$80 alignment on my 930
 

oh im gonna hear it on this one, but i thought you would get a kick out of it anyway.
yea, im going to TIRETOWN to get an $80 alignment on my 930.
i just put $1000 tires on it and i am trying to talk the wife into a trip to the mountains thursday. problem is my right rear wore out the inside of the tires that were on there. not so bad it wore it out faster than the rest, but still, $1000 tires.
(i think i have too much neg camber on the rt rear).
i would prefer to go down to charleston (2hrs away) to get it done, but i dont have the time.
who knows, might work out cheaper. i get this guy to fix the alignment, then take it down to my friends shop, he can string the car, or not, and corner balance it and hopefully he wont have to change the alignment and i get out of there cheaper. he did not charge me for the last one, (i help him out too), but i will still give him some $$.

the guy at the tire shop has been there for 40 years........


there is this EURO CAR SHOP here in town. i have talked to the guy several times, says he has a 930 too. i was talking to someone else there today. it was VERY hard to get a price out of him. felt like was at a used car lot about to be hustled out of my car and my shirt. they kept telling me about the special tools and how hard it was and all this other crap. i left and the guy finally called me, $315. for that money i am better off to get the $80 job, take it my friends shop and give him $200 to corner balance it.
i will have to make some more stops by there and try to build a relationship and see what kind of work they do.

The ONLY place I have found in Augusta that will even touch a older 911 for an alignment is Taylor BMW. They do a decent job, with a Hunter machine, and the mechanics let me hover, but it's about $150 everytime.

Most places are all ready to make an appointment, until I say 1984 Porsche 911, then their eyes glaze over.........

Just as well, there are very few stock suspension components on the old girl anymore, so I need someone who likes a German challenge.

If you use the experienced alignment shop, I'd get a copy of the camber, toe in/out procedure from the repair manual and hand it to him. Then ask again if he can do it and confirm the adjustments for $80 or whatever. No surprises. No guess work for him. It's just nuts and bolts. You just need someone to understand what they're doing.

Realize that the corner balance procedure may change the corner ride heights (4) enough to change the alignment adjustments. OTOH, depending on how far off the camber is, correcting it might affect the corner balance. Suggest visiting your friend first and perhaps last.

MHO,
Sherwood

Last and only time I brought my 911 to a non-porsche shop they stripped the new upper camber plates.

Hope you have better luck. Never again for me.

I had NTB do an alignment on my 911 years ago. They actually asked me to go out in the shop and help the guy (which I had no problem with as I knew more about it than he did - he just had a lift and all the neat tools). ;)

I suspect that shop wasn't only ignorant with Porsches. They might have performed the same ham-fisted maneuver with a McClaren F1 or a Corolla. Alert fellow pcar owners in your region.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this chart. Typos can happen anywhere:
Porsche 911 Torque Specifications - TorkSpec - Knowledge for the Motorhead

Sherwood

ntb? Not too bright?

Is this the guy at TIRETOWN or your pal?

I would think for 80 bucks all they are going to do is set the toe.

I just had an alignment done on my car in my city for $59.99. I was able to watch the whole process, and verify that it was done correctly. My local europeon auto shop wanted $150.
Btw, I had my wife's 2010 boxster s done there also, with perfect results

Just got mine done at Goodyear for $79.95 for all 4 wheels. Stood out in the shop and talked the guy through it.

Marc thats cheating! Arent 996 alignments much more traditional than the torsion bar cars?

That's who I've used also...a particular shop recommended by a local "old school" p-car guru for around the same amount. Nothing exotic about 911s...can they align an older VW? They allowed me be there right along side the guy and he aligned it to specs...all it takes is someone who know what they are doing and who "cares". The guy went out of his way to dial it in...was just as "picky" as I am...he enjoyed the conversation and working on a classic for a change ;)

tiretown guy was there 40 years. my friend i have known for over 20 years.

well i must say, i was quite impressed. he had the state of the art machine, which really made a big difference i think and the guy seemed to know what he was doing.
i wathced the numbers as he did it and everything lined up. i was expecting more trouble and time on the rear but he set both sides pretty quickly.
i was also surprised he had to adjust all 4 corners. too much front toe. that may have been causeing that grinding feeling in the tires when i did very slow sharp turns.
everything else was close, just needed minor adjustments.
caster was off on the rt frt a good bit. he said something like that would give me a big surprise braking at 150.??? i dont know, he was one of those old codgers thats hard to understand and i am half deaf.

The rear is a pain in the ash to adjust. Two non-indexed cams that cross talk. And you have to pull the wheels to adjust, so it's guess and check. And you have to loosen everything to get anything to move, so it likes to slip.

If you find a place that will do the rear and get it right for $80 by all means do it.

The front is a piece of cake.

dont think you have to pay a lot and dont think you have to have it done at a porsche shop.

i did ask if he had done older 911's before. i think he was a little insulted since he had been there for 40 years.
i asked the guy at the place i got my tirese put on and he said no. i whatched him work and he did seem like a good conscientious guy but i chose not to be the first. i called another import shop here in town that has been here for as long as i can remember. he recomended the place i went to. he said they had the latest and greatest machine. i was surprised he did not want to do it. i know he does a lot of mercedes and volvo stuff to name a few.

Some shops would rather not lose time (money) learning different techniques on vehicles they only see once in awhile. Understandable. Other shops may see the same situation as routine, covered by their technical skills and part of their professional business. Many of these shops charge accordingly as well. These work preferences assume a steady flow of regular business which can change due to factors not within their control.

Sherwood

yes, i agree. i was just surprised that the import shop said he could/would not do it.
my point, talk to the guy doing the work and find out if he has done one and dont feel like you have to take it to a porsche shop.

the guy that did mine did say he only gets one about every 4 or 5 years and thats fine with him.

Old timers provide comfort.

Took my flywheel to have resurfaced at an old time auto-machine shop in Akron.

I pointed out the raised step on the flywheel where the PP mounts and stated that it's not supposed to be ground.

He didn't act insulted. He just looked at me and chuckled. Like it was cute that I was such a feeb.

Post was made on April 1st...

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 373k miles