That alignment rack readout made me question my torque wrench

Had a 2018 F-150 come in Tuesday with a pull to the right. I checked tire pressure, rotated, swapped front tires, still pulled. Customer swears they just had an alignment done at a big chain 3 weeks ago. I put it on my rack and the camber was off by 1.2 degrees on the passenger side. Turns out the other shop never even charged the battery on their rack, it was running off memory. Now I write the date on the battery with a sharpie every time I calibrate, costs me 5 minutes. How many of you actually trust the numbers when a car comes from those quick lube alignment places? Has anyone else caught a shop skipping the calibration step?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylan_thompson1mo ago

...and honestly, I'm not sure I'd trust that rack even with a fresh battery. Those quick lube places run their equipment until the wheels fall off, and half the time the guy doing the alignment is the same one who just changed your oil. I had a buddy who worked at one for a summer, said they only calibrated when corporate sent someone out. That was once a year, if they were lucky. Sure, a bad alignment is a real thing, but I've also seen customers swear by a pull that turned out to be a tire with a broken belt or just road crown. The date on the battery thing is smart, but it doesn't fix a rack that's been out of whack for months. I'd say trust the numbers, but only if you're the one who put them on the screen.

daniel2141mo ago

...and that battery trick is genius, I gotta start doing that. I feel you on the whole trust thing though, man. I had a Honda come in last month, customer said the same thing, just had it aligned at one of those tire chains. I put it up and the toe was so far off the tires were gonna be bald in two weeks. The annoying part is I can't even blame the tech, half those places pay flat rate and rush everything. You're right that it's not always the rack either, I've chased a pull for hours only to find a bad tire that looked fine on the balancer. But yeah, when I see their sheet and my numbers don't match, I just redo it and don't even argue with the customer anymore. It's just easier to fix it and move on than explain why their "free lifetime alignment" is garbage.