Front Alignment - Am I being fed Bull$hit ?

Chuckster · May 22, 2004

I took my 2001 Tahoe to Firestone for a Rotate and Front Alignment..

I know cars inside and out and I already knew the Camber was out cause the inside edge was worn pretty bad on fairly new tires.

The mechanic came out and told me that I had to come back to get the Camber perfect.He got it close but not right on. Said it was 1/2hr labor for each side.. Another $80 on top of the normal alignment price.

Some crap about punching out some plate up top to give more camber adjust.

The story just was full of holes...

OK, the truck had a big negative camber so other than wearing the tires...She tracked dead straight. So he fixed the Camber and got it close.. Which meant he had to give it a more positive camber in relation to where it was..

Then he tells me that since it needs to go more positive the truck will tend to wander on road ruts and crowns.. This is total BS.. That means he is going to make it even worse if I come back and makes it more positive... WTF??????

Right now the truck is fine and I have no intentions of having the extra work done... Except for the MORON did not get the Steering Wheel straight before he did the alignment.. AAAAGH!!! I have had tons of alignments since I first started driving.... more than 50% of them the jerk did not set the wheel straight and I had to return to get it fixed...What is it with people???

And when I remember to remind them before they start... They get all indignant like they don't know crap.. Well they don't!

Frank S · May 22, 2004

BS.

The new gen Tahoes/Burbs do not have the alignment plate/knockoffs that the last generation did.I'd talk to someone higher up in that store to ensure it has already been done correctly.

Chuckster · May 22, 2004

BS.

The new gen Tahoes/Burbs do not have the alignment plate/knockoffs that the last generation did.I'd talk to someone higher up in that store to ensure it has already been done correctly.

So you are saying that the fact that I have a 2001 means they should not have a problem doing the alignment correctly? In other words... BS to stiff me for another $80

citydriver · May 22, 2004

I agree with Frank S...I think GM stopped using the knock-outs in the '99 models...

I'd talk to the manager, at the very least to get the wheel straight

99-2door · May 22, 2004

The 88-98 generation had tabs that had to be knocked out, and you would be charged extra if that had to be done.

I agree with the others, The NBS trucks and tahoes have a completely different alignment system and do not require this.

Somebody is trying to stiff you on the alignment.

az'03Silverado · May 22, 2004

Take it to Sears. I took my '03 Silverado there at 6000 miles because it wandered a lot and pulled off to the right. The dealership didn't even fix it when I took it there. The manager at Sears told me that Chevy puts in the extra camber to give the trucks a tighter turning radius and keep them tracking straight down the road. He said that because of the extra camber, you should have the tires rotated at closer intervals (3-4K miles instead of 7500). It turns out that on my truck the left wheel had the extra camber but the right wheel didn't so it pulled to the right and was hard to keep in a straight line. All fixed by Sears and I haven't had a problem since. Plus, once you buy a rotation, it's free from then on. Which makes the 3-4K mile interval easier to swallow.