Four wheel alignment?
 

Just rebuilt the ball joints, replaced the tie rod ends and changed to some new 50 series tires and am going to have the front end aligned. I have never experienced any unusual wear from the rears so is a four-wheel really necessary? I am told that it is a difficult job for the 944. For the record, one of the local German shops wants $75 for the fronts. Does that sound about right?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1198261918.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1198261935.jpg

I had my car "four-wheel" aligned at a regular tire shop and I don't think they made any adjustments to the rear as they stated it was in spec.

However, I didn't feel that the alignment was right so a few months later I took it to a reccomended frame shop. These guys knew what they were doing and they made minor adjustments to the rear which changed the ride height a tad. After everything was done and $170 later, the car rode completely different (for the better).

Personally, I wouldn't waste my money unless you know for sure the shop knows what they are doing - a basic tire store that also does alignments may not be good enough. The shop I used came reccomended by several people at my Porsche Club - this shop secialized in fixing bent auto frames.

Vern

Its not difficult, its just hard to find someone that actually knows how to do it. The rear also requires a special tool to adjust the toe. A four wheel alignment on a Hunter rack by me has been around $150-175 (2.5 - 3 hours labor) the couple times ive had it done. $75 sounds about right for just the front.

Im a big advocate of having an alignment done every year, but this is because my car sees a fair amount of track use. For a street driven car its good to have done every time you get new tires. But if you have no abnormal wear from the rear tires, i probably wouldnt bother.

You rock that Guy, advise as good or better than SoCal (Hugh: we miss him)! The rear Yoko's are wearing fine but after my work on the front end I'll trust the local German car shop to give me a good alignment. This forum Rules. I have an old Scirocco and a Miata but the popular forums associated with them seem to be macho. Porsche engineering, even on our water-cooled misfits is far superior to VW or Mazda and I appreciate this forum's tone.
Randy

Thanks to you too Tidey. All oppinions conclude a solution.

Depends on how you use the car. to putz on over to Starbucks, not a big deal.

My 944 is a race car, so it's very important. four-wheel, alignment, corner balanced.

I like to sport drive and since it is my fourth car she's mostly a weekender. I like the 944 the best though. Being an engineer my biggest kicks come from working on her. Driving is secondary but she sure handles great. I guess I'll just settle for a front end only alignment. Again Thanks for the input.

One more comment....when you have the car aligned, it's a good idea to bring the car in in the "average" driving state - that is, the gas tank should be about 1/2 full or more and the shop should put weight in the front seats that represent the driver.

When I discussed getting the car aligned with the frame shop, they told me to bring it in with a full tank. Then they asked me if I usually drive with one or two people. As a result, they put 150 lbs in the driver seat only before doing the alignment. I don't know how much this helped but it was amazing how I could tell the difference in the alignment when I had just had it aligned two months earlier by a regular tire store.

Vern.

P.s. your car looks very clean and the red swaybar looks sweet!

Thanks Vern, I'll mention the weight in the front seat and the tank will be half full. I have an appointment for Wednesday morning.

I took nine months completly reconditioning her just after I bought it. It's about perfect now. Some like the red swaybar and some don't but I've allways liked to add color in unusual places.

Only issue I can't seem to resolve is the cruise control. I've cleaned two units an she still behaves irratically. I understand the next stop is the computer control unit.