Firestone Alignment w/ SPC UCA...what a joke

This is just my recent experience at Firestone for alignment and a picture of my legit alignment sheet...

My specs are all kinds of crazy and hardly changed at all to be in alignment, and someone wrote siezed on my toe adjustment. I asked the tech who just said "yeah maybe you need some new tie rods" and continued to act as though business was finished and I should leave.

I can get heated but it wasnt worth it and I could tell the guy was having a bad day, so i drove home less than 1 mile away and called Firestone back. The Tech answered and I said man you told me this was siezed but you moved it a full degree almost, what do I need to do to get this right, my truck should be the easiest thing to align in this place. He put me on hold for 5 min and came back on and said sir I am sorry the head alignment tech will be working tomorrow and can take a look. So a wasted trip and I get to return at 8am tomorrow. Thanks for listening to my story. I'll keep all you avid listeners updated tomorrow.



5100/886
SPC UCA
285/75/16

 

Ouch. Yea, that’s pretty rough. Sub for results.

 

It may be seized. Toe moves with camber and caster adjustment, that's why toe adjustment is the last thing to do after camber and caster are dialed in.

 

Subbed for results.

 

Weird. My buddy recommended I got directly to Toyota vs. Firestone. Maybe that is why

 

I bet Toyota is better as well, the deal at Firestone is their lifetime alignment, so this was free (kinda). This exact location is where I purchased it after my first set of extended coilovers, ill most likely give Duggys Garage a shot if they fail tomorrow, at least I know they do it on a regular basis with both Toyotas and aftermarket UCAs.

That makes sense, and I honestly don't know maybe it is siezed, however my caster camber specs didnt get changed, ball joints still in same spot...The only number that did change is the toe, which is why that threw a red flag in my head, just didnt make sense how it moved but its siezed.

 

annnnnnd this is why i do my own alignment, then take it in for a free check.

 

Thank you! I'll get a shot of them tomorrow before going back in for alignment and post them.

Man that's a killer skill to have, Im going to dig into that a little more. I installed my brothers toytec/eibach and SPC UCA, we adjusted the SPCs to what we could see with our eye and the tech, wherever he went for alignment, made the joke if we wanted a job at his shop, it was perfect, but it was luck also, and ive never touched a cam in my life.

 

Depends on the Firestone or worker I guess. Only reason I go to Firestone lifetime alignment and located in multiple states/areas. Never had a problem with them. Guess I was just lucky.

 

@Reneaux thats horrible to hear. With others chiming in, i would also consider the possibility of other issues than the tech not being able to dial in alignment with SPCs.

Doing a garage alignment is relatively easy! Try looking it up on youtube. Before all the neat machines dialed you for precise alignment, it used to be done with strings and a lot of eyeballing. Tedious? Yes. But a pretty cool skill to have- especially when you wheel hard a lot and dont have time to book an alignment appointment.

 

Lifted truck with 6112's in the front, one setting from top....5160's in rear with a 2" block. Took it to Firestone for alignment...it was way off. Took it to a different Firestone given free lifetime alignment and they got closer. Finally took it to Toyota and they were able to get it almost perfect but I still get a wander to the right. I am using OEM UA's. Got my money back from Firestone. Debating on getting some SPC UA's to fix the ever so slight wander.... it's really not bad, but if new UCAs would improve ride quality I would do it.

We'll see.

 

Neighbor guy was doing a string job the other day

 

I also fell victim to a “toe and go” from Firestone. After installing 5100s on mine and setting them at .85”, they returned my truck with the alignment cams exactly where they were, claiming they couldn’t adjust them any further, and it looked like someone had used and abused some vice grips on my tie rod adjustment. I’ll learn to do my own alignment before taking it back to Firestone

 

Have a look at this thread
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-do-an-alignment-at-home.252256/


And my post in that thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-do-an-alignment-at-home.252256/page-14#post-17255454

I too was always worried / scared about touching anything with alignment for fear of completely messing things up. But being the frugal person I am, and distrustful person (as far as people touching my truck) never liked paying 50 to 100 bucks for alignments (I do have a true alignment guy that knows his shit that will do it for 90... but even then... money in pocket is money for fun things). But if you understand whats going on, and have SIMPLE tools you can do it very accurately given a little bit of time.

Literally less than the cost of a standard cheap toe n go alignment, you can have all the tools and equipment necessary to do one yourself.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-do-an-alignment-at-home.252256/

 

Firestone is the biggest joke in regards to any type of auto care / maintenance. Save yourself your time, money, and trucks overall well being next time and avoid FS at all costs.. Speaking from experience.

 

Let me break down how Firestone’s lifetime alignment works...
your first alignment pays the tech 1.2 hours for an alignment, doesn’t matter if you only have a front toe adjustment or it’s a nightmare like an old corvette with rear toe shims. Chances are your first one will be done by a guy with a little more experience.
Then come the lifetime alignment rechecks. These pay .8
These are mostly done by the guys getting paid jack shit. Now firestone is forking over the cash to pay the tech to align your car. They are going to get the guy to do it they have to pay the least amount possible in order to maximize profit. Just basic economics here. Working as an alignment tech for many years, old classic cars, lowered cars, modified truck were the most terrible things I had to work on. I liked the bone stock, plain Jane, every day cars. These are the ones I could turn and burn. Modified and old cars always ended up as a losing deal for me. Next time look at things from the techs point of view. I have more money in my toolbox than most peoples cars are worth, and that came out of my own pocket. Techs have bad days just like anybody else. Techs have lives outside the shops (as much as people can’t see this) give the shop the benefit of the doubt and let them try to make this right before you throw a tantrum. You modified the truck, you made it more difficult to work on, you made extra adjustment points on there the tech doesn’t get paid any extra to do. If something is seized up then replace it and move on. I’ve damn near melted tie rods with torches trying to get them to break loose. Subd for results

 

Master mechanic speaking here,
He got a lot moved for it being "siezed"
Proper tools do a lot. I keep a butane torch handy for just such reasons.

 

I've had a few bad experiences with chain-store alignments in the past, so I decided to give it a shot on my Mustang. This was just after I had lowered the car and added a staggered wheel and tire setup, so it really needed to be tweaked.

After installing some cam alignment bolts in the spindle to correct the camber, I used the string method to dial in the toe. It took several hours (actually an entire afternoon and evening) and I must have taken 100 measurements while constantly double-checking that nothing had been bumped or moved.
Two linoleum tiles with wheel bearing grease between them were placed under the front tires. This allowed me to adjust the tie rods while the suspension was loaded.

The result? The car tracks down the road straight and tire wear is normal. I think it's just one of those things that seems very daunting the first time, then you gradually get better at it.

 

And on the note of SPC ucas... Don't. One word description: Flimsy. If you're in a street only application, fine, roll with it. If you beat and abuse your taco off road, but something stouter. I'm happy with my Camburg ucas. With factory cams and lowers arms I am able to have full adjustability to spec with a lift.