Alignment Question: Were these A-holes right?
08-28-2010, 12:30 PM
#21
Quick question.... when it comes to our cars, and suspension in general, are you going to trust a guy who wins SCCA championships and designs & builds suspension for our cars, or a guy who's career path has put him in a position as a sales guy for Firestone and is likely a high school drop out...?
Also, I DON'T have lowering springs on my car, but I'm going to take the shocks out and do the lower perch/heater hose mod probably next spring. We have some really crappy roads in the area and I wasn't very willing to drop the car much, let alone use higher spring rates. I want a slightly dropped look now, however, but I'm still not sure if I'm willing to mess with my ground clearance much!
08-28-2010, 12:59 PM
#22
If it makes you feel any better I took my car to the dealership and my car still wonders to the right.
The guy that has been doing alignments for 30 years, they moved him to used cars and they have some new guy that doesn't know what he is doing.
Then they weren't sure on how to bleed the brakes on my car with the Tech 2 tool.
:epicfail:
The guy that has been doing alignments for 30 years, they moved him to used cars and they have some new guy that doesn't know what he is doing.
Then they weren't sure on how to bleed the brakes on my car with the Tech 2 tool.
:epicfail:
08-28-2010, 07:24 PM
#23
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (12)
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Palmetto, Florida
Posts: 591
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just for the record, not everyone that works at the front counter of a firestone is a high school dropout. I am a UF graduate and will be attending the School of Automotive machinists very soon. Beyond that, many "chain" service shops like firestone and goodyear do have requirements that they must operate under, i.e. when he told you he wouldn't recommend running too much negative camber as it will chew up your tires.
Take this for example, if he didn't say anything about your tires being chewed up by the camber, and you ran it like this for a while(let's say you weren't very car saavy), upon realizing your tires have worn prematurely, mostly due to the alignment, you would probably want either a refund or a set of front tires. Not saying you would do this, but trust me, this has happened before. Just talk to one of the techs, or ask the counterperson if you can speak to the alignment/lead tech. IF he is somewhat competent, he will know what your intentions are and set the alignment accordingly.
At my shop, we frequently do alignments to customers specs, the biggest difference is that we make sure the customer is aware of the change and if the alignment is set more towards handling performance than tire longevity that they know that and want that. All of this being said, you may want to try and go back to the original firestone that you had a good experience with. Talk with the store manager and tell him your intentions. If you have any other problems related to firestone, feel free to p-m me.
Take this for example, if he didn't say anything about your tires being chewed up by the camber, and you ran it like this for a while(let's say you weren't very car saavy), upon realizing your tires have worn prematurely, mostly due to the alignment, you would probably want either a refund or a set of front tires. Not saying you would do this, but trust me, this has happened before. Just talk to one of the techs, or ask the counterperson if you can speak to the alignment/lead tech. IF he is somewhat competent, he will know what your intentions are and set the alignment accordingly.
At my shop, we frequently do alignments to customers specs, the biggest difference is that we make sure the customer is aware of the change and if the alignment is set more towards handling performance than tire longevity that they know that and want that. All of this being said, you may want to try and go back to the original firestone that you had a good experience with. Talk with the store manager and tell him your intentions. If you have any other problems related to firestone, feel free to p-m me.
