This was ALIGNMENT NUMBER 3 in 4 days! Here's how it went down...



I spent Saturday and Sunday banging my rotors to do a Brembo brake swap. I got everything put back together and thought it good to get an alignment. I have lifetime alignment through Firestone, so why the hell not?



Wednesday: I went on my lunch break and told the guy I wasn't worried about anything except toe, just get that fixed and I'll be good. He gets it on the rack and brings me the BEFORE sheet. Front camber was -1.0 and -1.6, and since I noticed a little pull to the left I asked if he could match them up and he said sure. 45 MINUTES LATER he comes to me and said he can't get the camber matched up, and it's now -0.6 and -1.6. (Note: I have both Camber Bolts and Camber Plates) I told him just fix the toe and not worry about the camber. He does, and I leave. He obviously didn't know what he was doing so I just wanted my car out of there.



Thursday: I go to the Firestone close to home. The guy there is actually highly recommended, has done the setup on a few local drift cars and has great references from friends with lowered vehicles. He's done my setup once before and will dial in however I want. I take it there, watch him do the work, and leave satisfied. It's only 2.5 miles from my house, and on the way home I realize my steering wheel is at 11:00 to drive straight. I think it's no big deal and I'll just go back the next day since it was already night.



Friday: I go to work. As I get on the interstate (less than 2 miles from my house) I get this OMG WTF I'M GOING TO DIE! feeling. It's pouring rain, and I have absolutely no control over my vehicle. I'm fish tailing, I'm drifting left and right within my lane, and as long as I drive slow (50-60mph) and don't switch lanes, I'm okay. At this point I'm trying to determine whether it's the roads, the rain, bad tires, or the alignment. I attribute it to a little of each since it's been a while since I drove my car in the rain. I gingerly make my way to work in time for a very important meeting. Work sucks, I'm there late, and I can't get to Firestone before they close. f*ck. Oh well, I'll hit 'em up in the morning.



Saturday: I'm hanging out with the wife, watching movies, being lazy, and remember I needed to go buy a torque wrench. I get in my car and head to Northern Tool & Equipment. HOLY f*ck!! I have no control of my car!! It's even worse than it was yesterday! I head for Firestone, and explain this sh*t is not safe to drive and I need it fixed! They get it on the rack, and here is the readout - can you guess why my vehicle was driving itself and I had no control?! 2.10 TOTAL TOE?!



Yes! Those were my alignment specs when they put my car on the rack this afternoon!



I was irate. Yes, the alignment guy is good, but the mother f*cker didn't tighten my sh*t down!!! "That's odd, I usually have a problem of over tightening." - which is true, neither impact gun was able to get the top bolt loose on the front to adjust my camber, but I guess he forgot all about the rear end. That sh*t is dangerous!



At the end of the day, I was just happy to get my sh*t lined up and working perfectly. It drives great now, corners amazing, and I made sure he tightened the sh*t down. My toe is now between 0 and 0.10 and the camber is right where I want it (-2.4 in the rear). Front camber is about -1.5 and I didn't pay a dime for the 4+ hours my car spent on the rack this week.





Oh, and here's my new brake setup :biggrin:

 

maybe you found out why the local drift guys like him?

 

Perhaps I was being warned when I thought I was receiving a suggestion.

 

Proof you need to be there eyeballing everything these guys do. I do it all the time. It's annoying to them but I'll periodically walk into the garage and ask them if everything is going as planned.



I really hate dropping my car off with somebody that isn't meticulous about their work. Annoying as hell.

 

Jeepers creepers. I guess if they know that they're working for 'free', they can sometimes get sloppy.

 

lol when i worked at nissan we had a guy who would use shims between the alignment head to avoid actually doin a hard alignment



got caught and fired, he would do a 4 wheel alignment in about 12 minutes

 

I did watch my car, standing there the entire time and watching him adjust everything, telling him exactly what specs I wanted. I did not go under my car with a wrench and check to make sure each bolt was tight.



There were actually two people working on it since I was the only car in there, and I think that made it worse. Perhaps one person assumed the other was going to do something, or maybe I talked to him too much and distracted him from his normal routine.



Whatever happened, he's at fault, but there's nothing I could have done myself to ensure it was done properly.

 

THIS!



I work in HVAC. I get this ALL THE TIME! It drives me nuts when people watch what I'm doing (even though I answer "no prob" when they ask if they can watch. WTF am I suppose to say?). Do you really think I'm not going to do my job properly if you aren't watching me!? You called me, let me do my job. I actually do a better job when people aren't watching me as I'm able to follow my routine/think without distractions. What you do for a living? Would you want someone watching you while you do your work? Standing over your shoulder asking 101 questions you've heard 101 times before? It's a pain in the ass!



Just my

 

^ this.



I never want anybody to touch my anything, but when I do need professional assistance, I try to be right there watching if I can do it without being in the way. If something is non-obvious I will ask a question but if I can see they need to concentrate or if I catch a vibe like they don't want to be bothered I'll just hang back. I find people are more tolerant of my putting them in the goldfish bowl if I phrase it as "I want to know/learn more about or am interested in what you are doing" vs. "nobody touches my sh(t so don't f(ck it up" I know a lot about a lot and don't ask REALLY stupid questions, so usually people don't mind answering. Also if I phrase questions so they can tell I understand what is going on for the most part and see things from their perspective.



P.S. I'm glad you survived driving the suicide setup long enough to get it fixed!

 

I swear this just sounds dirty, this would be an awesome sig