OUCH!!!, An expensive joy ride Options

[Carlitos Way]

Well, I decided I couldn't let my teener sit for another day and decided to take a nice cruise down Box Canyon and the Santa Susana Pass. Something didn't seem right, so I let off the engine and didn't really push it most of the way. On the way back, I could hear something in the tires didn't seem right... so I slowed down even more. I even pulled over and took a look at the tires, thinking one had gone soft. Didn't find any problems, so I kept going.

Back into town, and thinking it's time to take it home and take a deeper look. POP!!! All of a sudden the right front tire blew... Doing about 50 in a commercial area. Pulled over, and sure enough, right front tire blew.

But that wasn't the worst part of it. Somehow, something flew up (a chunk of the tire?) and hit the right door... left a really "nice" circular mark right in the middle of my door. It almost looks like a racing circle... except without the numbers.

So I had the car towed to the shop and purchased 4 new tires. Noticed that the PO had the aligment so bad, that the tires wore through on the inside. Down to the steel belts, but only on the second thread from the inside.

Now the next challenge is, finding the right place to do the alighment. Unfortunately, the only place "my mechanic" trusts for alignment is the dealer. I'm thinking this is gonna be expensive.

Any suggestions?

[ArtechnikA]

go to Harbor Freight and buy their toe gauge, a plumb bob, some string, a 6" machinist's rule calibrated in decimals (makes the math easier...) and their magnetic angle finder (inclinometer). you'll be out of there for about $35. find a straight and level place. hint: 12"x12" floor tiles are cheap and about 1/8" thick and for our cars, 1/8" is close enough to straight and level. shim the low spots.

then either search this forum or the internet for links on "alignment."

front toe and camber are not rocket science, but they do require patience, thought, and careful (repeatable) measurements.

this will get you close enough to be safe and not chew up tires.

when you need that last 0.001-sec to be competitive, the micrometer-alignment guys can get it for you.

[xsboost90]

theres gotta be some place out in cali that can do a decent alignment job. Theres a place here that does race cars and such and they only charge about 80-100 and ive never had any complaints.

[Joe Ricard]

QUOTE (ArtechnikA @ Jan 31 2005, 03:38 AM)

go to Harbor Freight and buy their toe gauge, a plumb bob, some string, a 6" machinist's rule calibrated in decimals (makes the math easier...) and their magnetic angle finder (inclinometer). you'll be out of there for about $35. find a straight and level place. hint: 12"x12" floor tiles are cheap and about 1/8" thick and for our cars, 1/8" is close enough to straight and level. shim the low spots. then either search this forum or the internet for links on "alignment." front toe and camber are not rocket science, but they do require patience, thought, and careful (repeatable) measurements. this will get you close enough to be safe and not chew up tires. when you need that last 0.001-sec to be competitive, the micrometer-alignment guys can get it for you.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)
There is a tech article on PP that talks about home alignments. I can get it real close, not scrubbing tires off and have made my car much faster on the AX courses. I was sort of forced to do it myself because I can't get my car up on the alignment racks. TOOOO LOOOOWWWWW. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[ArtechnikA]

QUOTE (Joe Ricard @ Jan 31 2005, 09:15 AM)

...I was sort of forced to do it myself because I can't get my car up on the alignment racks.

i decided to get better at this fairly straightforward task after several bad experiences at "the pros."

one shop (the best place in town) used their lovely Hunter computerised rack to give me a printout with all the measurements and angles. then they proceeded to use their impact gun to strip the camber clamp nuts. t'was a good thing i had a BIG pile of spare hardware when i got to the track and couldn't keep the inside of the tire off the strut...

[SLITS]

Johnson in Torrance is who used to do our race cars...very good.

Also, Bud's Tire & Wheel in Riverside, CA....Manny is the one who does them and does them right..period!!

