Firestone Alignments

I know that not all Firestone's are created equal, so I am asking for your input here.

Does anyone have good results for a particular Firestone in the twin cities that is car enthusiast friendly, and takes input from the customer?

I am going to be doing a lot of swapping of suspension (struts/springs) between my rally-x setup and DD setup. Each time will require new alignments.

Discuss.

 

Or, you could go to

http://www.thealignmentguy.com/page1.htm

 

or I could go to Firestone

Unless the alignment guy offers/accepts the lifetime alignment plan I bought for the car in '00

Remember I am going to be getting two alignments each Rally-x event I attend. One after I swap in rally suspension, one after I swap in DD suspension.

 

OIC what you did there.

 

So you got a lifetime alignment plan that covers swapping suspensions back and forth all season doing non-spec alignments? Damn...I want in on that plan, how do I get one!?! Seriously...they'll do that?

If it doesn't work out, Jeff the Alignment guy will at least listen to you carefully, knows motorsports alignments, and will give you exactly what you want.

 

Yeah, $129.95 for unlimited alignments as long as I own the car... SOLD!

When I was living in Wa I had a shop that was all real car guys. I took my car into them at least 3 times a month. Most of the time it was after I would race, or do some canyon runs and needed some tweaking of camber, caster, and toe. They were very helpful, and always did a great job. I need this again

DD - Slotted Koni adjustable, Mopar Perf "High-Rate" Springs (liniar rate 225lb front 185lb rear) -2.0* front 0* rear, depending on mood up to +1/16" Toe ~1" lower than stock.

Rally-X - KYB GR-2, Stock SRT-4 springs +1" over stock.

This means each race I will be changing my suspension height/travel by about 2" AND what ever alignment issues the rally-x will cause on it's own.

EDIT:
That is why I need to find a shop that will work with me again. Some Firestones tell you to piss off if your car is lowered or lifted over factory. They will also tell you they can only plug in factory settings. When things get really slow for the shops, they will bring it out. Or if you go in and it's SUPER slow you can always say "My friend has a lifetime alignment plan, do you know about this?" Sometimes that will work. Hit them on the sale days... 10% off helps. I love the fact that it is usable at ALL Firestone locations in the US, unless they have a fit about your car. Some limit you by mileage, or time. That is why I make friends at my local shop, and leave a 6-pack for the tech on a slow day.

Again, it depends on the shop, and if they are car guys or not. That is why I need to find a cool one.

 

<discuss>
The local race community vote is pretty solid in their vote for Jeff The Alignment Guy. He seems pretty cool and may cut you a deal. It also seems like you got your value out of your deal. You go as you want and ignore the advice given.
</discuss>

 

I used to have a hook up with a lifetime alignments deal from a ncie tures plus guy who did non spec alignments and lots of fussing around.

Then one day he wasn't there and my lifetime alignments deal was crap and the new guy only insisted on factory alignments, which is what the agreement says.

Since then almost every place I looked at said they would not do a non spec alignment under those rules.

 

Got it, Jeff the Alignment Guy is the man.

I didn't ask where to get the best alignment, I asked if anyone knows of a friendly Firestone. The lifetime plan has paid for it's self seven or eight times by now, but that doesn't mean I will stop using it and go somewhere else. In my opinion that is just dumb, plain dumb. If I was looking for the perfect setup for my car then I would consider going to Jeff, but since I already have that perfect setup I will opt for FREE.

Now, back to the original post....

Anyone know of a friendly Firestone?