Hi folks,
I would appreciate some input on where folks take their track cars to get them aligned. I have been taking mine to Merchant's because they are cheap, but am trying to consider othe alternatives because:

a) I usually have to do it twice before they get it right
b) It's getting expensive as I have the car aligned about every three months (my fault, I keep playing with the suspension)

Thanks - any specific places near Richmond, Va would be great.

-Phillip

 

NOT Curry's

I learned this after they charged me $190 for an alignment that has not lasted a month.

NOT Tires Plus

I learned this after the tech didnt know what a camber bolt was, and could only get positive camber

 

If at all possible, have someone teach you how to set the toe on your car. It will save you a lot of money and hassle.

You can make an alignment string set for less than $50 that allows accurate setting down to 1/64".

Ausmith - who is very thankful Bondo Dan showed him the way....

 

Ask around at the races (autocross,etc) in your area. Thats what I did and found a place here in Akron, OH called The Alignment Shop. The specialize in alignments and alot of racers go there. They do great work.

Not sure if http://www.rosenautosport.com/direct.html does alignments, but they are in your area. If the dont do them, they might have a place they recommend.


[Modified by Brett@SoloRacer.com, 1:09 PM 8/7/2002]

 

if you guys are spending so much money on alignments, might as well buy a decent camber guage and learn to measure toe yourself. theres multiple methods of measureing tow quickly and cheaply. however a good camber guages thats cheap is something im in the market for. but my solution has been to be sponsored by an alignment shop. free alignment before every event, i paid for the decals.

 

NOT at Dyke Tire.

I've been told that Chuck over at Hanover Tire near the airport off Williamsburg Rd. does a pretty good job. Richard West has gone to him for years for alignments. They work on a first-come first-serve basis so if you need to wait on it, you need to get there like 5-10 minutes before they open. They might think your alignment specs are insane, just inform them that your car is a track car and yes you know what you're doing and want the digital printout from the alignment rack to match what you tell them.

Sadly, the best alignment place I've ever been to was in Florida at B&D Autotech. The alignment guys there knew exactly what they were doing and I watched them tweak on my car for a good hour to get it EXACTLY as I wanted it. I say "sadly" since they're not in Richmond. Always nice to have people who "get it" work on your car. That, and they were pulling their Street Mod WRX off the rack when I arrived

 

I've had good luck at NTB in Youngstown/Boardman Ohio.
It really depends on the technician working the machine.

Some places apparently refuse to do anything non-standard to a car, so ask ahead of time.

 

Not that it's close to you at all, but for the information of others near me, I've been using Allen Automotive in Silver Spring, MD. They are equipped with the latest Hunter rack with nice colorful printouts! They had no problem aligning my car to my desired toe specs with 180lbs of shotbags on the driver's seat/footwell.

Margin of error was +/- O.1 degree

I was referred to this place by Radial Tire Co.