Rear Wheel Alignment

[JonA]

We had a couple of minor accidents, one at each end and so I had the car(82/924) in to have both ends aligned (a good local shop where I have had good sevice on non-porsche cars). The mechanic aligned the front no trouble but would not do the rear and gave a bs reason that he couldnt get anything apart because of the age and rust. I've had everything apart myself recently so this was just an attack of lazy. Anyway here are my questions:
Is there any way I can know if the rear is out of alignment? Will it shake or will the tires wear funny? Will handling be
affected? Should I live with things as they are now or should I find another shop to do the rear? The mechanic said
the rear was "pretty close" but who knows how close that means.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Jon Aborn

[gixer02]

First off- don't go back there! If you had it apart recently, then he must be lazy like you said. Also he said it was "pretty close"!? Like you said that doesn't help at all. I'm know you would feel shaking in the steering if it were the front but I don't know about the back. Maybe if you go on the highway and pick up the speed you may notice some vibrating but I would just take it to another shop. good luck

Pat

[casual944]

Hey JonA,
I posted a message 'alignment' and got some advice on doing it myself. But, what you should look at is the wear on your tires since the accidents. If you aren't driving it much you may not be able to see improper wear patterns but if you can see things like inner or outer edge wear, or the individual tread blocks have high sides and low sides, you'll need to make things right. Maybe you can get someone to follow you and check that your wheels are rolling true as well. I haven't had much luck with finding experienced alignment specialists but did get an over the phone quote from a dealer for a four wheel alignment, ~$350. Of course that's assuming that nothing is wore/broke and needs replacing. Does that ever happen? Good luck!
John