need some help with lowered box

fztcar · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 433 Location: Champaign, IL

Hello. I dropped my box on Tein S-Techs this weekend and was told I now need to get an alignment on the wheels. I went to three different places today and got extremely different price quotes. The first place (Tires Plus) said I needed camber kits plus the alignment and it would run me $360 for 4 hours of work. The 2nd place (Beaumont Alignment) said a camber kit was probably not necessary and they could do it for between $70-95 (assuming it wasnt too low for them to get onto the ramp...), and it would take less then an hour. And the third place was Midas and they said that it could go either way and i needed to get the specs from the companys website (Tein USA) before they could quote me better. Oh and I went to a 4th place (Car X) and they refuse to do an alignment on lowered vehicles.

So now my question is, what actually needs to be done to my box for an alignment after dropping it aproximatly 1.5 inches? And which of these places would you suggest taking it to? Im just confused and dont want to end up overpaying for something I dont need.

Thanks for your help.

On a side note, love the look of it lowered...

PhillyCamoBox · Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 2702 Location: Philadelphia, PA

um you shouldnt need anything at all camber wise... 360$ wow

MadMike550 · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 350 Location: Wisconsin

bring it to beaumont

burstaneurysm · Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Posts: 6222 Location: Forest Park, IL

An alignment shouldn't cost more than $80.
Your camber shouldn't be too out of whack on S.Techs. If anything, the only thing that would likely need adjustment is the toe. The rear wheels are pretty much non-adjustable, so you're only really talking front wheels.

Tell Tires Plus to eat it.

ShockTherapy · Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 95 Location: 60417

MadMike550 wrote: bring it to beaumont

X2

i took mine to an NTB, $100 bucks, and i get free alignments for a year, which is cool, because i got a freebie when i pulled it all apart to put my tokikos in.

snowromance · Posted: 7/28/08 12:00PM Post subject:

i've been lowered on stechs for about 5 months now i think. haven't gotten an alignment. nothing feels any different except for the slightly stiffer ride of course. and my tires are wearing evenly. are you sure you need an alignment?

dibbz · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 1443 Location: hillsboro

have had my s-techs on for almost a year now
done nothing but put the springs in
rotate my tires every oil change
my tires wear just fine also..

PhillyCamoBox · Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 2702 Location: Philadelphia, PA

ive been lowered quite awhile on different sets of springs with the trd suspension my wheel is slightly off to the left however i have had 3 different tires on the car and all wore evenly. i will be getting it aligned soon as im coming up on 50k miles so i want to go through all my fluids and such, make sure its all up to par.

irelandsboy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Urbana Ohio

I installed the eibach sport line springs in about one hour and didnt have to do an alig. been riding great for over a year.

turbotim · Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 62

First you are only on springs and dont even have a 2inch drop which is pretty much as keep'in it stop height. Second I also algn my cars when I drop them on coilovers but thats a 4-6 inch drop not 1.5 lol. You will be fine

tCscotty · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 415 Location: southern wisconsin

Best thing to do is get quotes without telling them you are lowered. Then go from there.
Your camber will be slightly off, but your main consern is going to be the toe adjustment. It may not even be off because of the springs. Daily driving will mess up your alignment more than changing your springs.
$360 is f'ing robbery.

kewlbox · Joined: 29 Apr 2005 Posts: 672 Location: Lomira, Wisconsin

I'm on tanabes and my toyota dealer did it for 75 or 80.
And i have no uneven wear on my tires after 8,000 miles.

TheTransporter · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Troutdale, OR

Geez $360 for an alignment w/ camber kit? I lowered my box on Stechs/KYB GRX's about a month ago and did my alignment after getting new wheels and tires. I ended up paying 120.00 for my alignment w/ rear camber shims. The name of the shop that performed the work is The Line Up Shop and they are used by a number of dealerships and are highly recommended by the local mechanics in my area. Too bad they're only located here in Portland. Main difference between them and most alignment shops ii that they use pits as opposed to lifts. I've always been told to avoid the tire shops for alignments. However, firestone isn't too bad if you're on the lifetime alignment plan. Anyways my recommendation would be to either take it to Beaumont Alignment since it is they're specialty or to the dealer (or whomever they recommend). Screw the tire shop, they'll probably mess it up anways.

hwybox · Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 445 Location: "big" O

kewlbox wrote: I'm on tanabes and my toyota dealer did it for 75 or 80.
And i have no uneven wear on my tires after 8,000 miles.

I also went to the Scion dealer. $85 my VSC ABS CEL all came on about a week after I lowered it, they said it was just out of alignment. Do not listen to what other are saying about not gettin a alignment you can do more than tire damage, over time your trans and other suspension parts will ware and fail long before they should, and its just the safe thing to do. Dont pay over $90 for it.

NorCal76 · Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 51 Location: Surprise, AZ

My two cents... don't worry about doing an alignment unless you notice a problem. I am on Progress springs (approx. 1.5" drop) and had no problems with my alignment or tires after the install. I recently had new brake pads put on and only a slight adjustment was made to the toe angle. They (Brakes Plus) didn't even charge me for the alignment since it was so minor--either that or it was because of my good looks.

swartzautoman · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 1514 Location: MID MO

i got mine done about 2 month after lowering it on s-techs and it was $60 for front end only, the toe was only out by a little bit, plus i had the echo struts up front.
also being lowered doesn't effect the specs anyway, at least not on pur cars anyway

tell Tires Plus to suck it because they don't know what they are talking about.
you came to the right place asking us for advice

Sciond · Posted: 7/29/08 12:27PM Post subject:

placed in correct area....

fztcar · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 433 Location: Champaign, IL

hey guys. thanks for all of your help. i had the alignment done at beaumont alignment this morning. It cost me $70. Thanks for helping me make the right choice and not cost myself allot more money.