1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Do you think my shocks are blown? I'm not sure...







Ha! Of course they are. That's not the point here, Koni SA's are on the way.

Well tonight I took off the front wheels to see if there was anything else to replace besides the wheel bearings and shocks while I was in there. New tires are on the way and I'm getting a "proper" *cough* expensive ($400+!!! ) alignment, so I don't want to have to do this "proper" alignment again in a month because I was too cheap and lazy to replace something simple like a control arm bushing. Well, nothing has any real play, the lower ball joint is tight, the upper ball joint is as tight as the flimsy upper control arm allows it to be, same for the upper control arm bushings. I went ahead and purchased all the ball joints and control arm bushings anyway as they looked pretty bleak, although they haven't failed yet. Plus, the control arm bushings were as cheap as the shipping, so I had no excuse not to.

Now, on to the wheel bearings. A little over a year ago, I was in a wreck, thanks to some jerk pulling out in front of me, that ended up putting me sideways over a curbed median, backwards, at 35+ MPH. We didn't end up replacing the wheel bearings, but a few other suspension components such as the k-member and DS front lower control arm, etc. Sorry for my ramblings, to the point: I did the test to check wheel bearings by jacking the car up and placing my hands at noon and 6 to attempt to move the wheel back and forth. It does move, but so very little. How tight are these sealed units new? I bought Timken units so I would have something on the way (ordered online) in case they do need replacement, as I have a short window to install all of this, but after doing further research, the AC Delco units are pretty much the best out there. So, I don't want to replace these with inferior parts, not that I will pay the stealership's ridiculous price, especially if they don't need to be. How much play is OK and is there a better test with the wheel off besides pulling the the rotor, caliper, and listening for noise?

1BAD02WS6

iTrader: (-1)

you want zero play in the bearing. I dont know which bearing is superior, but if you have some on the way just replace them.

My question is where/why/wtf is up with a $400 alignment?!?!?!?!?! alignments at my shop( tires plus/ firestone) are 74.99 and have a 12 month/12k mile warranty.

jsteele90

iTrader: (13)

400$$$ alignment hope it comes with some new tires or something

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

I've been to all the standard alignment shops, they are a joke. I've been to (3) different NTB's, a Firestone, and one other I cannot think of right now. Those places are fine for standard alignments and if everything is pretty much within spec and they just need to adjust camber a little bit or something, they can do that but not for a major re-alignment.

This wreck I mentioned above took place in November of 09' and I had my car aligned (5) times within a 6 month period afterwards because none of those places could come close, much less keep it aligned. After they were done, it would drive straight and not pull but within a week or two, something in the alignment would give and cause it all to fall to **** causing the PS front tire goes max positive camber and the DS goes to max negative camber. The toe gets all screwy, I have horrible bump steer, and I have eaten through front tires down to the wires in 1 year for the front, just on the outside and inside, the inside looks around 75% tread left.

This place I am going to doesn't have a standard alignment fee, it's just how ever many hours its on the lift. They will also align the rear end with the front and not give me crap about how my solid axle cannot be adjusted even though I have DA LCA's, DA T/A, DA PHB. Once they get everything is in shape, then I can go to the standard shops in a year or so and have them do the small tweaks if needed, but this car needs to be adjusted for bump steer and complete re-alignment starting with the k-member.

Undertow74

iTrader: (45)

All i can say for the whole situation.....it's your money!

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

As far as the alignment goes, if someone has a better option, please tell me. Now, I want to clarify, this "proper" alignment isn't something I would normally do if I needed an alignment. This is because of how tweaked the frame and suspension are due to the wreck mentioned above as well as a wreck the original owner of the car had, which I wasn't informed of, just kind of discovered looking over the car and trying to align the rear end myself.

Also, that $400 price tag is a maximum. They charge by the hour and it's just however many hours of tweaking it takes, but once it's locked in, I can go get the standard alignment's anywhere else for the average price.

He warned me it may be that high because if they cannot get the wheel in the proper specs, they'll go deeper and tweak/move the k-member or other components to get it back to spec where other shops will just quit and get it at close as they can. There is also the possibility it will only cost like $150, but I am planning for the worst for budget purposes, as you have to do. Does that make more sense? Or would ya'll still go get an $80 alignment?

Undertow74

iTrader: (45)

All i am sayin is that if the frame is tweaked like you say it is, good luck with any sorts of alignment to try and compensate for your car being out of whack. Unless then are going to put the unibody on a frame straightener Lol

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

I should of clarified further, the rear frame is tweaked a little, but pulls straight as is. I am just going to have him look over it and see what he thinks. As far as the front goes, the frame's not tweaked, the k-member is the root of the problems, not that its tweaked, but just needs the time invested to get it square before attempting to align the control arms and wheels. We'll see how it goes