I agree with most comments about doing the work yourself! The horror
stories run wild about botched repair jobs by "those in the know".
Luckily, we have a good, reputable LBC mechanic, Heritage Motorsports, in
the San Diego area.
Just a footnote on the Sears situation. They use a special set of torque
sockets that are designed to deliver a specific amount of foot pounds. All
they have to do is determine your foot pounds specs, pop on the correct
socket and hammer away. I witnessed the same thing Ron saw and questioned
them immediately about what "the hell" they were doing? The mechanic took
the time to explain about the torque sockets and how the process works. I
did check the torque with a wrench and all four tires were spot on!
Dave Stauffacher
Ramona, Ca
1970 TR6 ...with wire wheels that I let no one torque down except me!!!
Amen to that. I always freek when I see someone about 10 years my junior
(and I'm 30) working on breaks or something of that nature. I've seen
some serious damage done to tires and wheels from over, under inflating
and overtorquing. I watched recently while the kid at Sears mounted my
new tires on my Ford SUV and I specifically asked before hand if they
used a torque wrench and properly torqued the lugs. They used the air
wrench and tightened them down and then went around with the torqe
wrench and not one bolt moved and then they handed me the keys. I drove
it home (5 miles) and then loosen them and did it correctly. Sad thing
was I paid $15 a rim to have them mounted, balance and over tightened.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of James Franks
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 1:39 PM
To: Alan & Debbie Lindner
Cc: 6pack
Subject: Re: alignment frustration
The more you learn about auto mechanics, the less you trust ANYONE to do
ANYTHING on your car. It's a curse. I feel your pain.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan & Debbie Lindner" <theedge@cts.com>
To: <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 9:35 AM
Subject: alignment frustration
> Well after over a year and half, I finally bought news tires and
> installed my "minilite" style rims. Boy it looks cool. But before I
> took it down to the tire shop, I installed solid steering mounts,
> aligned the rack and steering shaft (thanks to Tim Holbrook for the
> great alignment procedure email). The steering wheel was not lined up
> but I did not have a gear puller available yet. So I told the
> alignment shop that you need to align it to the dimple or slot in the
> rack which you access through the lubrication bolt. They said yeah,
> yeah we know, we will call you if there is any problems. They said
> that that the machine does it automatically which didn't seem right.
>
> I come to get the car and look inside and see that the steering wheel
> is level. They tell me that the alignment went great but that the
> lock to lock is not centered. It is about a 1/4 turn off. I finally
> get it out of them that they used the steering wheel to center the
> lock to lock. I show them which bolt to remove and that you take a
> phillips screw driver to look for the centering slot.
>
> So I leave the car for another 2 hours. I come and get it at 5pm.
> they tell me that they were never able to find the slot so they took
> there best guess. It is still off but luckly, I have 30 days to get
> it
re-
> aligned for free. I will center the shaft in the rack and PULL off the
> steering wheel and center it. Boy, I wish I could just have the
> equipment available and do it myself.
>
> ....one frustrated TR6 owner.
> Alan
>
> =========================
> Alan Lindner
> '72 TR6 French Blue
> CC75676L
> San Diego, CA
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