Good place for 4 wheel alignment?

pryantcc

Hi,
As the title says, does anyone know or can anyone recommend a good place to get 4 wheel alignment and camber adjustment done?
I took my .92 Merc to Atlas in Sandyford and they told me the don't really work on old cars. I quickly pointed out the enormous picture on the wall behind the counter showing a Delorean up on their ramp!

They did it, but I'm not all that happy with the result.

Kenny Logins

pryantcc wrote: »

Hi,
As the title says, does anyone know or can anyone recommend a good place to get 4 wheel alignment and camber adjustment done?
I took my .92 Merc to Atlas in Sandyford and they told me the don't really work on old cars. I quickly pointed out the enormous picture on the wall behind the counter showing a Delorean up on their ramp!

They did it, but I'm not all that happy with the result.

It's computerised, it will work on any car on the system, was it aligned to spec? If it doesn't feel right something else could be the problem.

CJhaughey

Find a competent garage with a 4 wheel system, its not the machinery its the guy spinning the spanners that makes the difference.
Anyone telling you that they don't work on older cars isn't worth dealing with IMO.
My local guy has no problem ovalising holes in shocks if they won't come to tolerance in normal adjustment.

pryantcc

Kenny Logins wrote: »

It's computerised, it will work on any car on the system, was it aligned to spec? If it doesn't feel right something else could be the problem.

I wasn't there to see what they did, but I looked underneath later on and it did seem that they had opened the relevant bolts, etc. I thought the car would run in a lovely straight line once it was done, but it still pulls to one side. NCT has always said rear was 15 degrees out, next one due in a few weeks, so will see then if its any different. There is play in the steering box, but it should still run straight even without a steering box!

swarlb

CJhaughey wrote: »

Find a competent garage with a 4 wheel system, its not the machinery its the guy spinning the spanners that makes the difference.
Anyone telling you that they don't work on older cars isn't worth dealing with IMO.
My local guy has no problem ovalising holes in shocks if they won't come to tolerance in normal adjustment.

The reason many places don't want to deal with older cars, is the potential for something to be seized or to break.
Does your man have the capability to fix all older cars, things from the 20's, 30's, 40's 50's etc.
A car that needs someone to take a drill to it, to 'ovalise' holes in order to make an adjustment, has something wrong with it, other than simple adjustment.
If a mechanic did that to a car with or without the owners consent they are leaving themselves open to a lawsuit.

CJhaughey

swarlb wrote: »

The reason many places don't want to deal with older cars, is the potential for something to be seized or to break.
Does your man have the capability to fix all older cars, things from the 20's, 30's, 40's 50's etc.
A car that needs someone to take a drill to it, to 'ovalise' holes in order to make an adjustment, has something wrong with it, other than simple adjustment.
If a mechanic did that to a car with or without the owners consent they are leaving themselves open to a lawsuit.

I am talking about a 92 Merc not a model T and in any case things can be seized on cars newer than that, especially if they have spent any time on salted roads.
Many cars need adjustment outside the normal tolerance due to manufacturing tolerance being low, indeed brand new cars often come with bad suspension setup, Renault Fluence being one of the most commonly encountered.

A competent mechanic should be able to make things fit, its called fettling and is a skill that is learnt on the job and with experience.
In this day and age unfortunately what you have said regarding legal force means that indeed many otherwise good mechanics are loath to do this and consequently many people are driving sub-optimally adjusted machinery.
In my case ovalising a hole in a shock absorber mounting was a simple task involving a rat tail file, and the removal of about 2mm of material, this would not even begin to affect the structural properties of the shock.
It made the car a lot better to drive though.

The choice in the end is yours, you can either ignore the problem and hope it doesn't affect the car too badly or find a good mechanic that knows his stuff and how to get things to work properly.
Some modern workshops can barely diagnose problems with a computer without throwing parts at the problem in the hope it will fix it.

beanderb4

I had a very different experience with Atlas on the kylemore road. The did 4 wheel alignment on my '68 car and were very helpful. They have also offered to make up an exhaust for the car for a very reasonable price.

They were excellent.

kdevitt

Always had a good alignment job done at Dave McCann's in Coolmine.