Price of alignment?

[mitsuclipsegsx]

I called my buddies dad, and asked him to do an alighnment cause my car is lowered 2in and is chewing tires so i installed the camber kit and he told me $180WTF .. I said arent most places like 100 and he said yes, but he does it right.He did do an excellant job on my exhuast, but 180 seems way to high, and he also said cause its a 4 wheel alighment,arent you always suppose to do 4 wheel alighment,let me know what you guys think,i wanna get my car on the road asap....

 

[Seano04]

After I lowered mine, I got a 4 wheel alignment from the mitsu dealer for $80.00...its good they told me for 12 months or 12000 miles.

 

[vintagemuscle]

awd and rwd cars need a 4 wheel alignment. at a shop near me i get it done for about $65.

 

[GriffZero]

Yeah, sounds like a rip off to me. I usually get mine for about $80, but at another shop I was quoted $100. I would laugh at someone who quoted me $180, even if they said they "do it right".

 

[mitsuclipsegsx]

Thanks guys, whats weird is i know the guy, can trust anyone i guess.

 

[No_Skillz]

An alignment includes all four wheels no matter what wd you have. Don't pay a smidge over $80 no matter how many suspension mods you have or how well they say they'll do.

 

[lasertim]

A lot of places do charge a little more for alignment on AWD DSMs because they are a pain to correctly align the rear. Since you have an aftermarket camber kit you wont have to worry about it but on a stock rideheight DSMs rear camber and thrust angle is adjusted by shimming the rear control arm and that takes extra time.

It still shouldnt be more than a hundred though.

 

[vintagemuscle]

An alignment includes all four wheels no matter what wd you have. Don't pay a smidge over $80 no matter how many suspension mods you have or how well they say they'll do.

no, most front wheel drive cars have no specs for aligning the rear. on these cars to get the rear back in alignment the only way is to replace worn parts.

 

[lasertim]

no, most front wheel drive cars have no specs for aligning the rear. on these cars to get the rear back in alignment the only way is to replace worn parts.

Agreed, pretty much anything that has a straight rear axle doesnt have adjustment for the rear without the use of aftermarket parts. Like vintagemusle said, it is still very common on anything fwd, but more specific anything that doesnt have independant rear suspension.

Even cars with a straight rear axle(non-irs) there can sometime be a solution though. Many alignment shops will use a full contact shim to adjust toe and camber in the rear. It goes between the rear hub and brake backing plate.

Believe it or not, many shops charge quite a bit more for a 4 wheel alignment vs a 2 wheel alignment. Here in southern MN it is typically $50 or so for 2 wheel and $65+ for a 4 wheel with even higher prices for the pain in the a** alignment like AWD DSMs like I said above.

 

[No_Skillz]

no, most front wheel drive cars have no specs for aligning the rear. on these cars to get the rear back in alignment the only way is to replace worn parts.

Are you sure about this? The rear never gets aligned?

 

[lasertim]

Are you sure about this? The rear never gets aligned?

Re-read my previous post.

But, on some cars and trucks with a straight axel in the rear there is no adjustment. If it is out of alignment due to an accident you might have to have the frame/unibody pulled. If the springs are sagging and the camber is too negative / \ then you probably would have to replace the springs.

 

[No_Skillz]

I stand corrected.

A shop here did my alignment for the same listed flat price as everything else. All four wheels plus aftermarket parts. Good guy I guess.

 

[flyinghighlm]

I know if you go to Tire Kingdom/NTB or one of its other sister companies they charge 79.99 down here and thats for one year, and the proce just goes on up for 3 year and 5 year alignments.

 

[DROOPY209]

My dad has been going to the same tire shop for a lot of years and they do the alignment on any of our cars for $49.00. They usually charge $79.00 for a 4 wheel alignment.
I guess its good to build a good customer relationship with a company that does good work. I've heard of places that claim that they'll "do it right" for $89.00+.

Our alignment guy has always done an excellent alignment job on every car we have owned. I noticed a big difference in driveability after he did the alignment on my red 1gB AWD. He always gives us a before and after alignment print out to show us exactly how out of spec the alignment was and then the after alignment printout where it shows the corrections he made. He left the front end dead center and the rear a lil negative camber, right on specs.

If you can, get a before and after print out. That way they can prove they did it "the right way"

If they can't do the alignment to the factory specs, don't pay them. Don't let them align it "close enough to specs"

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

I don't know if you'll have my luck, but I went to the alignment shop after installing the coilovers, and he said that the laser system he uses probably wouldn't work because I had so much front camber (2.25 degrees). I wanted this much front camber though, for road racing. He said he could do it the old fashion way, using hand tools. Seemed to be quite accurate, and we did all 4 toe adjustments, I was helping him out and telling him what I wanted, and he only charged me $20 He said it's usually $60 for 2 wheel and $80 for 4 wheel alignment.

 

[mitsuclipsegsx]

Ok guys i need some help,i have been to two places and no go, first was a very good chev dealership but coundt get it on the ramp and same with mavis, what about a mitsu dealership? I will probaly call monday, damm, car is only lowered 1.7...

 

[Meh987]

no, most front wheel drive cars have no specs for aligning the rear. on these cars to get the rear back in alignment the only way is to replace worn parts.

2g FWD DSMs have rear toe adjustments.

 

[Seano04]

just take it to a mitsu dealership, it'll be around $80 for a 4 wheel

 

[silvah_gsx]

he only charged me $20

Damn you...he charged me $30!

Might have been the downpour we worked in...

 

[mitsuclipsegsx]

just take it to a mitsu dealership, it'll be around $80 for a 4 wheel

But can they do it casue its lowered?? the other 2 places i went to coundn't.

 

[Seano04]

i went to probably the most ghetto mitsu dealer with my basic tein coilovers and he pulled it up on the ramps without a problem. i'm not sure exactly how much lower yours is as compared to mine, but it went up and down without a problem it couldn't hurt to take it up there though

 

[BeanBag]

Ask which angles he'll align and then ask another shop. The higher price may account for more angles being aligned.