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My rear tires are toast and need to be replaced. I bought a set of the Potenza RE970 from TR and had them delivered to my door. Took them to a local shop and asked them to mount the new tires and check the fronts and make a recommendation on flipping them, then align the wheels. Dropped car off the night before and went through the whole day with no phone call. I figured all was well.
I went to pick up the car and it was still on the alignment rack. Lady at the desk says I need new front tires. WHAT?? So she calls the tech in and I tell him the fronts are nowhere near done and ask him to show me. The tires are slightly worn on the outside edges (which is the reason I asked them to look) and dude is like, "You need new tires". So I said, "No. I don't. I need you to flip them." He looks at me with a serious face and says, "I can't do that because it changes how the water is channelled by the tread."
At this point, I was ready to tell him to just give me the car as is and let me find another shop, but I asked him if he knew what I was talking about when I said "flip them". I made an elaborate explanation of what flipping a tire means---I honestly think he did not know. He was still reluctant, so I told him I only need the fronts to last through this season. He says he is still concerned at performance in the rain. I say, "Its a convertible. I don't drive it in the rain." He finally agreed to do it, but said he would need it another day and that they were having trouble dialing in the camber on the front. (How the fuck are you having trouble dialing in the front when you haven't even flipped them yet?)
SO I took a different approach and told him to keep it as long as he needs to get it right. Its a toy car and I dont need it.
When I dropped it off, I asked for printouts of the alignment specs before and after they started and even included copies of the Service Manual with all specs. Not really sure what more I could do.
Yesterday, I went to pick the car up (after 2 days!) and spoke to same tech. He says, "We got the fronts dialed in, but had trouble getting the camber set on the rears." I asked to see the printouts and they handed me 2 sheets---the first were the original specs and showed the following:
LF
Cam: -1.2*
Cas: 6.6*
Toe: -0.16*
RF
Cam: -1.1*
Cas: 6.3*
Toe: -0.18*
Total Toe: -0.34*
LR
Cam: -2.8*
Toe: .43*
RR
Cam: -2.3*
Toe: .36*
Total Toe: .79*
Then he handed me a second sheet (apologizing for the quality of the print---it is really light print) showing the current specs:
LF
Cam:-0.6*
Cas:6.1*
Toe:0.00*
RF
Cam:-0.06*
Cas: 6.1*
Toe: 0.00*
LR
Cam: -2.3*
Toe:0.21*
RR
Cam:-2.3*
Toe:0.25*
Total Toe: 0.45*
He also handed me a bill for mounting & balancing 4 wheels plus 1.5 hours of alignment labor for a total of $253.13. It cost me more to install the tires than to buy them!
My question is how far out of spec are my wheels now? A bit more info---I am lowered on Espilir springs (about 1.5"). Tech said they cant get the rear camber any closer without a camber kit.
At this point, I think this place has been downgraded to an "Inspection Only" place for me. Laurie says I got fucked. I put about 10 miles on them and it seems to be tracking straight. Came home and decided to check the torque on the lug nuts. I needed a breaker bar to loosen them, then torqued them to 80ft/lbs. Ugh.
Looking at the numbers, it appears they did fine. I appreciate the guy's concern for my safety and all, but I gotta tell you those front tires are nowhere need replacing.
I hate stupid people. I only trust a handful of places with any of my cars. It's sad we have to do this and pay these people that much money to not know what they are doing.
Alignments are one the things I pay a premium for because it really is an art. I used to do the "Discount Tire" unlimited alignment special until I realize they don't really know what they're doing.. Then I went to this small shop with this old Asian guy with a Hunter Road Force balance and alignment rack. Watching this guy align my car is like watching Van Gogh make his masterpiece. He is well known in the tuner community and built custom 2x4 ramps for his lower (read: VIP) crowd. He always goes over the alignment sheet before and after and explains each line to every customer. Totally worth it!
^all depends on where you go. I have lifetime alignment for my TL at brake check and they have techs that are more than capable of doing the job correctly. With that said, I only take my car to a branch that's an hour away.
^all depends on where you go. I have lifetime alignment for my TL at brake check and they have techs that are more than capable of doing the job correctly. With that said, I only take my car to a branch that's an hour away.
Oh of course, YMMV as usual. Just because you pay more, doesn't mean you'll get better quality *cough* dealerships *cough*. Just in my experience, when you roll up with a lifetime alignment package at a place that cares more about volume of customers than quality, the lack of care shows
Not sure if anyone recalls, I picked up this thing last year.
It needed a whole lot of work, as expected but it all got sorted earlier this year.
1) Stripped off all the after market crap off of the car and sold it, which included, CF bumper, trunk, OE rear bumper, CF fenders, HKS exhaust, OE headlights, traded the AEM CAI with TylerT last year for OE air box, OE AP1 tails etc.
2) New trunk pan was installed as old one had rust due to water leaking into the trunk from poor fitted CF trunk.
3) All new body parts i.e. AP2 bumpers, Fenders, hood etc were installed and the whole car had a respray.
6) Installed AP2 interior trim along with Ti shift knob.
7) New radiator along with new radiator hoses, I didnt like the condition of the OE radiator hence replaced it before putting the car on the road.
8) Cusco front tower brace.
9) Bought a silverstone hardtop which I havent used even once, I may end up selling it as its taking up space in the garage.
10) Installed new SS brake lines, new rotors/pads.
11) Installed the SBC RPF1s.
12) Lastly, the car had check engine light when i bought it and it didnt run right. Earlier this year I drove down to LI to meet with Bill (billman) and had him give the car his once over. Previous owner had head work done at some point but the valves were not seated. Bill replaced the whole head, installed his GenX timing chain tensioner, all new gaskets and few other things. I think the total was around $1400, may sound a bit much to some folks but if I had the same work done locally it would have cost me much more money and time.
The whole job got done in 8 hours.
If you have ever had any work done by bill then you know he is worth the drive and the money.
Here is how the car sits right now. It was well worth the time, effort, money and the hassle.
Not gonna lie, I loved how classy the sebring was...but the yellow has grown on me like a hairy mole that I named. I absolutely love seeing and taking pictures of it...other car colors parked next to it always look bland!
No knock on other colors, but for a color I wasn't sure about initially...I am in love with it.
JnC posted the pics of the SBC Enkeis a while back that made me almost fall out of my chair. While that is a good pic, I wanna see another pic of them in the sunlight. Absolutely gorgeous!
I have met Billman and highly encourage anyone to make the trip to see him with their S2K.
I never liked silver for an automotive color....until I bought one!
08-06-2015, 07:37 PM
Did you have too much to drink 
and this is why I only trust one place to do mine. 
DSC_9521 by Jeremy Perrod, on Flickr
DSC_9537 by Jeremy Perrod, on Flickr
DSC_9548 by Jeremy Perrod, on Flickr
DSC_9549 by Jeremy Perrod, on Flickr
DSC_9541 by Jeremy Perrod, on Flickr
