and said he couldn't do much, but would give it his best. Finished and it was worse then he started. Then I take it to another shop and they say the can't even touch it because their machine is to old and doesn't fit on my tires. The third place takes it, says how horrible the aligment is, fixes it and gives my a printout of before and after. Big difference right, but now my steering wheel is cocked left when driving straight and there is a pull to the left. Are all these alignment techs stupid or what? Isn't there a way for me to do this at home? I'm tired of morons working on my car.
09-15-2006, 12:21 PM
#3
That sucks! I think it's because of where I am located. No one around here seems to want to or know how to work on modded vehicles. If I was back in Chicago this would have been done already.
09-15-2006, 07:02 PM
#4
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 943
Originally Posted by Nietzsche
So after I lowered my car I immediatly took it in to have it aligned. The guy whined and said he couldn't do much, but would give it his best. Finished and it was worse then he started. Then I take it to another shop and they say the can't even touch it because their machine is to old and doesn't fit on my tires. The third place takes it, says how horrible the aligment is, fixes it and gives my a printout of before and after. Big difference right, but now my steering wheel is cocked left when driving straight and there is a pull to the left. Are all these alignment techs stupid or what? Isn't there a way for me to do this at home? I'm tired of morons working on my car.
I complained to the shop and they said that their machine was just calibrated and even checked it against another car and they said it was fine. I'm not inclined to believe them much since they scratch my wheels and totally screwed up balancing the wheels (it's really bad - I need to have this fixed very soon by a reputable shop). Anyway, I find it intersting that others are also having alignments done and having the wheel turned to the left when driving straight and also the car pulling left.
09-15-2006, 09:08 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
I feel your pain.
I am so conscious of the incompetence of many shops that I knew from the day I bought my car that I would never touch the alignment unless serious alignment problems required action. So far, I have had 27 wonderful months with no alignment issues. Knock on wood.
I had the same concerns with rotating the tires and wheels, so waited twice the normal rotation schedule (15K instead of 7.5K) to rotate. As it turned out, when I finally got the rotation, it caused no problems, much to my relief.
The 6th gen Maxima suspension/wheels/tires/etc as a combination are the most sensitive to anything less than perfection of any vehicle I have ever driven in my 58 years of driving. Unless the shop has the proper equiment (specifically the HUnter 9000 for balancing), and someone who really knows what they are doing, there is virtually no hope of a satisfactory job being done.
I am so conscious of the incompetence of many shops that I knew from the day I bought my car that I would never touch the alignment unless serious alignment problems required action. So far, I have had 27 wonderful months with no alignment issues. Knock on wood.
I had the same concerns with rotating the tires and wheels, so waited twice the normal rotation schedule (15K instead of 7.5K) to rotate. As it turned out, when I finally got the rotation, it caused no problems, much to my relief.
The 6th gen Maxima suspension/wheels/tires/etc as a combination are the most sensitive to anything less than perfection of any vehicle I have ever driven in my 58 years of driving. Unless the shop has the proper equiment (specifically the HUnter 9000 for balancing), and someone who really knows what they are doing, there is virtually no hope of a satisfactory job being done.
09-16-2006, 01:00 PM
#6
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 12
Hunter Laser Alignment Machine
This is my first post to this forum, so excuse me if i'm if I'm too formal or informal. My mother had the same problem aligning her 2002 maxima gle (which will be mine starting tomorrow as she picks up her 2007 sl this tuesday-congrats to her!!!) and had relied on many shops to align this vehicle many times (after 2 sets of new tires, kyb struts and an front-end accident) and they would always fail, even after 2 and 3 re-tries. It wasn't until after she found a shop that used the Hunter Series 811 were her unalignment problems over. To see this machine in operation is awesome (there are lasers extended on both sides of the machine that flash when it begins to road-test the vehicle) compared to the machines from the other local shops and SEARS (I have no idea why she would chose SEARS!!!). Give it try and see if this solves the problem. I would check out the Hunter website so you can visually see what the machine looks like. On another note the GSP9700 Road Force Balancing machine gave the new michelins on this vehicle an ultra-smooth ride.
09-16-2006, 01:12 PM
#7
I'm not sure what model they used but I know it's not that old. I will be driving to Des Moines for a dyno run and will have it looked at again. Hopefully the largest city in iowa can do the job right.
09-17-2006, 03:22 PM
#12
Like I said, my dealer outsources to the Merc/Audio or Ford store. I know for a fact that Ford has the better machine of the two, but still don't know what model it is. The point is how many times does this have to be done. Alignments aren't cheap and my time is money. I was smart enough to get a lifetime alignment with Firestone which has already been used three times. Three alignments at the dealer would be over 200 bucks vs 120.
09-17-2006, 09:33 PM
#13
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 12
Originally Posted by Nietzsche
I'm not sure what model they used but I know it's not that old. I will be driving to Des Moines for a dyno run and will have it looked at again. Hopefully the largest city in iowa can do the job right.
I hope all goes well with your next alignment. I would contact Hunter to see if they have a shop in the are that carries their new laser machine. We did this when we used the GSP 9700 Road Balancing Machine and found a shop in the area and were very happy that we did, as the ride is now definitely different.
09-18-2006, 06:15 AM
#15
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,336
Originally Posted by missjane
I have the same damn problem with my car. It already cost me one tire, and soon to be another. I just emailed Hunter for a list of shops in my area. This is getting to be a real pain.
