Alignment Shops

[meadowbrook]

Hi all.

Does anyone on this forum living in the SE Michigan area have a recommendation for a shop that does front end alignments and is familiar with our cars?

 

I assume toe adjustment is not a big deal but I know nothing about camber, caster and kingpin angle for a 1950 Dodge Meadowbrook. Are these any different from, say a more modern RWD Ford Crown Vic, or an 80's Dodge Diplomat or Chevy Caprice Classic?

 

Or are these adjustment methods so common any alignment shop should be able to do it?

[ptwothree]

I'd stay away from chain and tire shops.  I use a shop that can straighten frames. They do excellent alignment work .....just not in your area.

[Andydodge]

Actually I see that you have a Triumph Spitfire......they use a Triumph herald front end, upper/lower arms coilovers and a rack & pinion........who do you get to do the front end on it as its essentially a similar style upper/lower arm front end to out mopars.........different but similar...........the late model cars you ask about are I think all more Macpherson strut or similar front ends .......do you have a workshop manual?.............take it plus the car to a good front end shop and they should be able to do it blindfolded.........lol..........trouble is that "good" is a subjective term.......lol.......maybe show the shop the workshop manual first............andyd  

[50fordtruck]

When I had my P15 aligned I went to an older shop out in the country where an older gentleman actually knew these older cars. While the basics of the alignment are the same the tools for adjustment are somewhat different. This man made a tool to make the adjustments with while we talked. Unfortunately these people and shops are disappearing fast.    

[Dan Hiebert]

What part of SE Michigan?  Main Street Garage in Port Huron on Pine Grove Ave (M25) at Glenwood can work on older cars.  What little work I ever shopped out when we lived in Michigan I had done there.

[DonaldSmith]

I just called Wetmore's, "six blocks north of the Nine Mile Road, in Ferndale", per the radio ad from the '60's.  They do alignments on old cars like ours.  96 dollars.  A little bit busy these days with the DreamCruise coming this weekend, but first come, first serve.  They have a car on the roof, with the front wheels wobbling.  

 

When I put in the power steering gear last year, I adjusted the toe with a home-made gauge.  The tires haven't scrubbed, so I must be close.  But I should take it in, maybe next week, to have everything aligned.

 

See www.wetmores.com, for the car on the roof.  

Edited August 11, 2015 by DonaldSmith