Thread: Grinding out struts to align your car??

I just took my car to a mechanic today and had him align my car. When I went to pick it up, he told me that it would be more than I was told earlier because he had to grind out all 4 struts to align my car properly. What the hell does that mean? I tried looking at my struts and I could see nothing different about them.

Could someone explain to me what he did? What is that procedure?


Thanks,
Kyle

he slotted your struts and used a camber bolt, so the wheels would be in spec.

Sorry for my loss of terminology but what does it mean to slot my struts? Do you need to remove my struts in order to do so?

all he did was make the hole bigger so the bolt could move more and get within the specs

He removed a bolt from the strut, ground the circular hole it was in into an oval, and that changed the angle of the strut.

Originally Posted by dpzelenak

all he did was make the hole bigger so the bolt could move more and get within the specs

The hole, as in at the top of the struts where the nut is attached to the bolt?

the bolt where the strut mounts to the knuckle. he took the bolt out, made the hole through the strut wider, so the wheel could move, to get it into spec. they did the right thing.

...where the nut is attached to the bolt... um. You know what, lemme just find you a picture.

Alright, I was just wondering because it's impossible to get to the top of my 2 rear struts in my trunk, so if it involved him removing them then he definitely didn't and I have never heard of grinding them out before. Thanks for the information - it just seemed sketchy to me, especially since when I asked before I paid what it entailed the guy could barely tell me any information.

That one's got a stock oval. Here's what your job should look like:

and for better view... this is where he did it. IMG_5400_600.jpg

Alright, thanks guys for the pictures - they really help.

He said that he had to do it to all 4 though? That makes no sense to me, only one tire was unaligned and that was probably due to me unbolting my strut when I replaced m cv axel, tie rod end, and motor mount. What's the usually labor charge for it? He said he cut me a deal and only charged me for one strut but he actually did it to all four. He charged me $34 plus $70 for alignment.

My Jeep only used to cost me $55 for alignment.

your jeep is only the front wheels being aligned. the gp is all 4 wheels. toe in out, and camber. 70 is a fair price, and all 4 struts ground for 35 aint to bad either.

I suppose you learn something new everyday, haha thanks guys.

Yeah, good price.

I think he is kinda lying on the all 4 part.

Did you get a print out of the BEFORE and AFTER alignment specs?

Because it would take any mechanic some time to do all 4 with the amount of work involved.

Just go outside when you get a chance and pull each wheel off one at a time and check the strut to verify if it was slotted.