Jane
Jane
That list is available directly from their website. Pop in your zip code.
http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm
CM
09-18-2006, 06:24 AM
#16
Donating Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 98
Originally Posted by CanadianMoFo
That list is available directly from their website. Pop in your zip code.
http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm
CM
http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm
CM
Jane
09-19-2006, 03:34 PM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 147
WOW....IM GLAD I READ THIS THREAD....THE OLD MACHINES THESE SHOPS HAD AROUND HERE COULDNT PROPERLY ALIGN MY CAR EITHER....MY ALIGNMENT DOESNT FEEL MESSED UP BUT I KNOW ITS NOT RIGHT.....I CLICKED ON THE LINK AND FOUND THAT THE FORD DEALERSHIP HERE HAS ONE OF THOSE MACHINES.....
...AMAZING FREAKING AMAZING.....I LOVE THIS SITE
...AMAZING FREAKING AMAZING.....I LOVE THIS SITE
09-19-2006, 03:49 PM
#19
Donating Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 29
I took mine to a pretty good shop here in VA. They do alot of race cars and lowered cars so I didn't think I would have a problem. He had a problem at first and said it couldn't be done but he kept trying and got it into 350Z specs. I was happy with that.
09-20-2006, 07:04 AM
#20
That's weird, he could get it to z specs but not maxima. What's the diff anyways? I'm just going to drive mine around till I end up going out of town and have it done in chicago or quad cities.
09-20-2006, 02:48 PM
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 492
Nietzsche,
If your comming to Des Moines, the place to go is Merrill Axle & Wheel Service
at 1403 Walnut St. 50309 in down town Des Moines. 515-288-2131. They've been in buisness forever and many road racer and autocrosser use them. They've done custom work for me on my racers and I've seen hot rods and old collector cars in their shop. You'll probably need an appointment though.
-Mark
If your comming to Des Moines, the place to go is Merrill Axle & Wheel Service
at 1403 Walnut St. 50309 in down town Des Moines. 515-288-2131. They've been in buisness forever and many road racer and autocrosser use them. They've done custom work for me on my racers and I've seen hot rods and old collector cars in their shop. You'll probably need an appointment though.
-Mark
10-05-2006, 11:31 PM
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 1,994
Good info on this thread. I always like to see what light has to say on any technical subject -- thanks light.
(Because of problems with the allignment from the factory, I ended up with cups in the tread of all 4 OE Goodyears. I ended up with new tires at 30 K miles after I decided to stop putting up with the noise coming from the small cups in all 4 treads.) I now have been getting an allignment every year in May.
I have had good luck with my local dealer, until the last allignment. After each allingment the steering wheel always is straight when driving down a straight road. But since the last allignment, it have a slight tendency to pull to the left, that gets worse when the crown of the road also drops off on the left (as in the left lane of a two-lane devided highway).
I will check out to see what shop in my area has the Hunter 881 allignment system. I have been very happy with the wheel balance I got from the tire shop that sold me my new tires. They used the Hunter GPS 9700 balancing system.
(Because of problems with the allignment from the factory, I ended up with cups in the tread of all 4 OE Goodyears. I ended up with new tires at 30 K miles after I decided to stop putting up with the noise coming from the small cups in all 4 treads.) I now have been getting an allignment every year in May.
I have had good luck with my local dealer, until the last allignment. After each allingment the steering wheel always is straight when driving down a straight road. But since the last allignment, it have a slight tendency to pull to the left, that gets worse when the crown of the road also drops off on the left (as in the left lane of a two-lane devided highway).
I will check out to see what shop in my area has the Hunter 881 allignment system. I have been very happy with the wheel balance I got from the tire shop that sold me my new tires. They used the Hunter GPS 9700 balancing system.
10-05-2006, 11:48 PM
#27
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 1,994
I found the Hunter Wheel Allignment site here:
http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/al...tems/index.htm
This site lists a number of Hunter systems. Based on the pictures, it looks like my dealer is using either their PA 100 system or their Series 511 system. It appears from this site that their Series 811 system is the best available.
Unfortunately, they do not have the ability to locate which shops have each system. Guess I need to get on the phone and call some places to find an 811 system. I did send Hunter an e-mail with a request for a list of local shops with the 811 system. Will let you know if I get a response.
http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/al...tems/index.htm
This site lists a number of Hunter systems. Based on the pictures, it looks like my dealer is using either their PA 100 system or their Series 511 system. It appears from this site that their Series 811 system is the best available.
Unfortunately, they do not have the ability to locate which shops have each system. Guess I need to get on the phone and call some places to find an 811 system. I did send Hunter an e-mail with a request for a list of local shops with the 811 system. Will let you know if I get a response.
10-06-2006, 03:04 AM
#28
aka The Doom Ship
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW, TX
Posts: 1,788
Originally Posted by Nietzsche
So after I lowered my car I immediatly took it in to have it aligned. The guy whined and said he couldn't do much, but would give it his best. Finished and it was worse then he started. Then I take it to another shop and they say the can't even touch it because their machine is to old and doesn't fit on my tires. The third place takes it, says how horrible the aligment is, fixes it and gives my a printout of before and after. Big difference right, but now my steering wheel is cocked left when driving straight and there is a pull to the left. Are all these alignment techs stupid or what? Isn't there a way for me to do this at home? I'm tired of morons working on my car.
My car pulls to the right and I also feel uneven wear through the steering wheel. My car also wanders, like it sporatically makes subtle jerks to the right or left.
I'll get a dealer quote today.
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