Is $123 a fair deal for alignment, balance and rotation? This is at a local stealership. I have a feeling I am about to get 100% royally screwed over by the body shop for their hack job and am preparing for the worse.

 

You are getting ripped.
If they are indeed going to balance the tires (why again?) they are already
off the vehicle and just putting them back on in a different place
does not warrant any more cost for a rotation? See what I mean?
The front end of a S197 has no adjustments persay.
Slotting holes is the only way according to Ford.
And the rear is also not adjustable without aftermarket UCA and LCAs.
If it aint broke and you have not smacked
any curbs, skip the alignment.
If the frame was put back right, then an alignment is not needed...
Ask them that question. Are they just checking or fixing their crappy work?
Now to the balancing.... WHY?
Were they not balanced when originally mounted on the rims?
I guess I dont see the whole picture.
Fill us in and then get a good answer....

 

Sorry, my tech level is low if this sounds all simplified.

There has been quite a bit of shake and front end bumpiness to my ride. This is with my stock tires btw. I seem to get a bit of a pull to the left. Especially at low speeds and I let the wheel go and it will drift that way. The ride has smoothed out a little after I had taken off the driver side wheels and had them put back on, but it's still not right. The bumpiness makes me want to think a tire or tires had gone off balance. I believe my driver side front tire smacked the guard rail but did not have visual damage to the wheel itself.

What is odd, when I test drove the vehicle before purchase. It drove a little similar to this. Perhaps the previous owner did some damage to the car. After I had an alignment and balance done, it seemed to have corrected, temporarily until I drove over some road reflectors. Somehow in the back of my mind, I am thinking this car was in an accident before mine, even though it had a clean carfax.

The rotation is not necessary, it was just part of the pkg "deal".

 

I forgot to mention, my left driver side rear shock had gone out shortly I brought the car home back in July. Maybe there is something larger to this picture.

Either that or the body shop just jacked something up. They apparently have no clue how mustangs work.

 

ignore 157db, he sometimes makes no sense in his ramblings....yes that is about what you would expect to pay. I am probably going to have mine done here in a but s its been probably 2 years since last aligned.

 

Alignments on our cars are a rip. They can only adjust toe in the front, no camber or caster, and the rear has absolutely no adjustment. They will put it on the rack, take a measurement, then push it back and forth so the readings are slightly different.

 

It's not the price I'm concerned with it's who's doing the work. I would suggest finding a very good tire & wheel shop in your area as opposed to a dealership. Someone who specializes in top notch balance and alignments and someone who uses Hunter Road Force Equipment. When you've had your wheels balanced by a real pro, there is a world of difference.

 

I suppose the kicker is that I would still need to pay someone to "use" their machine instead of self adjustment, which I wouldn't know how in the first place

Actually if I had the money, I would of done some suspension upgrade in the first place.

Not sure if I will balance these tires since I'm getting my summer setup soon. By the time winter rolls around, I may get new winter tires or these stockers have been in storage for a few good months.

 

+1 on the Hunter Road Force Balancer.

You could go to http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm to see if a shop near you has one. Even better if the shop has the StraightTrak LFM option.

 

If I may, if you walk in to you dealership with the notion that it is a, "stealership", you will not be happy with the work or the price. I'd recommend you go elsewhere.

The price quoted is more than fair and is the going rate for a thrust angle alignment along with rotating and rebalancing the tires. Alignment checks should be done about once per year and the rotation/rebalancing of the tires should be done every 6,000 miles/6 months, whichever comes first. You can purchase a lifetime package for all of these services at your local Firestone auto center and have your car re-aligned with the tires rotated/balanced whenever you need.

Tires need rebalancing because as they wear, they don't wear perfectly even across the tread and will slowly get out of balance. It's an incremental process and not something you'd generally notice until after you have the tires rebalanced and you drive down the highway thinking to yourself, "Wow, this is much smoother"! Tire rotations are important in order to even out wear patterns and extend the life of the tires. All this can make a significant difference in extending tire life and reducing the amount of money you'll spend on replacing tires.

By your description, it definitely sounds like an alignment and tire balance issue. I hope this has been of help. Keep us posted.

B.F.Goodrich T/A Certified Tire Specialist