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Alignment shop says they can't do it.

65wgn440 said:
First off, today's alignment machines will not be able to do a " two wheel" alignment without being able to reference off the rear tires. No way possible. Secondly, your blanket statement about mechanics and shops is ridiculous, to be nice. I would love to invite you into my shop for a week, and see you handle some of these late- model cars. All you have to do is hook up a scanner and they tell you everything that is wrong, and how to fix it all, RIGHT ??
Click to expand...

As someone else already stated, "We AREN'T talking about late-model cars" and don't give a **** about those here in this thread. And just what good is "today's alignment machine" if it can't revert back to two-wheel mode? Brilliant innovation right there it sounds like to me. All the more reason a guy has to "DIY" anymore when owning one of these dinosaurs.

And I'm also being "nice". :drama:
 
Get you a caster camber guage, a tape measure, and a friend that can hold the end of the tape.

100 plus years of the automobile, and now we can't do a simple tire alignment? That's pitiful.
 
JB400 said:
Get you a caster camber guage, a tape measure, and a friend that can hold the end of the tape.

100 plus years of the automobile, and now we can't do a simple tire alignment? That's pitiful.
Click to expand...
A set of turntables will save a lot of time.
 
I had my '71 GTX aligned last Friday at my local Firestone and had no problem with 15" Mopar Rallye wheels. The Mechanic is in his late 50's .There was no charge since I bought a Lifetime service ten years ago. So I would a install "basic" tire wheel combo close to the same size for the alignment. Then reinstall your tight fit tires, like some others stated.
 
Gold Rush said:
I'm not familiar with the process. Is putting a narrower set of wheel/tires on the rear just long enough to do the alignment a possibility, allowing the equipment to function?
Click to expand...
This was pretty much my thoughts also....need to make sure that the 'skinnies' used are of a similar height (diameter) to maintain the alignment ride height, and not affect the front end when swapping back to the fatties. :)
 
I have 15x7 Magnums up front, 15x8's in the rear. No worries for alignment at all...
When it came time for the GTX to actually hit the road for the first time in decades, I asked a local tire chain branch
alignment guy if he'd ever done an old Mopar (he was a younger fella).
He checked his machines' computer, then pulled out a greasy old manual and checked.
"Yup" he said confidently.

Not being real confident in all that, I brought the car to him anyways...

He hooked up everything and did his thing. In the end, amazingly everything was pretty close, especially caster/camber.
Toe needed a little work, to be expected but when done, he handled the job without so much as a raised eyebrow.
Even told me the car was "surprisingly square". When I asked what that meant, he said the diagonals were damn near
identical, which is amazing given the serious amount of metal that was cut out and replaced before I got it.

Moral to the story is that there are young folks capable and trained to handle these old critters, even out here in flyover
country, thank heavens. :thumbsup:
 
I don't think the specs in "their" machine are what you need no matter what you do.
Use Richard Ehrenberg's Skosh Chart.
Works for me.
 
onlyone said:
I don't think the specs in "their" machine are what you need no matter what you do.
Use Richard Ehrenberg's Skosh Chart.
Works for me.
Click to expand...
Even the young fella that did mine referred to a greasy old manual.
He nailed it, too - the car tracks perfectly.
 
If you want to flatbed that beast out to long island I got a guy to do it .Hes been taking care of me and my mopar since I was a teenager.give him a call John Guelfi (631)581- 0484
www.superpages.com/bp/islip-terrace-ny/guelfi-wheel-alignment-L0137905896.htm
21-Picture 376.JPG
 
Mopars & Missiles said:
As someone else already stated, "We AREN'T talking about late-model cars" and don't give a **** about those here in this thread. And just what good is "today's alignment machine" if it can't revert back to two-wheel mode? Brilliant innovation right there it sounds like to me. All the more reason a guy has to "DIY" anymore when owning one of these dinosaurs.

And I'm also being "nice". :drama:
Click to expand...

What do you want from the computer controlled crap of today compared to the simple things in life??
 
I was an alignment tech for a few years lifting the rear of the car high rnoeno to get the rear sensors on will not cause any issues ! On a newer car yes ,these old cars are easy to do I can get them dang close with a tape measure in the shop so I can drive them to get alignment!
 
I had the same thing on my 64 Dodge. The local alignment guru said he couldn't do it properly as he had to go off the rear wheels, and his equipment would not fit. He sent me to another " old school" shop 50 miles away, and they did a fine job.........MO
 
I just had the 64 wagon and the 66 Barracuda aligned and the shop had a new rack. There were no problems with that shop doing it. Both drive very nice.
 
Bb70charger500 said:
I was an alignment tech for a few years lifting the rear of the car high rnoeno to get the rear sensors on will not cause any issues ! On a newer car yes ,these old cars are easy to do I can get them dang close with a tape measure in the shop so I can drive them to get alignment!
Click to expand...
That's all I did. Some straightedge and tape measure work, then drive it on over to the alignment shop.
I figured since the car had never been in a wreck that it had to be in the neighborhood.
It was. :)
 
I think it is funny to just ask an old mechanic to do it. Really. If he was 60 years old now he would.ve been what 10 years old back then ? You can use string, levels or whatever. But don't make yourself sound silly by saying we didn't need this stuff for the last 100 years. What has changed in the last 100 years. Straight axles, toe set only with out bending I-beams. All 4 tires and rims the same sized. Thrust angle doesn't matter unless you don't mind your car going dog legged down the road. No staggered wheel/tire sizes. Ride height, f/r track width. Camber, caster,toe. same type of angles just today we have more accurate ways of measuring them. You only have problems when you modify your suspension and then bitch that nobody can do it right. Any body who says that jacking up the rear doesn't hurt the alignment is no "alignment tech" any body can set toe. But when you adjust camber/caster the toe changes. Modern cars are adjusted differently because most use a strut type of suspension but the angles don't change, just the way of adjusting them.
 
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