I’ll be as brief as possible. I put a new steering rack in, SPC uppers, total front end rebuild. Rack was centered on threads on tie rod ends. Steering wheel was probably 360 off from center, clock spring broke of course.
OME lift installed, heavy rears but no bumper yet, my 4Runner sagged when loaded for a trip so I went heavy this time. Front was at maybe 20 3/4 inches hub to fender. Enough to ensure 2.5 inches of droop.
Took it to a shop in Layton Utah specializing in off road stuff. I get a call a couple hours later from the tech, saying I could raise the front quite a bit. Asked what my plans for the future were. I said a bumper, he said I could go up quite a bit. I work graves, I was tired, I figured he must know what he’s talking about, it’s a big shop, ok man, do another half inch.
Pick up the car, they tell me the ball joints were 180 degrees off. So the alignment was now $160. I bring my SPC instructions in with me, and a photo of the install prior to taking it to them. The tech tells me the SPC instructions are basically crap, and although I installed per the instructions, they install them opposite. They are telling me they install logo out, not logo in like SPC says. Tech then says he didn’t flip them, so the guy at the counter apologizes and removes the extra $80 charge. Ok.
I drive it home, steering is wandering, and on a bump I feel the wheels skip. Yeah, knew instantly he raised it too much. At the shop they told me the guy who did the alignment has and LX and knows cruisers. Uhhh, I’m doubtful now. So I’m a little pissed, wheel isn’t straight, but I suck it up. Droop is under 1.75 inches.
The next day I start putting all my brackets and bumper back on and lower it a bit to get my droop back. Then I notice one tie rod is screwed down to the end of the threads, and the other is out as far as it could go probably. I get more turns to the right, and it over turns actually. Buries the steering stop.
Well, now I know the rack wasn’t centered when I took it to them. Now I wonder why they would align it like that, with the rack obviously not centered. My fault for bringing it to them not centered and with a jenky wheel of course.
So I start heading to another shop, just a chain one that does alignments. I call the first shop on my way and explain the situation. The guy at the counter this time tells me that he’s not surprised it’s wandering and the wheel isnt straight. Basically says they shouldn’t have given me the car that way, the tech should have said something. Offers to give me a half price alignment and do the rack centering for shop time. I tell them if they had told me the day before that the rack was all jacked up, I would have told them just fix it and charge me. He says he will look into it and call me back.
Calls back a few minutes later and says they want to make it right and will do a free alignment and center the rack for shop time. I think that sounds ok and make an appointment two days out.
I’ve got to thinking about it, and it kind of rubs me wrong that they raised it too high, sent me on my way with a crappy alignment, tried to charge me for work that wasn’t even done (miscommunication?...).
Maybe they saw that my ABS sensor wire was broken (I’ve already fixed it) and sway bars were off (end links are coming in the mail tomorrow) and figured I half assed it, but surely the cleaned and painted LCAs, fresh ball joints and clean and painted torsion bar bracket must have indicated I give a crap.
Should I go back to the local off road shop or center the rack myself and go to the national chain guys?
OME lift installed, heavy rears but no bumper yet, my 4Runner sagged when loaded for a trip so I went heavy this time. Front was at maybe 20 3/4 inches hub to fender. Enough to ensure 2.5 inches of droop.
Took it to a shop in Layton Utah specializing in off road stuff. I get a call a couple hours later from the tech, saying I could raise the front quite a bit. Asked what my plans for the future were. I said a bumper, he said I could go up quite a bit. I work graves, I was tired, I figured he must know what he’s talking about, it’s a big shop, ok man, do another half inch.
Pick up the car, they tell me the ball joints were 180 degrees off. So the alignment was now $160. I bring my SPC instructions in with me, and a photo of the install prior to taking it to them. The tech tells me the SPC instructions are basically crap, and although I installed per the instructions, they install them opposite. They are telling me they install logo out, not logo in like SPC says. Tech then says he didn’t flip them, so the guy at the counter apologizes and removes the extra $80 charge. Ok.
I drive it home, steering is wandering, and on a bump I feel the wheels skip. Yeah, knew instantly he raised it too much. At the shop they told me the guy who did the alignment has and LX and knows cruisers. Uhhh, I’m doubtful now. So I’m a little pissed, wheel isn’t straight, but I suck it up. Droop is under 1.75 inches.
The next day I start putting all my brackets and bumper back on and lower it a bit to get my droop back. Then I notice one tie rod is screwed down to the end of the threads, and the other is out as far as it could go probably. I get more turns to the right, and it over turns actually. Buries the steering stop.
Well, now I know the rack wasn’t centered when I took it to them. Now I wonder why they would align it like that, with the rack obviously not centered. My fault for bringing it to them not centered and with a jenky wheel of course.
So I start heading to another shop, just a chain one that does alignments. I call the first shop on my way and explain the situation. The guy at the counter this time tells me that he’s not surprised it’s wandering and the wheel isnt straight. Basically says they shouldn’t have given me the car that way, the tech should have said something. Offers to give me a half price alignment and do the rack centering for shop time. I tell them if they had told me the day before that the rack was all jacked up, I would have told them just fix it and charge me. He says he will look into it and call me back.
Calls back a few minutes later and says they want to make it right and will do a free alignment and center the rack for shop time. I think that sounds ok and make an appointment two days out.
I’ve got to thinking about it, and it kind of rubs me wrong that they raised it too high, sent me on my way with a crappy alignment, tried to charge me for work that wasn’t even done (miscommunication?...).
Maybe they saw that my ABS sensor wire was broken (I’ve already fixed it) and sway bars were off (end links are coming in the mail tomorrow) and figured I half assed it, but surely the cleaned and painted LCAs, fresh ball joints and clean and painted torsion bar bracket must have indicated I give a crap.
Should I go back to the local off road shop or center the rack myself and go to the national chain guys?