[Joe Bob]

Yeah Johnson Alignment in Torrance is good, but you feel like yer spchinter is stretched when done. He had a Oriental guy that left there that has his own shop in the same area, he's a bit more reasonable....can't think of his name though.....might wanna try the little winkie board.

I finally found a local guy here in town that I talked into buying some scales for corner balancing and he sent his alignment guy to Porsche school....so I don't have to go to SmelLa no more....he does 20 P-car jobs a month so it was worth it to him.

[Aaron Cox]

QUOTE (SLITS @ Jan 31 2005, 08:48 AM)

Also, Bud's Tire & Wheel in Riverside, CA....Manny is the one who does them and does them right..period!!

duid my car.... he be good

[Carlitos Way]

Thanks for your suggestions, guys. So now it's off to either Santa Barbara or Riverside... Hmmm equidistant?

[boxstr]

Carlos I would check and see what the cost difference is in a two and four wheel alignment.
I have always noticed a real positive chnage when I had the four wheel alignment done. Cost more but I think it is worth it in the long run.
CCLINTOEINTOEOUT

[Aaron Cox]

manny is about 100 bucks + rear shims....

did mine for 60..... cuz it took him too long to get around to my car (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

[Carlitos Way]

Problem is.. if I'm going to take the car somewhere... I have to be able to take it in, and go out same day. Not easy to take time off, yaknow?

[SLITS]

Call a-head (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smoke.gif)

(951) 351-1319....ask to set an appointment with Manny for a four wheel alignment..He speaks Porscheze.

Why would you want to go to SB and listen to Zois anyway (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/icon8.gif)

[Joe Bob]

805-964-1167 Superior Brake and Alignment, ask for Bob the owner....tell him ya know me. Make an appointment and he will get ya in and out....might wanna do a corner balance as well...

[Carlitos Way]

Thanks for the heads up, Mike.

Pardon the ignorance... but what's a "corner balance"?

[SLITS]

QUOTE (cmolina @ Jan 31 2005, 12:13 PM)

Thanks for the heads up, Mike. Pardon the ignorance... but what's a "corner balance"?

They stand the car upright on one wheel and balance it (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

Equal weight on each wheel.....

[Carlitos Way]

Wow... Who'd have thunk it!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/blink.gif)

[ArtechnikA]

QUOTE (cmolina @ Jan 31 2005, 02:13 PM)

Pardon the ignorance... but what's a "corner balance"?

time for another refresher course in "the use of the SEARCH" function.

when you find yourself thinking "surely i am not the first person who asked this question" probably you are right.

click Search. type in "corner AND balance". select a time frame of interest, such as the past year. click "perform the search". wait a moment as thousands of posts are searched. observe the 3 pages of posts on corner weighting.

for example.

not picking on you.

lots of people could answer their own questions if they'd just look for the answer that was already posted the last time the question came up.

[Joe Bob]

You can also adjust for front to rear weight as well....somewhat. The CB will also give you an overall weight of your car that's more accurate than the scale at the Dump... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif) ....

[Spoke]

Excuse me for the simple question, but why is a 914 so hard to align? The front end (once the ride height is adjusted), seems straight forward with toe, caster, and camber adjustments. I've done the alignment as specified on Pelican Parts which isn't hard. The rear end seems a bit unusual with its toe and camber adjustments. But neither seems to be unique.

I've taken my cars to National Tire and Battery (NTB) which I think Sears owns now for alignments. One thing that I like about them is that they have plans for 6 month, 12 month, and 36 month alignments. Here in PA, a great alignment can be undone with one hit of a major pothole. I did this in Jersey last year in my A6, and bent 2 rims while I was at it. NTB will check and re-align within the plan time period for free. This also works out good if you change a part like a tie rod end and want to re-align.

So I'm thinking of taking my 914 to NTB. Have been talking to them about specs and things. They haven't come up with a reason it wouldn't work.

What am I missing about the difficulty in aligning 914s? Is it because the car is so low?

Thanks,
Spoke