Thread: What kind of wheel alignment do I need?

I'm going to get a wheel alignment tomorrow. My cars never had it and I can tell how it drives on the highway that it is due (42k miles). Anyway, im having my friends friend do it for me who works at a dealership. He can go in there on the weekends and do side jobs for himself and use all the equipment, which is nice. I called Big O Tires yesterday and asked them how much an alighment is, they said $80!. The guy said it would be a 4-wheel alighment.

So I call my friend up and ask him how much for his friend to do a side job this saturday for an alighment. He says 50$ and thats it a 2-wheel and that I don't need a 4-wheel and thats its a pain in the ass to to adjust the rear wheels because you have to drill out metal around the strut or something????

Whats going on here. Thanks.

4-wheel. You don't have to drill anything if you know how to do it.

Originally Posted by Sabrewings

4-wheel. You don't have to drill anything if you know how to do it.

Yup, Sabre is right, when doing an alignment on your W-body you need a 4 wheel alignment.

Yep, times 3, You need a 4-wheel. What he is talking about is notching the struts. That is only to adjust the camber if it is way out which shouldn't be a huge issue unless you are lowered.

so i need to buy the camber bolt kit and install that in order to do the rear alignment right?

Originally Posted by 04CompG

so i need to buy the camber bolt kit and install that in order to do the rear alignment right?

Everything on the rear can be aligned except camber, same with the front. Are you lowered? If not, you probably won't need a camber adjustment or camber bolts. Sorry to say, sounds like your friend is just being lazy, take it somewhere else.

You definatly need a 4 wheel alignment if you're gonna do it. Otherwise you're half assing it.

$80 is a rip off... around here you can get a 4 wheel done for $50 anywhere. Or you can be smart like me and go to Firestone and get Lifetime alignment there for $139.99. Alignments for the life of the car. Can't beat that at all, its more than paid for itself with me, i've used it 6 times now over the years...

thanks for the liftetime alighnment info. i called firestone yesterday and its actually $169 now. But thats still worth it expecially if i do one every year. going to consider that.

Originally Posted by 04CompG

thanks for the liftetime alighnment info. i called firestone yesterday and its actually $169 now. But thats still worth it expecially if i do one every year. going to consider that.

Really? Last month here in OKC it was $139.99, tried convincing my dad to purchase it for his car.

Even if it went up, its still well worth it IMO, i would of still got my moneys worth....

ok got the alignment done. went ahead and bought the lifetime at firestone. they dropped it back down to 140$. the sign in the place still says $169 too. they told me that i do need my camber adjusted. im going to install the bolts myself then bring it back so they can finish the alignment. im going to call them in the morning and ask if i need all 4 bolts of just have to put in 2 of them. do you guys know what bolt to replace with the camber bolts? there 2 bolts that hold the srut in. it looks liek the bottom bolt is what needs to be replaced because thats the one that is attached to the rest of the wheel assembly. im pretty sure he told me it was the bottom one....

Originally Posted by 04CompG

do you guys know what bolt to replace with the camber bolts? there 2 bolts that hold the srut in. it looks liek the bottom bolt is what needs to be replaced because thats the one that is attached to the rest of the wheel assembly. im pretty sure he told me it was the bottom one....

Everything I've read on camber bolts is that if you are only putting one in each strut, you put it in the top hole and get up to + or - 1 degree depending on which way you turn it.

I bet you'll only need one set of bolts and they will go on the top bolt holes. I have camber bolts on my white car.

yea everything ive looked up online says top hole too. i think ill just do the fronts tomorrow then take it in for an alignment again. hopefully i can return the back bolts because they were freaking $27 each at O'reillys. looks like they are lmost $10 cheaper online.