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secondchance · 02-26-2017

Since the steering rack and rod ends were replaced, I thought 4 wheel alignment would finish the work. Pretty straight forward, I thought...
Well, I thought wrong. Thursday I took my Z to a shop thought to be pretty good with tires and alignment. Of course, in order to go up the ramp for the alignment, I had to remove the front air dam - ok, no problem.
After diddling with the car the mechanic huddles with the shop manager for awhile. Manager calls me over to tell me that it would take minimum 4 hours because of camber adjustment is with shims - $529! Besides, to do the work, bring it another day and leave the car with them - are you kidding me?!
So, I drive to another shop. Manager says no problem! 30 minutes later, the manager calls me to tell me that his mechanic checked YouTube, yes! YouTube, on how to align C4 and feels uncomfortable to work on my Z.
Friday, I went to a local NTB. I had to roll up my sleeves, played with shims to get the camber right and let the mechanic finish the rest. Ended up teaching the mechanic how to adjust C4 front camber and, in return, learned how to read alignment machine read outs.

What happened to real mechanics?!

02-26-2017	#17
secondchance Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: McLean, VA Posts: 3,730	Re: Steering rack install Since the steering rack and rod ends were replaced, I thought 4 wheel alignment would finish the work. Pretty straight forward, I thought... Well, I thought wrong. Thursday I took my Z to a shop thought to be pretty good with tires and alignment. Of course, in order to go up the ramp for the alignment, I had to remove the front air dam - ok, no problem. After diddling with the car the mechanic huddles with the shop manager for awhile. Manager calls me over to tell me that it would take minimum 4 hours because of camber adjustment is with shims - $529! Besides, to do the work, bring it another day and leave the car with them - are you kidding me?! So, I drive to another shop. Manager says no problem! 30 minutes later, the manager calls me to tell me that his mechanic checked YouTube, yes! YouTube, on how to align C4 and feels uncomfortable to work on my Z. Friday, I went to a local NTB. I had to roll up my sleeves, played with shims to get the camber right and let the mechanic finish the rest. Ended up teaching the mechanic how to adjust C4 front camber and, in return, learned how to read alignment machine read outs. What happened to real mechanics?!