Alignment Rack Size?

[mattrettig]

Brought my Air GT in for new tires since the rear ones were q-ball BALD after < 12,000 miles. Tire shop replaced the rear ones but said the car was too wide to fit on their alignment rack. Anyone else had this problem? So now I have to take it to a place that does vans & trucks to get it aligned. Seems weird.

This is the same shop that “did” the alignment 7 months ago, and now I’ve had a set of tires destroyed in short order. If it doesn’t fit on their rack now, how come they were able to do it 7 months ago?

 

[MGRMLN]

Alignment racks, by design are very open on both sides. The plates the wheels/tires sit on have adjustments and the optical sensors stick out a bit so your shop's story doesn't make sense. Why would they install an alignment rack like that?

 

[borski]

Brought my Air GT in for new tires since the rear ones were q-ball BALD after < 12,000 miles. Tire shop replaced the rear ones but said the car was too wide to fit on their alignment rack. Anyone else had this problem? So now I have to take it to a place that does vans & trucks to get it aligned. Seems weird.

This is the same shop that “did” the alignment 7 months ago, and now I’ve had a set of tires destroyed in short order. If it doesn’t fit on their rack now, how come they were able to do it 7 months ago?

Yeah, they lied to you and didn’t feel like doing it, or they discovered they were screwing it up and decided “it’s broken” now

 

[mattrettig]

Yeah, they lied to you and didn’t feel like doing it, or they discovered they were screwing it up and decided “it’s broken” now

Yeah they said the same thing at the 2nd shop where I brought it to get it done right (hopefully). Looks like I’m done doing business with the first shop!

 

[MGRMLN]

I get super OCD when it comes to alignments because no other aspect, other than the selection of the tires themselves, has such a noticeable influence on the feel and handling of an automobile.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

It's weird that your rear tires wore out first. On my car the front tires were much more worn than the rears. I've been told that it is common on EV's for the front tires to wear faster because of the high weight of the car and the effect on the front tires in turns. I just wound up replacing all four even though I could have left the rears on for another 5k miles or so. America's Tire where I had the new tires put on told me they couldn't do the alignment. I had a four wheel alignment done at the Millbrae Service Center in addition to my three year service. Even though my tires had worn very evenly (I keep them at 45 lbs) the alignment results did show I needed adjustments.

 

[scal_air]

How badly misaligned was the car? If rear tires were badly aligned, then…
America’s Tire and Costco don’t do alignments - best bet is the Service Center. And yeah, I wouldn’t go back to the first tire shop - ever!

 

[borski]

Some America’s Tire locations do alignments; for example, the one in Pleasanton has the equipment.

 

[mattrettig]

How badly misaligned was the car? If rear tires were badly aligned, then…
America’s Tire and Costco don’t do alignments - best bet is the Service Center. And yeah, I wouldn’t go back to the first tire shop - ever!

My problem is the nearest service center is > 3 hours away. Each way. And not in a convenient area where I might be passing through sometime. This kind of stuff should easily be done at a local shop…It ain’t rocket surgery.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Sounds like your tire shop that originally did an alignment and now says they can't do it screwed something up badly. No excuse I can think of for your rear tires wearing out with less then 12k miles?? Are you drag racing the car?

 

[mattrettig]

Sounds like your tire shop that originally did an alignment and now says they can't do it screwed something up badly. No excuse I can think of for your rear tires wearing out with less then 12k miles?? Are you drag racing the car?

Haha no. Quite the opposite actually: my wife is always telling me to “step on it!” and she wonders why I bought such a high-performing car when I drive like a l’il old lady!

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Haha no. Quite the opposite actually: my wife is always telling me to “step on it!” and she wonders why I bought such a high-performing car when I drive like a l’il old lady!

Well then something was really screwed up by that original alignment. Sorry you had that experience.

 

[borski]

Yeah your shop screwed up your alignment.

The thing to be careful about is that not all alignments are made the same. If they align it exactly straight it will not wear evenly. They can look up the settings and proper values for Lucid though.

 

[borski]

My car before Lucid aligned it:

And after:

 

[mattrettig]

My car before Lucid aligned it:
View attachment 27392

And after:
View attachment 27393

I had never seen a report like that before, til my new & (hopefully!) improved shop provided one today.

Is it that case that each make gets aligned a little differently? That is, will a Luckd service center have a better idea how to align a Lucid? Or is alignment kind of a generic process across all cars? Is there something unique about aligning a Lucid that a local shop might not understand or be good at doing?

Thanks to all for the input & insight!

 

[Buffalo Bob]

...and hopefully, you don't live in 'Pothole City', where you can have your alignment set perfectly, and then screw it up again on your drive home.

 

[borski]

I had never seen a report like that before, til my new & (hopefully!) improved shop provided one today.

Is it that case that each make gets aligned a little differently? That is, will a Luckd service center have a better idea how to align a Lucid? Or is alignment kind of a generic process across all cars? Is there something unique about aligning a Lucid that a local shop might not understand or be good at doing?

Thanks to all for the input & insight!

You can pull up the alignment “map” in any of the alignment software tools for a specific vehicle. Lucid’s is in there, but of course Lucid is less likely to screw something up.

I don’t know the right terminology, so I hope that made sense.

 

[mattrettig]

You can pull up the alignment “map” in any of the alignment software tools for a specific vehicle. Lucid’s is in there, but of course Lucid is less likely to screw something up.

I don’t know the right terminology, so I hope that made sense.

Thanks yes it makes sense! And based on this report. the first shop DEF fouled up. They didn’t even give me a report, which I understand is now standard. So problem solved, and thanks again everyone for the input!

 

[borski]

Thanks yes it makes sense! And based on this report. the first shop DEF fouled up. They didn’t even give me a report, which I understand is now standard. So problem solved, and thanks again everyone for the input!

Just to be clear: they may not always hand you a report. But if you ask for it, they usually will. I’ve definitely had alignments done where I didn’t receive a report, so that’s not necessarily the sign of a bad shop.