Alignment Update

Post by **BIONICQ45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

I posted a few weeks ago on the old site about a $29.99 4 wheel alignment special at the Local Infiniti dealer. I drop off the old Q the first time and waited about 2 hours before they tell me "the alignment guy is off for the day but don't worry..we'll keep the special available just for you!" I took it back today and dropped it off for the alignment only to get a call about 3 hours later telling me the kingpin bearings are shot, upperlinks are shot, tension rods are shot and rack bushings are shot. About $1400 compared to the $29.99 (moron bait) I was ready to drop. Anyway, I'm getting a few other opinions before I get the work done. Atleast they are detailing the car for me and they gave me a Navigator to drive (I35 loaner was over the mileage limit).

Hitman, I had to forfeit my original screen name to register. I know you tried to block me out :moon

Post by **ardvarkus** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

So, buy the parts from Scottsdale for $400, put them on over a weekend, then drop back in for the $29.95 special!

(Just guessing on the price, but upper links at 80, king pins at (WAG) 80, rack bushing 20, tension rod BUSHINGS (not the whole thing!) for 30...)

Good luck

Adam

PS Now you knoe why they offer the 29 special- for every one they do for 29, there is another with $1k in repairs...

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

I know what you're in for. I've been working on my rear suspesion for almost a month now. It could be a weekend job, but be aware that the press-fit parts require a lot of force to assemble. I have applied over 1000 lbs without success. Professor Mike cautioned me about this--said they usually replace the enter component rather than just the bushings or ball joints. Only yesterday I found a local vendor with a 12 ton hydraulic press for not too much. I will pick it up this week and hopefully I'll be done with the job this weekend. You can always save a lot of money by doing it yourself, but you need to decide where you fall between saving money and saving sweat.

Post by **AZhitman** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

DAE - What a great post. I was thinking that when I replaced all (yes, all, including body-to-frame) bushings in my 68 GranSport with poly, I had the A-arm bushings pressed in at NAPA for like $2 each (in 1988).

Bionic - Like I said, it's just another example of THE MAN tryin to keep a brotha down!:Werd

Fight the power - and get to posting!!!

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Man, I WISH I could find a place to do it for $2 each!!! We all know outright it won't be cheap at a dealer. So I got quotes from several shops, including some national chains. I swear every single service writer in this town goes to the same class. No matter what car I bring in the conversation always goes like this:ME: Hi there, how much to press the bushings into the rear axle housing if I bring you all the parts?S/W: What kind of car is it?ME: It's a [90 Q45][85 Firebird][97 Toyota] (fill in the blank)S/W: (Rolling his eyes) Whew! A [blank filler]??? Oh, probably about [some outrageous amount].

Post by **ardvarkus** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

I dunno...

I've replaced my tension arm bushings 4 times.

Used a bench vise. Takes 20 minutes per.

I've not gotten into the rears yet, other than springs/shocks, and that is bench stuff as well (I won't say how I compress the springs...)

It sounds like the rear press in bushings are different (from the interference fit point of view) when compared to the front.

Adam

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Got the press and it worked great--got all bushings and the ball joint pressed in nice flush. One bushing in particular was a pain because the axle housing gets in the way of the bushing's line of sight, so I had to improvise a jig using iron blocks and a Craftsman 14-in breaker bar. Check out the pic. You can see the bar bending under the load! Bar is about .7 x .35, steel has a modulus of about 30E6 PSI, deflection was about .15" between the supports, 3.5" apart. Do the math--you'll find I was applying about 8,000 pounds of force to push that baby in! Not bad for a $60 tool (cash in hand, no tax, no receipt). My friends have been trying to think of things that will be cool to crush. Any suggestions?

Post by **maxnix** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Daedulus,

That is too cool! By the way, did you take down your excellent under plenum shots, or did they move? You should post them here.

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

I had to take the pictures down to save on space...my road runner service only allows me 5MB at any given time, and I use a lot of it to run my ebay auctions. But they are available...they're maybe 1MB for all of them and I can email them to you if you want.

Post by **maxnix** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Yeah, email them to me and/or the board, or post them.

They are most instructive.

Post by **AZhitman** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

DAE - Another great post. Good info in case we ever need some bushings pressed... (hint hint)

Anybody who buys such a tool then IMMEDIATELY starts thinking about what would be cool to crush with it is COOL in my book.

Post by **lonallenq45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

You've got to share with us where we can get one of these too for $60...

Lon

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Maxnix, send me your email address and I'll send the pix from the site. Is there any way to post email addresses in our profiles?

I bought the press from a small start-up in Dominguez Hills. Here is their info:

[email protected] OUR HOURS ARE 9 TO 5 MONDAYTHROUGH FRIDAY. OUR ADDRESS IS:BU SALES1946 GLADWICK STRANCHO DOMINGUEZ, CA 90220

It's a cool place. All kinds of tools and equipment, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Not Craftsman-quality stuff, but good enough for periodic personal use. Look them up on ebay under "toolsunlimited"--they have a lot of their inventory listed.The press weighs 110 lbs, so they charge $75 to ship, so if you can, find a place local to you. There are several places on ebay selling presses, though not all of them allow pickups. One L.A. place I called wouldn't let me pick it up and wanted to charge me $60 to ship. No thanks. Do an ebay search for "shop press", "ton press" and "hydraulic press".

I think my first victim will be a hot wheels car. I'm betting I can get it to 1/16" or less. Any votes on which model?

Post by **maxnix** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Daedalus,

Click on the profile button for each post to see the gory details.

Brian

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Yeah, I just thought it seems wierd there's no email address listing. We have to send email (initially, at least) by going through NICO. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's nice to have a complete history in my email filing cabinet. I will email those pics now.

Post by **lonallenq45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Excellent! Thanks Daedalus...

Post by **Q451990** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

DAEDALUS wrote:Yeah, I just thought it seems wierd there's no email address listing. We have to send email (initially, at least) by going through NICO. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's nice to have a complete history in my email filing cabinet. I will email those pics now.

Will the system let you put your email address on the signature line?

Heath

Post by **lonallenq45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Will the system let you put your email address on the signature line?

Unless they have some type of text checking to avoid this you should be able to type almost anything into your signature.

Lon

Post by **PalmerWMD** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

LON:

That is the absolute coolest

avatar I have seen here yet.

Wish I had thought of that...

Fred...

Post by **lonallenq45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Thanks Fred.

I was wanting to fit the entire front end of my car into a 50x50 pixel area but it just wouldn't fit well and you really don't get any detail. I thought that if I couldn't get the grilless look going, I could at least show my preferences in models with the "Belt-Buckle". I cropped that out of a picture of my car. I need to take just a picture of the badge to get more detail out of it.

Lon

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

I admit I actually felt bad doing this, but it was all in the interest of entertainment and "taking a jab (stab) at the other guy".

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

OUCH!

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

And done. Great way to boost post count, too! Not my fault I can only attach 1 pic at a time. And why is it pics can be 200KB large, but only 400 pixels???

Post by **911/Q45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

You're a sick sick man. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Post by **lonallenq45** » Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:14 am

Is that the new SLAMMED look?

Post by **maxnix** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:17 am

It's all about stance, baby.