Alignment shops

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Hi everyone, I heard some of the alignment guys are using impact wrenches to tighten down the front end components. That can't be a good thing I would think!

What are your guy's opinions on that? Thanks!

 
I think the answer is obvious, There are factory torque settings readily available for all of the front end components. Next shop...

 
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I don't like it and have requested the guy to not use them and torque to spec. Years ago I had bought aftermarket rims for my 2014 GT and had a tire shop mount tires and put them on the car. Well, the guy used an impact air wrench to tighten down the lug nuts, INCLUDING the locking lugs (the kind with the grooved key in the top of the lug) ! Well the locking lugs are hardened and therefore kind of brittle. He cracked the top of three of the four lugs to the point where I could not remove the lug with the key. The top of the lug where the keyed groove is just fell apart when I tried to loosen it. Not to mention all the regular lug nuts were way over tightened to the point I had to stand on a four-foot breaker bar to get them loose! The shop had to use some kind of tool to remove the broken locking lugs and damaged two of the new rims in the process. The shop replaced the rims and lugs and (I think) fired the guy.

Needless to say, I now insist they finish by hand tigthening the lugs to factory spec.

 
It's call "laziness" Too lazy to do it right.

Wheel rims, I had to buy a new set of Magnum 500 rims a few years back, because as these are centerless rims, some A hole (or several A holes) had used impact wrenches on the lug nuts and egg shaped the bolt holes meaning they would never balance properly. I just bought a new set of tires, BFG T/A's and insisted that NO impact wrenches be used. Luckily the technician knew better and did everything by hand. 

Note on balancing centerless rims. Make sure the shop has the correct adaptor(s) to mount the rims on the balancer by the bolt holes.

Alignment specs; After the new tires, I found that the car was over steering a bit and felt unstable on the front end, so took it to 'my guy' and realigned the wheels.

It is currently set at +3 deg castor both sides, .5" L camber, .8" R camber with 1/16th each side toe in total 1/8". Car seems much more stable and drivable at that. There has been many settings tried and listed in the forum, I kind of went with the general opinions. Note on camber; this was as much as the adjuster cams would allow.

Geoff.

 
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One reason I go to Discount Tire is that they always tighten the lugs with a hand torque wrench. I use to take my torque wrench with me when getting new tires and would make them torque the lugs.

The no center hole in a Magnum 500 wheel is one thing I never liked about them. Nothing to support the weight of the car but the lug nuts so never very accurately. 

When I polished the factory Forged Aluminum wheels for my 73 vert I took them to friends shop and put on Bridgeport mill and re cut the seats for the lug bolts. Several were bad where lugs were loose.

My X called one day and she had been to the Toyota dealer to get her "FREE" tire rotations for buying a car there. They had told her that if she did not replace the rear brakes right then for I think $200 she could ruin the rotors and would cost even more later. I told her to tell them to put the wheels back on and go by parts house and get new pads. It was just the rear that was bad they said.

When she got here I put on the lift. I could not break the lugs loose. I had to put back on the floor and use a 1/2" breaker bar and jump on it. They had tried to purposely warp her rotors so they would go bad. The pads were like $25.00 and in less than 30 min. I was done. The rotors were smooth and there was still over 1/8" of pad on them. That is second time this Toyota dealer has tried to do repairs that were not needed and tried to scare owner into doing it. Local TV channel will not do an undercover story on them because they spend too much on advertising with them. What a farce. Another reason I never take my cars to anyone for anything.

 
Not only does it make it extremely difficult to remove the nut, but there's a good chance they ruined the structural integrity of the bolt or stud. Secure fastening isn't the only reason for torque specs, it also prevents overstressing the materials.

 
I hate air tools, particularly impact wrenches. I much prefer to get my hands dirty, but hey...I am a hobbyist. If I had to do car mechanics as a living, well...

I do use compressed air for blasting cabinets, paint, and occasional nut/bolt removal that is stubborn. Oh, I also use air for inflating tires and blowing dust around the garage.

 
I'm adding this to this post just because it may be relevant. 

As mentioned earlier, I changed the castor and camber as much as it would allow and increased the toe-in to 1/8" total. After looking at the print-out, I noticed that the rear wheel numbers were different from the last alignment. Then I realized I had changed my rear springs from the sagged out factory ones. Here's what I discovered. The new springs are 4 1/2 leaf standard eye, Grab-A-Track, i.e. Scott Drake. While they fitted okay or so I thought, the ride height was an 1" too high. I'm a former machinist, so was able and capable of making a set of lowering blocks until they settle. Job done, or not. The springs have a pin to locate on the spring plate. The blocks fit tight on these pins, BUT the spring pins must be out of position relative to the eye and shackle, because the number show that there is a difference of 1/8" compared to the factory numbers. The rear end is now dog-legging by .4 degrees or -1/32" Not much but it's out. Aftermarket problems once again! Buyer beware! 

I may have to rework the spring plates to correct OR chuck them and buy a set of Eaton Springs springs that I know will be good.

Geoff.

 
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