Alignment shop not installing shims

Gmachine

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
i got my XJ aligned over the weekend. I put a lift on it years ago, but it was only ever driven for a day at a time & my shade tree alignment was enough. We sold my wife's car & she's DD's the XJ. Using a digital angle finder I realized the bump steer was due to caster. So I moved to LCA's forward, tightened the bolts & it seemed to improve. Drop it of Sat @ a chain tire store. They tell me it's done & that I need to put the shims in there myself, they don't have any & only use cam bolts with their machine. What kind of crap is that?

So now I have an alignment that could easily move if she hits a parking curb or pothole. The manager wasn't there when I left. Please tell me I'm not asking for too much here!
 
If your in the Winston area my dad is the alignment guy at mock tire on Peters creek pkwy, he had been doing alignments for 25+ year. It will be right no doubt.
 
you could tack the caster bolts in place. Not the answer you want but it's something..
 
The manager wasn't there Saturday when I picked it up, but he looked at it yesterday & agreed that it wasn't right. I hope to take it back this week.

Why is quality work so hard to find? I never would have allowed someone to leave after it was brought to my attention!
 
You're lucky they even did anything. I worked at one of those "chain stores" for a short while. Quit due to ethics... They were giving away free alignments with purchase of tires, but no cars were ever aligned. They didn't even align the cars that paid for the alignment... Put it on the machine and let it sit there for 30-45 minutes while the guy that was supposed to be doing it worked on other cars....
 
where are they putting shims on a XJ front? Cam bolts are correct way to fine adjust these, but if the arms are adjustable, they can do that too, but you can only get so close sometimes.

I agree that it is shotty work, but not completely surprising these days. If you are paying for an alignment, I want to see a before and after print out, and typically look to see that they hooked it up.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I agree that it is shotty work, but not completely surprising these days. If you are paying for an alignment, I want to see a before and after print out, and typically look to see that they hooked it up.
Click to expand...

I asked for this at a local tire store and they said their printer was broken and couldn't provide me with a printout. I told the counter guy that my wallet was broken and he should have disclosed that from the get-go. Long story short, they hadn't done a damn thing and I ended up with brand new inner and outer tie rods, alignment and oil change by the time it rolled out of their shop for nothing more than the cost of the oil change.
 
Many years ago I worked at a Western Auto( corporate store) the alignment guy would have the tire busters hold a pry bar to hold alignment while he hit print to verify "He" did the alignment. Lot of come backs and tire warranties while he was there.
Worked at another "chain" several years later, when I got there they had just cleaned house. Everyone new, alignment rack was fubar, out of level and the bearing plates were all seized, had the Hunter guy in to rebuild the heads, he was amazed how screwed up they were. First car to be aligned after that was my Honda Accord that I'd been told by several places that here was no adjustments that could be made. There is a shit ton of adjustment on those cars, you just have to pick up a wrench make them. Car drove better than it ever had and tires lasted a hell of a lot longer afterward. No access to a rack where I can do my own any more. Damnit
 
Back to the OP, the caster should be set by the cam bolts on the LCAs. Paint pen them if you think they're going to move, but they won't. If your wife makes a habit of running into curbs, make her do her own alignments. It's not hard. :flipoff2:
 
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