Alignment woes after new springs...

[ghst]

I got my Steeda Progressive Springs installed exactly one week ago, and just got back from FORD after scheduling an alignment.

The technician said that they would have to drill out my strut tower bolts to correct the camber/toe in order to align the car properly.

Does this sound right? They said it's a 3+/- hour job and that I'd have to bring my car back tomorrow and drop it off.

Should I do it? Or am I better off finding another shop? How about camber bolts? I'd rather not spend the money on camber plates since that's going to be another $300, plus whatever it costs to get them installed...

For the record, this car wont be tracked. It's a daily driver. The drop is roughly 1.1" in the front & 1" in the rear.

Thanks in advance.

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[stoli]

No. Go somewhere else.

Edit: Did they even try to align it? If so, what were the final results?

 

[JuRuKi]

^^ I agree. Get far far away from that shop

 

[jperls]

I got my Steeda Progressive Springs installed exactly one week ago, and just got back from FORD after scheduling an alignment.

The technician said that they would have to drill out my strut tower bolts to correct the camber/toe in order to align the car properly.

Does this sound right? They said it's a 3+/- hour job and that I'd have to bring my car back tomorrow and drop it off.

Should I do it? Or am I better off finding another shop? How about camber bolts? I'd rather not spend the money on camber plates since that's going to be another $300, plus whatever it costs to get them installed...

For the record, this car wont be tracked. It's a daily driver. The drop is roughly 1.1" in the front & 1" in the rear.

Thanks in advance.

Which shop is this so I know to avoid like the plague?

 

[JakeS550]

Wow! Go somewhere else! 3 bolts torqued to 40 lb/ft holding the car alignment! That guy is smoking some fantastic crack!

 

[ghst]

No. Go somewhere else.

Edit: Did they even try to align it? If so, what were the final results?

For those wondering, this was my local FORD dealership.

They didn't attempt to align it. I was told that the rear right wheel's toe is slightly off, but everything else is decent.

I asked about having the car aligned without drilling anything out, just for the sake of getting the toe corrected. Should I still go through with this? Or should I cut my losses at this point?

 

[JakeS550]

The only hole that should maybe be drilled would be the upper/lower strut to knuckle bolt hole. DO NOT DRILL THE STRUT TOWER BOLT HOLES!!! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!

 

[JakeS550]

You should have got a printout of your current alignment. Then you would know where you are at. And what needs to be done.

 

[jc1804]

I got my Steeda Progressive Springs installed exactly one week ago, and just got back from FORD after scheduling an alignment.

The technician said that they would have to drill out my strut tower bolts to correct the camber/toe in order to align the car properly.

Does this sound right? They said it's a 3+/- hour job and that I'd have to bring my car back tomorrow and drop it off.

Should I do it? Or am I better off finding another shop? How about camber bolts? I'd rather not spend the money on camber plates since that's going to be another $300, plus whatever it costs to get them installed...

For the record, this car wont be tracked. It's a daily driver. The drop is roughly 1.1" in the front & 1" in the rear.

Thanks in advance.

thats there (ford) procedure to align to specs, other option is camber plates

 

[ghst]

[MENTION=18168]JakeS550[/MENTION] The FORD representative who helped me out just called m back a minute ago.

He suggested NOT drilling either, and even said the same thing you guys are saying - he said to go someplace else.

Attached are the alignment specs of my car currently. Really doesn't look bad whatsoever, just the rear toe.

What do you guys think? Can I get by with this? Or should I go someplace else tomorrow? I called a second shop and they said they could try to fit me in tomorrow morning around 8am.

 

[JakeS550]

I could be wrong, but I'm almost sure that is not fords procedure. They do not open up the strut tower bolt holes. They slot the upper/lower strut to knuckle whole.

 

[ghst]

I could be wrong, but I'm almost sure that is not fords procedure. They do not open up the strut tower bolt holes. They slot the upper/lower strut to knuckle whole.

To be my fair, my dealership rarely deals with anything aftermarket. It's almost as if they don't know how to do anything other than stock modifications :lol:

There aren't many performance shops near me, either, unless I want to drive an hour out of town.

 

[JakeS550]

[MENTION=28465]ghst[/MENTION] not bad at all. Any shop that knows what they are doing can bring that in. My alignment was similar and they brought everything into spec!

 

[ghst]

[MENTION=28465]ghst[/MENTION] not bad at all. Any shop that knows what they are doing can bring that in. My alignment was similar and they brought everything into spec!

Awesome, thanks!!

 

[tyshenry]

[MENTION=18168]JakeS550[/MENTION] The FORD representative who helped me out just called m back a minute ago.

He suggested NOT drilling either, and even said the same thing you guys are saying - he said to go someplace else.

Attached are the alignment specs of my car currently. Really doesn't look bad whatsoever, just the rear toe.

What do you guys think? Can I get by with this? Or should I go someplace else tomorrow? I called a second shop and they said they could try to fit me in tomorrow morning around 8am.

Your car barely needs to be aligned. I would leave the front camber where it is at, have them zero the toe out front and rear and bring the rear camber back to about -1.5.

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