Rear Allignment

Ok so I went to NTB Tires to get an allignment cuz I had recently changed some suspension from the "curb". Anyway, when I go to pay for it, one of the workers comes and tells me that the rear wheels have a toe-in problem or somethin, and since its a FWD car, its really hard to allign the rear wheels. Said itd cost bout $100 per wheel to allign. And I dont really plan on spending that much just to allign my back tires. The only problem is, the tires are expensive, and I dont want them to wear out any sooner than they should. So my question is, is there anyway around this? Im pretty sure you have to take off the back wheels to allign it, and I have no clue how the whole process works, so should I just try to find someone else who could do it for cheaper? or are these guys just totally tryin to rip me off cuz they know I got expensive tires?

go to another shop. don't mention the quote NTB gave you.

actually go to 3 other shops. preferably small shops

Not to defend any of the repair shops, since I'd normally advocate performing most repairs yourself, but rear wheel alignment on a wrong-wheel-drive car can be very labor intensive. You are paying them to perform work that you either cannot or choose not to perform yourself, so you have to expect that if will cost you.

Rear alkignment usually requires that the lower control arm pivot/bushing bolts need to be removed, and they are normally reusted in place. The trail arm bolts also have to be removed to adjust caster. Eccentric bolts are installed in their place so that some alignment adjustment is possible. The the equipment needs to be connected and the wheels aligned (if possible). They could spend an hour just getting it read to align, before any of the actual alignment adjustment work begins.

Get quotes from a couple other places just to compare. If they all come out about the same (and they probably will) you can either forget the alignment and chew up your tires faster, bite the bullet and have them align it, or save a good portion of the cost and change the pivot bolts to eccentric bolts yourself. You can get a set of eccentric bolts for about $30. If necessary, you can get replacement bushings for about $6-8 each. Then all the alignment shop would have to do is the actual adjutment, saving a lot of labor charges.

EDIT: I just realized that your J-Body might have the boat trailer axle option instead of the multi-link suspension. If that is the case, toe in the rear is set by the weldment, and is not adjustable without a frame shop bending the weldment back into alignment. If you took a curb and bent the axle assembly, you can either replace the axle or have it straightened, then aligned with the two front wheels.

Sounds good, just what I was looking for. Im pretty sure mine doesnt have the boat trailer axle, or they wouldve caught the toe-in last time I got it alligned, which wasnt to long ago. So I guess I'll take your advice and get all the parts required to save time for me and labor for them. Man I need to start getting connections. =*(

I pay $60 for a four wheel aligment

I pay $60 for a four wheel aligment

lol, no you didnt, you paid $60 for a 2 wheel alignment, they told you it was a 4 wheel alignment (its happened to me to)

yea lol $60 is pretty much a standard rate for front wheel alignments. ive never actually needed to get rears done.

yeah you have to REALLY fuck a car up to need the rears aligned

also, they call it a 4 wheel alignment because they align the front 2 with the rear 2

The only way to really adjust anything in the rear of the car is with shims. Other wise it basically is factory set to be where it needs to be and shouldn't need adjustment.

yeah isnt it if u mess around with suspension it screws up allignment? thats what they asked me before i got it alligned, and thats what the mechanic did while lookin for the sound from the curb.

I PAID $60 FOR A FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT, I watched them do it. I don't care if you got fucked lol

EDIT: Sorry in a bad mood.

They did a four wheel alignment after I blakced out and hit a ditch, everyother place wanted more but they said they could do it for $60 since I had a "comerical" account. (Step-dad is kinda of a car fixer).

Haha so you have connections? Mind if I borrow that commercial account for the weekend plz? =D

lol i have to go through my step dad and i HATE him so um maybe not. Does help on special orders though

Cavaliers do have a rear beam axle with tariling arm not a 4 link.

Four links are adjusted very easily. You losed the nut on the inside and turn the bolt with the eccentric washer that sits in a u section piece of metal. you move either the fornt link or the rear link depening on which apprears to be out. take about 5 mins a side with the right equipment.

I PAID $60 FOR A FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT, I watched them do it. I don't care if you got fucked lol

EDIT: Sorry in a bad mood.

They did a four wheel alignment after I blakced out and hit a ditch, everyother place wanted more but they said they could do it for $60 since I had a "comerical" account. (Step-dad is kinda of a car fixer).

right on, so what did you to fuck your car up to the point of needing the rear wheels aligned??

thats kinda a coincidence too, cuz like caponi said, $60 is the average rate for a 2 wheel alignment, looks like someone got a good deal

i blacked out going around 70 (or at least the last i remember) and toped a little hill came down funny (i guess) and slammed into an embankment spun across the street and threw the ass end of the car into a ditch with a really big culvert. bent the rear two rims and it felt REALLY funny driving home.

damn, what were you on?

Chronic (sp?) migranies (sp?) aka really bad bad headaches,

ok so I jusr re-read some of the posts on here, I have a habit of reading a few ans just skimming. For a little clarifaication. Any lowering etc on the rear suspension will not mess with toe nor camber. J-bodys have a rear beam axle with trailing arms and move only in an arc and and towards the front of the car. If anything need to be done at the back to rectify the "thrust" of the rear wheels then it's form an impact or such. The front wheels should be aligned to the "thrust" (thrust just means the direction they point, not necessarily straight to the car) of the rear wheels so they will sometimes call is a 4-wheel alignment as they are aligning the 4 wheels, the fronts with the back. Just aligning the front to each other isn't wise as the rears could be slightly out. They will adjust the tie-bar on the fornt but nothing on the rear