Aligning car with CC plates?

[NIKwoaC]

Where can I get my car aligned now that it has caster/camber plates? All the local businesses that I talk to either tell me they won't do it or won't guarantee that it will be aligned properly with their equipment. Is this something a body shop is capable of? Do I have to find some performance auto shop that will charge me 500$ to get the car to track straight? What have you guys done with your CC-plate cars?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Same boat here. I read on corral a method of doing a DIY alignment and managed to get my car "close". However, it's not perfect. I want to have a shop do it, but i get the same response

 

[90lxcoupe]

I have a shop here in MA that does alot of stuff that most places wont touch cause of liabilities, its a family run place and they do good work, ive been friends with them for about 6 years.

Now i said that to say this, those guys know my car pretty well, and they take extra care with my stuff, and even they didnt get it right. Now granted it was way off when i brought it there, but one side has -2 deg caster and the other side had +2 deg.

I didnt find any of this out until i had the car at Miller Race Cars in CT. He got the setup right but he also chares either 150 or 200 bucks for an alignment.

If you want it right try calling a chassis shop that knows fox mustangs and see if they will do it

 

[ill advised]

Wow, that stinks. Is it a matter of local shops being intimidated by something they're not familiar with or is there another issue with CC plates? I always thought that CC plates would make a car easier to align.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Same boat here. I read on corral a method of doing a DIY alignment and managed to get my car "close". However, it's not perfect. I want to have a shop do it, but i get the same response

Link?

If you want it right try calling a chassis shop that knows fox mustangs and see if they will do it

I guess I'll start doing my homework. There is a body shop close that I know has built a few Mustangs.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

you can get it pretty close yourself. shove the caster all the way back in the plates, since you want as much of that as you can, if you have a 87-89 you probably dont want to be all the way back, more like a half inch foward from the back. then you can get 2 jackstands with a string running across for your toe, or make a bar that sits a certain height and you can figure out your toe, and then for camber, you can just get a huge right angle ruler and go from that. that should be pretty close.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

Where can I get my car aligned now that it has caster/camber plates? All the local businesses that I talk to either tell me they won't do it or won't guarantee that it will be aligned properly with their equipment. Is this something a body shop is capable of? Do I have to find some performance auto shop that will charge me 500$ to get the car to track straight? What have you guys done with your CC-plate cars?

my friend who works at the local gas station says he can do it no problem, just takes a little more time, not bad for 70 bucks, but then again he's my friend too

 

[cenok is family]

when i put my c/c plates on, i got it damn near exactly where it was before by triangulating the strut position. i haven't had to take it to an alignment shop yet, no irregular wear on my tires and she tracks straight as an arrow. I'm going to take it eventually but since it's next to no problem at all right now, it's kinda low on the list. my cousin works at a hibdon's here, he said he'll do it for me for $40. just gotta call and ask around.

 

[67coupe]

I received a similar response from some local shops. "We won't align to non factory specs." IMO, that takes away one of the main advantages of CC plates, increasing caster.

Just keep calling around until you find a place that will do it. Tell them you're not concerned about a warranty. Surely, someone in your town performs custom alignments.