Track alignment Houston area

Harpinc · 04-30-2020, 06:28 PM

Who is the best place to go to in Houston for RR track aligment?

Thx

blahson · 05-02-2020, 10:45 AM

Bump; I'm interested too!

cdrptrks · 05-04-2020, 02:02 AM

A dedicated race shop might be a safer bet but their hours may be too limited if you want to be able to get it done on a weekend or in the evening after work without leaving your car unattended. The ZL1 1LE also has additional things you can adjust beyond what the SS 1LE allows like rotating the front strut top mounts 180* for additional camber and others so you might want to pay to have it corner balanced by a proper race shop (or dealership that has experience with other ZL1 1LEs) along with the track alignment.

I went with Firestone which is the cheapest place to go over time with the lifetime alignment but you have to keep your expectations low. YMMV if they will even touch your car or let you put boards in front of the rack (you may need to bring them with you) to get enough ground clearance to drive it up onto the alignment rack (an issue for SS 1LE and probably ZL1 and ZL1 1LE too) if they don't have an in ground rack. If they have an in ground rack it should be easy but none of the locations near me do. I have had my car on 3 different Firestone alignment racks (luckily there are a lot of locations to choose from near me) and have also been turned away by all 3 of those locations at various other times too so it depends on the person/manager you are dealing with on a given day and corporate policies that can change over time.

Once they agree to put it on the rack they have been good about letting me stand nearby to watch and explain how to correctly reattach the wiring clips to to the underside of the front brake deflectors and where the front camber bolt goes for fine tuning if they aren't aware of it (best to buy a bolt from the hardware store and bring it with you just in case they don't have one on hand). Also the first tech I had wasn't familiar with the Camaro specifically so he wasn't able to max the front camber to -2.4 because he didn't know (and neither did I at the time) that you had to back both of the nuts on each side almost all the way off then hit the bolts with a hammer to disengage the splines and push on the top of the wheel to get more than -1.8 but the second guy I got was very familiar with Camaros so again YMMV.

Also technically according to GM's documentation you should order and install replacement rear camber and toe bolts (2 for each side) every time you change the rear alignment. Shops and dealerships don't do this and expect to be charged extra labor if you bring those bolts and/or nuts for them to swap out. I ended up doing that part myself in my driveway with the help of 3 floor jacks lol. I have also read both that the nuts are reusable and that they aren't so probably best to order 4 new nuts too if you decide to replace the bolts. Ask for the old nuts/bolts back so you have proof that they actually did the work if you pay a shop for this and maybe mark the new ones beforehand so you can tell the difference.
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=502324

Wherever you go, definitely make sure to show them the performance supplement book or PDF with the row of track alignment specs specific to your car marked and make sure they are ok with using those before you pay and if possible double check directly with the tech touching your car that they are using the correct alignment specs you want and not whatever the computer spit out.

Good luck navigating the overly complicated world of getting a track alignment on these cars!

atx_traveler · 05-04-2020, 07:48 AM

Not sure what part of town you’re in, but I’ve heard good things about a TrackTime Performance.

sujohn · 05-04-2020, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atx_traveler

Not sure what part of town you’re in, but I’ve heard good things about a TrackTime Performance.

I went to TrackTime. They were able to get the alignment dialed in perfectly. They have set up the suspension on my previous track cars as well. I would bring them the TTY bolts that you need if you want a quick turnaround.

blahson · 05-06-2020, 12:23 PM

Sal's Autosport was recommended by a friend. They're in NW Houston area. Another member here likes them too, see below:

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=574803

04-30-2020, 06:28 PM	#1
Harpinc Drives: 19' ZL1 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Houston,Tx Posts: 128	Track alignment Houston area Who is the best place to go to in Houston for RR track aligment? Thx

05-02-2020, 10:45 AM	#2
blahson meep meep Drives: 2018 ZL1 1LE Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: MIA & HOU Posts: 57 View My Garage	Bump; I'm interested too! __________________

05-04-2020, 02:02 AM	#3
cdrptrks Drives: 2017 Blue Camaro 1SS 1LE with PDR Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 961	A dedicated race shop might be a safer bet but their hours may be too limited if you want to be able to get it done on a weekend or in the evening after work without leaving your car unattended. The ZL1 1LE also has additional things you can adjust beyond what the SS 1LE allows like rotating the front strut top mounts 180* for additional camber and others so you might want to pay to have it corner balanced by a proper race shop (or dealership that has experience with other ZL1 1LEs) along with the track alignment. I went with Firestone which is the cheapest place to go over time with the lifetime alignment but you have to keep your expectations low. YMMV if they will even touch your car or let you put boards in front of the rack (you may need to bring them with you) to get enough ground clearance to drive it up onto the alignment rack (an issue for SS 1LE and probably ZL1 and ZL1 1LE too) if they don't have an in ground rack. If they have an in ground rack it should be easy but none of the locations near me do. I have had my car on 3 different Firestone alignment racks (luckily there are a lot of locations to choose from near me) and have also been turned away by all 3 of those locations at various other times too so it depends on the person/manager you are dealing with on a given day and corporate policies that can change over time. Once they agree to put it on the rack they have been good about letting me stand nearby to watch and explain how to correctly reattach the wiring clips to to the underside of the front brake deflectors and where the front camber bolt goes for fine tuning if they aren't aware of it (best to buy a bolt from the hardware store and bring it with you just in case they don't have one on hand). Also the first tech I had wasn't familiar with the Camaro specifically so he wasn't able to max the front camber to -2.4 because he didn't know (and neither did I at the time) that you had to back both of the nuts on each side almost all the way off then hit the bolts with a hammer to disengage the splines and push on the top of the wheel to get more than -1.8 but the second guy I got was very familiar with Camaros so again YMMV. Also technically according to GM's documentation you should order and install replacement rear camber and toe bolts (2 for each side) every time you change the rear alignment. Shops and dealerships don't do this and expect to be charged extra labor if you bring those bolts and/or nuts for them to swap out. I ended up doing that part myself in my driveway with the help of 3 floor jacks lol. I have also read both that the nuts are reusable and that they aren't so probably best to order 4 new nuts too if you decide to replace the bolts. Ask for the old nuts/bolts back so you have proof that they actually did the work if you pay a shop for this and maybe mark the new ones beforehand so you can tell the difference. https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=502324 Wherever you go, definitely make sure to show them the performance supplement book or PDF with the row of track alignment specs specific to your car marked and make sure they are ok with using those before you pay and if possible double check directly with the tech touching your car that they are using the correct alignment specs you want and not whatever the computer spit out. Good luck navigating the overly complicated world of getting a track alignment on these cars! Last edited by cdrptrks; 05-04-2020 at 02:26 AM.

05-06-2020, 12:23 PM	#6
blahson meep meep Drives: 2018 ZL1 1LE Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: MIA & HOU Posts: 57 View My Garage	Sal's Autosport was recommended by a friend. They're in NW Houston area. Another member here likes them too, see below: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=574803 __________________

05-04-2020, 07:48 AM	#4
atx_traveler Drives: blue velvet Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 125	Not sure what part of town you’re in, but I’ve heard good things about a TrackTime Performance.

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