So I was in the process of replacing upper and lower ball joints when work called me out of town for several months. I decided to send it to a mechanic to finish the work while I was gone (mistake). Then I told my mother to take it to get aligned after the mechanic was done (mistake).

She took it to the other shop to get it aligned and then discovered that my upper control arms were still sitting in the box on the front seat. The mechanic didn't install them so the car got aligned without the new ones. The old ones are completely shot. I'll install the new ones when I get home next week, but will I have to get it aligned again?

 

Yes, you will undoubtedly knock it out of alignment by removing the UCA's, the place you took it to doesn't have an alignment warranty?

 

They might I haven't asked. I figured since it won't be their fault it's out of alignment already there wouldn't be any warranty coverage.

 

some places have lifetime warranty and that doesn't matter what you do to it. Anytime you lower or raise your car it should be realigned and if you plan on doing either that is when a lifetime warranty pays for itself. Some places has a 30-90 day warranty and you really don't have to tell them you added the control arms since they should already know you had work done before they aligned it the first time they probably won't notice but thats not the actual right way to do it, it is an option. I would call them to tell the the situation that the mechanic left off the control arms so you are going to have them installed and since you werent the one who picked up the car from the mechanic see if they can work something out with you to get it realigned after they are installed, all they can say is "No" I guess

 

Yeah you're right. It's worth a try. Have to get it aligned one way or another so I can't really lose (more).

 

most places have a minimum of 6 months warranty, worth a shot