CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Clamps the wheels? I hate to sound superficial about my car, but could these clamps scratch or scuff my wheels in anyway? I'm always afraid to let other people touch my car for fear of them scratching or doing something to it. Getting tires mounted is my Biggest fear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeryon Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 And the paranoia sets in. Go to the shop and watch them do it. I never paid enough attention to remember how the device attaches, but it doesn't damage wheels. Your wheels, although nicer, are no more prone to damage then any other alloy rim that was factory installed. The shop would have a hell of a problem if thier equipment damaged every alloy wheel they worked with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Tell that to the rednecks that nicked the paint in my enkei's mounting the tire. It would be nice to think that everybody that works on a car takes care of it like it's a high end car, but the fact is, most don't care, which is why a lot of shops get away with not giving a crap either. I'd rather be careful up front then have to deal with it later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrorocketeer Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeryon Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Thats why I was saying to go take a look. See if your comfortable with how they handle it. The tires on my lude were too low profile for them to mount/dismount at the local discount tire so they had to do it by hand. That was funny. They damaged the rim in my case, which made me mad, but the rim was already rashed. Two techs spent 30 mins just doing one tire and because they nicked the rim up I got my tires at cost and a fat discount for the next time I needed tires. Would have been easily remidied if I had inquired before hand and/or watched them work on a couple other cars. It was like watching a monkey trying to f a football Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrorocketeer Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 thats the only way i mount tires... by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeryon Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Nothing wrong with doing it that way if your used to it. These guys were weened on the machine and probably never seen a set of bars. I earned my way through highschool doing rig tires by hand. Nothing like changing a tire that outweighs you. me in high school = 150lbs weakling Sorry to have gone off topic some, but how much of a change in ride height necissitates a realignment? I'm putting the new rims and tires on my car in a few days. The total wheel size is about 1/2in taller then stock, but then I'm going to be droping it 1 to 1.5in in the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Yeah, normally I would just throw the 14's on to have it aligned, but I need the 17's to be on there. I want them to correct the camber as much as possible without the tires rubbing the fenders. I might have to leave a small amount of negative camber in to make sure I don't rub, and they wouldn't be able to do all of that with the 14's on. I'll probably just run by and talk to a couple shops and ask them about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranny Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 your car has a sticker on the doorjam or under hood but i think its jam hung , if im not mistaken , your car actually calls for a bit of negative camber anyways. that pic that pyro posted is only one kind of alignment rig , theres a few different kinds , some grab the outside lip of the wheel where it meets rubber. which is better imo. they used to use a level , measuring tape and string , lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Yeah, I've seen some really good how-to's on how to box and string your car to do your own alignment. I'm so paranoid that I'm thinking about giving that a shot and aligning it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranny Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 just take it in for an alignment , and adjust the camber yourself afterwards dude. it wont affect what they have done. use a level on the outside face of the rim and make it level , minus a bit. and later , depending on how your tires are wearing , adjust it again accordingly. thats how i adjusted my camber , myself according to how the tires were wearing , ill take pics of my last set and post em hung , they are wore perfectly even from side to side. and BALD!! , lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 I've found a place that looks to be really good and their customer cars section has plenty of lowered vehicles. $74.95 for the 4 wheel alignment. Also, this is the style of camber kit I"ve got...it's the adjustable bushings instead of the entire new A-arm. I have no clue how to adjust these bushings. I might see if I can figure it out this weekend without actually adjusting them....any pointers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrorocketeer Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I earned my way through highschool doing rig tires by hand. Nothing like changing a tire that outweighs you. lol truck tires are easier than car tires i think.....unless they are goodyears.... my god do they have stiff sidewalls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TS John Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I know that you've already got the opinions on this but since I used to work in a shop that did tires and alignments all day I'll chime in. You have a much larger chance of getting rims scratched when mounting tires, often because some rims need to be reverse mounted cuz of a really deep lip that the bead needs to clear. The stuff they use for alignments had four little non-pointy teeth that wedged in between the lip of the rim and the bead of the tire so there's really no risk of them scratching. That's a great price for an alignment for a lowered car with adjustable camber. We used to charge 130 for that where I worked and we weren't a performance shop. I'd go there cuz they'll prolly be used to people being OCD about their cars and they'll know how to properly work with an adjustable camber kit, which some guys who only do stockers don't care about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Well, I've decided what I'm going to do here. I'm going to drop my car to the height I wanted with my 17's. THen when I get the car adjusted just right and the springs settle, I"ll swap back to the 14's, get an alignment, then go back and put my 17's on. If I rub at that point, then I'll add a little negative camber back in to keep from rubbing, and I should be set. Thanks for all the opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.