alignment shop f**ked up my alignment.

[1986.5supra_kid]

So I have just got done replacing all of the front and rear bushings with Energy suspension parts and added eibach springs to my tokico struts. needless to say but i have alot of time and money tied up in this car ive had for 4 years now. so i had marked the position of the camber bolts on all arms that have them. and returned them to this position.everything was spotless and lubricated as needed. well the shop bent the tabs the cam bolts rotate against, then tried welding the tabs back and set fire to the es bushing, then stripped the bolt. i then made a trip to a junkyard to replace the broke bolt and then they had kinda fixed the tabs for cam, but there still a little bent. anyways $80 and 8 hours later i have 3/8 toe in on front,1/8 toe on rear,camber is unknown. oh and the steering wheel is crooked too. they thought it drove good for a 26year old car. and this was the recommended shop in my town by the old folks. SMH its been a horrible day.

 

[gsxr141]

i would definitely be asking for a refund AND make them replace the parts they broke with new ones.

 

[yhatzee89]

What. The. Fuck.

 

[sheedy126]

Sounds like that shop needs to buy some bushing for you and give you a refund

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Silver MK3]

I would insist that they pay you for the new parts you need, and that they compensate you for your time that you will spend fixing this. They should not have been doing any of that for an alignment.

 

[jdmfreak]

Yeah why everyone else has said this is bull shit there is no reason they should have messed up anything let alone destroyed anything they should compensate you at the least

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

Gonna take it to the better business bureau. But in the mean time id like to fix it right and get it back on the road. I tried to fix the tabs but it may come down to cutting them and adding 1/4 square stock in place and I'm tempted to buy all new camber bolts. :/ I can't see why eibachs and polyurethane bushings would be so hard to align? Is there just not enough adjustment? All the camber bolts are turned 90° from where it sat on stock springs and bushings.

Played GTA 5 for a few hours with roommate. Still didn't calm me down. There is nothing worse than someone messing up something you worked so hard on just so some daft hick with a hammer to show how smart he is with cars. Sorry for the vent on the subject but let this be a lesson to anyone else.glad

 

[supraguy@aol]

OUCH.

Sorry to hear about this.

 

[Nick M]

Are the springs lower than stock ride height?

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

Yesir. 1.5" drop in front.
1" drop in rear

 

[SupraStoked]

Yea man thats so fucked up, i wouldn't have left the shop until they gave me my money back and fixed it the right way, (or at least put it on paper that the would).

I'm going to save myself the headache and fork up the money to take mine to Toyota for the full alignment.

 

[T3rril79]

Geez, it's almost like you can't trust anyone these days. Taking it to the BBB is a good idea. Most people would just eat the cost and try again.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

I hope you payed by credit card and they have some kind of consumer protection against shit like this. If you did, contact you CC company and tell them what they did and demand a refund. Then get with the shop manager and see about them making the wrongs right.

If you payed by check I would immediately put a stop payment on that check and contact the shop manager to remedy their fuck up. Stop payment will cost you around $25 depending on your bank, but when you cut them a new check write it for the amount they're asking minus the stop payment fee. They'll just have to live with it.

If you payed cash... talk to the owner of the business and what they did and hopefully he'll make the decision to make it right. You can ask for a refund, but good luck on that.

Yes, I would report them to the BBB. Give them the chance to make it right first. Their mechanical error could have been the decision of a half ass mechanic that made the dumb ass decision to fuck up your car to get the job done. Maybe the owner of the shop with make it right and take it out of that half ass hacks pay. You never know


BTW, is this a popular name brand shop like Midas, Firestone, or Meineke. If so, you'll have much better luck contacting Corporate about the screw up. They definitely make it right. They don't stand behind half ass hacks fucking up customers cars. If it's Don's Fish Chips & Suspensions then you'll have a tougher time getting somewhere.

 

[Nick M]

Yesir. 1.5" drop in front.
1" drop in rear

When you do this, the alignment angles are now wrong. There is only so much compensation from the eccentric bolts. Using a torch to heat up rusted/frozen bolts is common practice in areas that have such issues.

 

[supraguy@aol]

I don't see how your bolts could be rusted if you just had them off while replacing all the bushings?

 

[Nick M]

I don't see how your bolts could be rusted if you just had them off while replacing all the bushings?

I don't either. And the OP saying everything is good does not mean it is good. Just read the posts in this place. And that does not take away from the fact that the field is polluted with people that lack the aptitude and education to do the job.

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

Bolts were spotless. Looked close to new. Also they didn't release the mats that the tires sit on so your not forcing the tires to flex on the machine. I'll try Toyota or this other shop that has done good work for my friend. Hope the tabs are strong enough for one more alignment :/

 

[super51fan]

If the camber adjusting bolts turn freely I don't see how your tabs got bent over. Heck they probably have been bent over everytime an alignment was done since 1989. They should have sold you more stuff before trying an alignment. Why not take the car to a Toyota dealer for an alignment. Maybe you will get lucky and have someone that have aligned a supra before. Maybe.

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

well i went to toyota and asked for the master mechanic. he sayed what he would do is go to this old dude named seymore out in BFE and have him sort it out. he highly recommended this old guy. the reason why they cant fix it is because he feels the only way to truely fix it is to weld the tab. they dont have a welder though. so i left the car at this old dudes place. he seemed very meticulus on how he worked. everything was clean and organized. his son does most of the work now 3rd generation on the busniess from what he says. there alighnment machine is something that looks old as dirt but they say that the best way is the old way. anyways i explained that the tabs where bent and would need some weld or support behind them and that the bushings are high dollar and that i would pay them for the time and effort to drop the control arms while welding the tabs up. Really this alignment should have been simple. but that just proves that you cant find good mechanics in my town. hope this turns out better. worst case scenerio i buy new bushings and buy a welder and add 1/4 square stock and some camber bolts and drive it to a well know person.

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

this is just a one of the bolts