Quote:
Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd
I do my own alignments. I have both hub stands and smart strings. (Sadly, the hub stands aren't quite rated for the X5.) Ballparking takes almost no time, is useful for an initial gut check of the suspension, and makes the final alignment simpler.
The point of gut checking in *this* case is for the OP to try to diagnose his suspension issues. Aligning a car with broken suspension parts is pointless. If it were me, I'd replace basically everything in the rear based on what he's saying. But while he's trying to chase down the problem, ball parking buys him time.
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I wasn't suggesting to align a broken suspension or doing it twice. Sorry if that was not clear.
The shop I go to has the latest equipment. I pay something like $200 for an alignment and can bring it back to be aligned as many times as necessary for a year. I pay the same price regardless of how long it takes or how far it is out of alignment. Even if they didn't have the program, the few times I need to do an alignment it is not a value to buy the equipment. My guess is you have $1000 to $1500 invested in your hub stands, the ball bearings and smart string.
Early on OP had done troubleshooting and not found the cause. that's why I suggested to take it to a shop where SOP is to check the suspension before starting the alignment. If something is broken they don't an alignment but do find the problem. If OP had found the problem and done the repair, going to the alignment shop would obviously be after the repair.
I agree that if the suspension hasn't been rebuilt in say 100,000 miles do it all at once rather than replace each part as it fails. Good point.