[Roostie]

I had a bad experience with Firestone. They got me to buy the $200 lifetime alignment, but then claimed they could only get to 1.4 degrees negative camber. Whether by accident or by design, it was their way of keeping me from returning.
An independent shop with low prices got the settings wrong, including my steering wheel angle - so sloppy, and I chose not to return.
At my preferred Chevy dealer, I paid $130 for the alignment, but the technician got 2.0 negative like I wanted, and talked to me twice in the waiting area during the job, to discuss alignment settings and clearance between my aftermarket wheels and the strut.
My experience is you have to shop around to find a good alignment station that is willing to meet the needs for a track/autocross driver.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by Roostie

I had a bad experience with Firestone. They got me to buy the $200 lifetime alignment, but then claimed they could only get to 1.4 degrees negative camber.

They probably just didn't know to disengage the splines on the 2 front bolts on each side. They are hidden and you max out under -2 degrees front if they are not disengaged during the alignment. This happened to me on my first trip there too but I went back after researching the cause and they were able to get -2.4 degrees front.

[Roostie]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

They probably just didn't know to disengage the splines on the 2 front bolts on each side. They are hidden and you max out under -2 degrees front if they are not disengaged during the alignment. This happened to me on my first trip there too but I went back after researching the cause and they were able to get -2.4 degrees front.

I pulled up pics and description about that on my laptop, showing how to adjust the camber, and the guy still claimed he could only get 1.4. Maybe it was a case of failed communication, but I didn't trust that place afterwards. On my car max negative is 2.0; I may get camber plates so I can get the 3.0 that I want, and perhaps avoid running 5mm spacers, too.


Getting back to original question about alignment pricing, I've seen it range from $40 to $300 for a track-oriented shop that manually strung the car and put sandbags in the driver's seat equal to my weight. I wouldn't trust the cheapest, and I expect to pay about $120 for a good job here in San Diego.

[GAFUN]

My local dealer (John Megal in Dawsonville) has a GREAT Vette/Camaro tech that
also does the track alignments.

I am getting a track alignment done Monday for $119.


Russ

[Val Walkinshaw]

Originally Posted by OhioRiderAaron

I'm in Columbus and ended up just going to Jack Maxton to get my alignment done. They had a special running for $79 and they got me close to the alignment specs I asked for (at the expense of my front splitter lol). No way an alignment is worth over 120 IMO, even NTB will do a respectable job.

I was going to go to auto body specialist on 5th in Columbus for $139. Do u recommend your place instead?

[OhioRiderAaron]

Originally Posted by Val Walkinshaw

I was going to go to auto body specialist on 5th in Columbus for $139. Do u recommend your place instead?

Honestly I had AutoBody Specialist paint an old E30 of mine so I'm a bit salty when it comes to those guys. They do work on a lot autoX cars tho so you shouldn't have any issues with them on that front.

An alignment is an alignment, there's no reason by a $49 alignment can't be as good as a $200 performance shop one. It's more about the people doing the work and their familiarity with the vehicle and willingness to meet your specs. I used to do the 3-5yr unlimited alignments with NTB but have since given up on those guys (took my Lexus and my M3 there for years tho).

Honestly if you can find one of the dealers offering an alignment special I would just go that route as they obviously work on Camaros more often then anyone else. I typically don't use dealers but if they offer the best price and mostly know what they're doing it shouldn't be an issue at all! However, if you feel more comfortable going to a "race" or specialist shop then go for it.

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by OhioRiderAaron

Honestly I had AutoBody Specialist paint an old E30 of mine so I'm a bit salty when it comes to those guys. They do work on a lot autoX cars tho so you shouldn't have any issues with them on that front.

An alignment is an alignment, there's no reason by a $49 alignment can't be as good as a $200 performance shop one. It's more about the people doing the work and their familiarity with the vehicle and willingness to meet your specs. I used to do the 3-5yr unlimited alignments with NTB but have since given up on those guys (took my Lexus and my M3 there for years tho).

Honestly if you can find one of the dealers offering an alignment special I would just go that route as they obviously work on Camaros more often then anyone else. I typically don't use dealers but if they offer the best price and mostly know what they're doing it shouldn't be an issue at all! However, if you feel more comfortable going to a "race" or specialist shop then go for it.

If you have aftermarket suspension or camber plates a performance shop may be more used to handling such things. Also, they may be better at getting the most camber out of the car. The Camaro isn't the easiest to get max camber on. The shop that I go to is very precise with the specs, whereas when I would go to something like a Firestone there was a higher tolerance for variation between corners.

[OhioRiderAaron]

Originally Posted by foshjowler

If you have aftermarket suspension or camber plates a performance shop may be more used to handling such things. Also, they may be better at getting the most camber out of the car. The Camaro isn't the easiest to get max camber on. The shop that I go to is very precise with the specs, whereas when I would go to something like a Firestone there was a higher tolerance for variation between corners.

Good points! I totally forgot about people running aftermarket camber plates. Either way I think OP will go to go!

[Texan4iu]

I've finally found a Firestone that was willing to do the track alignment on my 1LE. They were able to get the specs that I requested. However, I took it back there for some minor adjustments (to get toe back to zero) just after driving about 10 street miles (no curbs or pot holes were hit). My left front toe went from .05 to .13. The right front toe went from .04 to .12. Total toe went from .09 to .25. The right rear toes went from .08 to .13. Doesn't that seem a bit much of a change in just a short amount of driving? Any suggestions as what to tell them when I go back?

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by Texan4iu

I've finally found a Firestone that was willing to do the track alignment on my 1LE. They were able to get the specs that I requested. However, I took it back there for some minor adjustments (to get toe back to zero) just after driving about 10 street miles (no curbs or pot holes were hit). My left front toe went from .05 to .13. The right front toe went from .04 to .12. Total toe went from .09 to .25. The right rear toes went from .08 to .13. Doesn't that seem a bit much of a change in just a short amount of driving? Any suggestions as what to tell them when I go back?

My guess is that it changed when they finished tightening everything after they printed the sheet out.

[Texan4iu]

Or maybe they didn't tighten everything back up (or at least not tighten adequately)?

[Future1LEa10]

I just had the dealer do mine on my ZL1. Was $89.95 all in.

[cdrptrks]

Maybe it wasn't tightened enough. You can bring them the attached torque + angle specs from the thread linked at the bottom or just tell them to tighten it extremely well this time, and make sure they do that while the measurement devices are on the wheels to make sure the values don't move while tightening.

Also Hunter WinToe targets 0.10 front toe on the screen for the default SS 1LE alignment so 0 on the WinToe screen = 0.10. You want them to display actual front toe (not WinToe) and adjust it to 0. The printout shows the actual toe values but they don't always provide it unless you request it.

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=502324

[Texan4iu]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

Maybe it wasn't tightened enough. You can bring them the attached torque + angle specs from the thread linked at the bottom or just tell them to tighten it extremely well this time, and make sure they do that while the measurement devices are on the wheels to make sure the values don't move while tightening.

Also Hunter WinToe targets 0.10 front toe on the screen for the default SS 1LE alignment so 0 on the WinToe screen = 0.10. You want them to display actual front toe (not WinToe) and adjust it to 0. The printout shows the actual toe values but they don't always provide it unless you request it.

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=502324

Thank you so much for this!