Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2018 08:33:18 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

Then I paid Sears to do the alignment, and when I got home, I looked and
not a bolt was touched. I took it back to Sears and they tested it and
found out the guy didn't even do it. He said his charts only went back 10
years and so he didn't have the numbers. And yet they charged me. I as
livid, but in those days, I didn't scream bloody further. Nowadays I'd have
told them to give it to me for free or I would go to the prosecutor (or at
least the home office).

Same thing happened to me at a Firestone shop. I bought a '66 F100 and it was pulling a
little to the left. I dropped it off for new front tires and an alignment. When I picked
it up from their parking lot, first thing I did was crawl under it. Same grunge on the tie
rod ends. Went back in and asked the desk guy why they didn't do the alignment.
He shouted to the mech and the mech shouted back. "We can't do twin I-beam."
I had him refund the charge. Pretty close to your experience.

And this, in short, is why you go to an alignment shop with an alignment expert
instead of to the tire store.

You are lucky that they didn't do the alignment, because the tire store has
some high school kid who has been given basic directions to put the car up
on the machine and follow the directions the machine gives him. He really
doesn't know anything about the suspension geometry, but relies entirely on
the machine to do the job. He doesn't check anything for wear, he doesn't
check anything for damage or being bent, he just follows the machine.

If nothing is damaged, loose, bent, or worn, you drive away with the alignment
better than it was when you drove in. If that's not the case (and it likely
isn't, otherwise you wouldn't be getting an alignment anyway), then you drive
away with the alignment made worse.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."