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?

[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)