Alignment Mission: Impossible

[spideyrdr]

Just looking for a reality check here. I think I got hosed out of $130 on an alignment.

I replaced basically everything involving my front suspension over the last week. New steering knuckles, new lower control arms, inner tie rod on the driver side, outer tie rods on both sides, both CV axles are new, brand new hubs, new sway bar bushings and end links.....

The upper control arms are the old school JBA non-greaseable parts, but I replaced the upper ball joints with the MOOG's as one would do when you're in this deep, so I would have thought there was no way I would end up with that much positive camber.

Took it in for an alignment to a shop and they literally only adjusted the toe - and made the camber WAY worse. Caster is somehow virtually unchanged.

A visual inspection of the LCA bolts shows there is a LOT of space left to adjust outward for caster and camber.

Are they incompetent or am I misunderstanding the reason they went 'fix the toe first' approach?

 

[duderz7]

That cost for an alignment is good, but it seems they're incompetent. Take it back and ask them to try again.

 

[spideyrdr]

To follow up on my post, I called the shop and explained the issue, and they asked me to bring it back in.
They fiddled and twiddled with it for the better part of the day, and now the alignment is much closer to spec. Still not 100% for whatever reason, but they fixed it as much as they could. The guy cited the age and the POTENTIAL of out-of-spec parts as a possible cause.
The guys at the shop genuinely seem like good dudes, but it really ***** they botched the initial attempt. I guess the moral of the story is don't assume even a reputable shop is going to get a good alignment on a lifted Liberty.

 

[Luke]

I had similar problems and a very competent (off road and racing) shop. After my lift and JBA’s it took quite a few trips and messing around before they got it right.

 

[lfhoward]

What I remember Tommudd saying is that you have to sacrifice a little caster to get the camber and toe in spec. Those two are the most important for handling and tire wear. The caster being a little out means the steering wheel doesn’t return to center on its own as easily as before, but I can live with that.

 

[mercdudecbr600]

Lifetime alignments are great for this exact reason.

But never fool proof. Right now I can’t keep the toe in spec because (I think) of bad steering rack bushings. And this makes my kj drift pretty good to the right and wonder a bit down the road.

 

[lfhoward]

Lifetime alignments are great for this exact reason.

But never fool proof. Right now I can’t keep the toe in spec because (I think) of bad steering rack bushings. And this makes my kj drift pretty good to the right and wonder a bit down the road.

Check out new bushings by a company called Creative Steel. I just replaced my old worn out steering rack bushings with these and it is a night and day difference in terms of predictable handling.

 

[cas123]

Even without a lift I had to have mine aligned twice. Not a lot of faith in garages these days.