Alignments at Sears.

Yea or Nea?

They only want $59 for the job!

What's your experience been?

 

[jimbo74]

i perform alignments... depends on what they are actually adjusting.... some places just do the toe while others do caster, toe, camber.... just make them show you the printout and be sure everything is in spec... also, make sure you get some type of warranty just in case they are either bad at it or want to screw you over..... talk to other people around your area and see if they are happy with their alignments

 

[tbomb]

$59? my alignments cost $70, so thats only $11 of savings. i guess if they do a good job, its worth it, but how often do you get an alignement?..might be worth it to just spend the extra $11 and go somewhere you know will do a good job.

 

[JDraper]

Sears has done the alignments on both my Explorers and I have never had a problem. A lot of it depends upon the people doing the alignment, not the equipment.

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by JDraper
A lot of it depends upon the people doing the alignment, not the equipment.

i would say its about 50/50 the people if they are trained properly in how to do the alignments are only as good as their machine lets them be.... we once had the Hunter repair guy come out to recalibrate our alignment heads.. and they were 3 degrees off!

 

[Robert]

I didn't have any problems after Sears aligned mine. They will not warranty their alignment though if you have a TT/shackle lift. They told me and wrote right on my work order that I was advised that the alignment would not carry a warranty since my suspension has been altered beyond factory specfications. The only adjustment that Sears had to make to mine was the toe-in. They provided a print-out showing that my camber and caster were still within factory limits. My steering wheel is now centered and my Explorer will coast forever (two things it didnt do before the alignment).

 

[jimbo74]

at my work, we still warrant ours for 12,000 miles or a year, whichever comes first..... but we charge more for lifted trucks.... our regular alignment is 69.89 for a FORD truck even less if it is a standard car..... the high end cars (Audi, BMW, Benz) are more.... but anything with a modified suspension, we charge about $20 more than the regular alignment for that type of vehicle... that doesnt include any additional parts or labor that it needs

 

[94EBexplorer]

im limited to where i get my allignment... with my TTB it used to go out all the time with 35/36" tires..... and i bought a lifetime allignment plan at firestone. you should have saw their face when i brought it in with a d44 on the front and said allign it.

 

[garyt]

The two places that I used to take cars because the price was better were Sears and Pep Boys. I never (repeat, never) had them do anything right the first time. I'm a really slow learner, because I kept going to them trying to save some money, and thought I would solve the problem by calling them before I picked it up each time and confirm that the vehicle had been test driven and getting the name of the person that they say drove it. Still consistently had problems at both places and just don't do business with them anymore.

There may be good mechanics working there, but my personal experience was that I consistently knew more than they did about repairs. I wasn't really looking for experts there as the work I've asked them to do was what I consider simple procedures.

 

[Isles4evr]

Originally posted by 94EBexplorer
you should have saw their face when i brought it in with a d44 on the front and said allign it.

HAHA that is great. Personally I hate Firestone, but that has most to do with the fact I work for Goodyear. I have heard a lot of good things about firestone, and yet many bad things. I am sure the same thing goes for Goodyear (hopefully not the Gemini company stores).

For the alignments... The price really depends on where you live. I do a lot of alignments at work, and the normal for a front end aling(2wheel) is 59... for a 4 wheel adjustable vehicle we charge $66(which is an hour of labor). When you go in to get your truck aligned there are a few things you should look for... one, make sure you get a print out and have them explain it to you. Two, make sure that everything that is adjustable, that needs adjustment, is adjusted (camber, caster, toe). On the first gen explorer, only toe is adjustable without extra parts/labor (camber bushings, adjustable radius arm bushings). Three, make sure you pay them for the work they do, don;t let them charge you for a 4 wheel alignment when you only have 2 wheels that can be adjusted. And four, if it doesn;t track straight or the tires wear funny, take it back, it should have a waranty.

Chris

 

[Spas]

Is it possible to align the front wheels without having to have it done by a machine? As in aligning by sight? I ask b/c I don't have $70 to spare and my X needs an alignment BAD..Thanks!

 

[JDraper]

You can get it in the ballpark without a machine if you only are off in your toe-in. The easiest way to do it manually is to measure the distance across the back of the front wheels and the front of the front wheels. The measurement across the front of the wheels should be slightly (1/16" or so) less than the distance acrosss the back. You adjust the tie rod ends to change the toe. When the shops do an alignment, it's done in degrees, not inches, and if I remember correctly, the Explorer should be between 0.2° and 1.2° toed in. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I'm doing it from memory.

If your camber or caster is off, it's better to cough up the money and have it done professionally.

 

[wbandyjr]

I went to sears for 4 new tires and a allignment..They couldn't do my allignment because my right side ball joints were bad.Got the joints fixed and brought it back and the cambers were off.The left was bad.So they needed to put the new parts on to adjust the cambers. It costed me $140 extra..Brought the x home and i drifting to the right..They did an allignment and it was fine..Well after a couple days i have noticed these conditions..When i go over a bump there is a new bounce underneath.It doesn't sound like metal but like a base typ sound.and only when the windows are up.I can also hear my tire make a noise as i roll or am below 30ish.It sounds like a rub or something..Sears looked at it agian..Guy says he can hear a growl type noise..Said it wasn't anything they did and to take it to the dealer.,Because it is the axel or drivetrain..I just want it fixed.It actually sounds like bad shocks in a trunk of a car..,But i just had new ones put on about 8k miles ago.

 

[wbandyjr]

The $59.00 fee is for all wheel alignment.,And i saw red beams shooting some thing they put on the tire.They warrenty the alignment for 6,000 miles unless you have work done to the suspension of course.Which i want to do because i bought those supersprings i want to put on.

 

[hrbib21]

I've used Sears for both alignment and new tires. I just went to Sears on Saturday for a slow leak repair. $15.00. Not bad. They guarantee their alignments so I think it's worth it.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

I bought a set of alignment gauges from JC Whitney a while back. They will adjust caster/camber and toe, and are very easy to use. You must also have a level garage floor for best results.

The toe setting spec for my 2000 is .12 deg toe-in, (+ or - .25 deg.) That works out to about 1/16".

 

[Spas]

Cool-thanks guys

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

i doubt that price includes bushings and the labor for installing the bushings

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

for my Explorer the alignment was originally 50, but you have to add on parts needed for the alignment anc then the labor charged for putting the shims in

 

[kenr74]

Well after reading all of the good things people had to say I took my X up to Sears today at lunch. I had called them twice and told them exactly what I had done to the truck(coil spacers and new ball joints) and they said no problem bring it in. When I got there I told them again what had been done and they said no problem but they would only warranty the alignment for a day since the truck wasn't stock. Then after about ten minutes of the counter person talking to the manager they tell me that they can't touch an X that isn't stock?!?! They said after the Firestone thing their company policy was changed and they couldn't work on it. I guess I won't be going back to Sears for anything again. :fire: