Alignment after rack and pinion replacement?

This depends on how the shop bills the different services. If the same shop replaced the steering gear, there is often a combined charge for everything, but if the alignment was done at a second shop, what likely happened only applies to GM front-wheel-drive cars. To service their engines, transmissions, or steering gears, the entire assembly is removed along with the cross member, or "engine cradle" those parts are mounted on. In some ways that makes the job easier and it can take less time. The problem is when reinstalling that cradle, there are four bolts that go through oversized holes to mount it back to the body. Because of those holes, that cradle can be positioned off to one side or the other up to about 1/4". That results in both front tires leaning one way on top. That is one of the three basic alignment angles, called "camber". Camber is adjustable from the factory only on Chrysler and Toyota cars, and possibly a few other import models. GMs have to have lower strut mounting holes ground out to make them adjustable, then camber can be readjusted to specs, but that is only done by a very inexperienced and untrained mechanic. The underlying problem still is that cross member that is off-center. As such, the geometric relationship of the steering and suspension system is wildly different from one side to the other. That will cause the car to handle horribly, with no "predictability", meaning it will dart all over the road with no way to guess which way it's going to go with each bump in the road. You definitely will not want to drive a car like that.

Chrysler uses the same design with the removable cross member, but the bolts are special with oversized shoulders under the heads. Those force the crossmember to position itself perfectly centered when it is reinstalled. Standard practice with GM cars is to mark the position of the cross member with spray paint or some other means before it is removed. That will help to get it positioned correctly during reinstallation, but it usually never turns out perfect. That leads to the alignment. Experienced alignment specialists know to look at the readings for a secondary alignment angle called "steering axis inclination", (SAI). All alignment computers measure it automatically when one other angle is measured. Normally we don't bother to look at those two readings unless we're checking the repairs to crash damage, or when other services were performed on GM cars.

The drawing below is a copy of one of my "Notes Pages" I handed out in class relating to SAI. This is greatly exaggerated for clarity. The SAI is an imaginary line drawn through the two steering pivots as viewed from in front of the car. On older cars and trucks, that was a line through the upper and lower ball joints. On smaller cars that line runs through the lower ball joint and the upper strut mount. When reassembled, those upper strut mounts have to go back to their original orientations. It's the lower pivot points, those lower ball joints, that get moved off to one side when the cradle they're attached to gets installed off-center. This view is from in front of the car looking back at it. Both heavy black spindles, what the wheels are attached to, were moved to the left in the drawing, (passenger side on the car), but camber was readjusted at the bottoms of the struts to position them straight up and down again. That brought camber back to 0 degrees in this example, but it didn't address SAI which is 32 degrees on one side and 26 degrees on the other. That is what has to be measured and corrected as the very first step of this "special" alignment. With experience that can be corrected in ten to fifteen minutes. Often it's more frustrating and can take a lot longer. We have to loosen and slide the cradle a little, tighten the bolts, measure "caster", another of the three main alignment angles, by turning the wheels to one side, taking a reading, turning the wheels to the other side, taking another reading, then letting the computer calculate those values for each front wheel. That might sound simple, but each time we take those readings can involve another ten minutes, and it's not uncommon to have to do that over a half dozen times. Caster and SAI are two alignment angles that can not be observed changing on the computer screen as we make the adjustments. We have to make the adjustments, then take a series of readings, then let the computer figure out if we made it better or worse.

To remove a little confusion, camber is the inward or outward tilt of the wheels, as viewed from in front or in back of the car. You'd think we want the wheels to be perfectly straight up and down, which would be 0.00 degrees, but most models call for slightly positive camber, meaning the wheels are tipped out a little on top. That's done for best tire wear, and it places most the vehicle's weight directly over the wheel bearings which reduces stress on them. Once SAI has been corrected, we can start with the regular part of the alignment. That is to readjust camber to specs. It's also critical it be the same on both sides. Tires want to roll in the direction they're leaning. By making camber equal, the two pulls offset each other, and the car goes straight.

No spec is given for SAI. The only requirement is it must be the same on both sides. A typical value is around 28 degrees. On your car that would be the angle the struts are tipped in on top. Most manufacturers specify the two readings must have a difference of no more than 0.2 degrees. Shifting the cross member to one side as little as 1/8" changes that difference way more than 0.2 degrees, so you can see it's a very precise and difficult adjustment to achieve.

One thing our profession is very bad at is communication. In larger shops the mechanic explains what is needed to the service adviser who usually never was a mechanic. He has to take what he thinks he was told and translate that into something he thinks you will understand. While working at a very nice new-car dealership, sometimes customers would wander back to talk with me, and the stories they related to me sounded nothing like what I originally told to the service advisor. No one was trying to pull a fast one. Things just get lost in translation. Fortunately, my dealership owners and service managers never yelled at me for talking with customers to explain what I was doing for them, as long as I didn't waste too much time the customers were paying for. We got a lot of cookies and donuts from happy car owners.

The problem is I doubt anyone ever explained what the "special" alignment was or how it was different from any other. Years ago we did a standard two-wheel alignment with mechanical equipment. That stuff is not even close to precise enough for little lightweight cars since the early 1980s. Everyone today uses a very expensive and very accurate alignment computer. They all require projectors to be installed on all four wheels, and they all take readings on all four of them. What you might get sold is a two-wheel alignment, but that just means they aren't going to make any adjustments to the rear wheels. Very often that is okay, and no rear adjustments are even possible with solid rear axles like those found on pickup trucks and older cars. The computers still look at the rear readings to calculate where they want us to set the front wheels to ensure the steering wheel is straight. It's up to each shop owner to decide if they're going to charge more for a four-wheel alignment. At my dealership, some cars required removing a rear wheel to install a shim to make an adjustment. Usually that had to done only once in the life of the car. They charged extra for each wheel rather than automatically charging more for the four-wheel alignment. Other shops may have a set rate for a four-wheel alignment, then the mechanic is free to spend as much time as necessary setting each rear wheel where he wants it.

The last possibility that I already eluded to is the need to make a front wheel adjustable. That is done by grinding the lower of the two lower strut mounting holes oval-shaped. Chrysler and Toyota struts come with those holes elongated from the factory. GMs have to be ground out with a die grinder and special metal-cutting bit. That too only needs to be done once, but it may need to be done again when the struts are replaced. Some aftermarket struts come with those holes already elongated. The second photo below shows a Delco replacement front strut for your car. Both mounting holes are round, so no camber adjustment is possible until the lower hole is modified. The third photo shows the same strut from an aftermarket supplier, Monroe in this case, which is a huge supplier of high-quality shock absorbers and struts. My red arrow is pointing to the elongated hole they come with from the factory. No modification is needed to allow camber to be adjusted.

Let me know if this wondrous discussion left you with more questions. What you were charged for your alignment is more than my dealer charged, even when I had to spend a lot of time on the rear wheels, but I left the dealership in 1999. I did see once the prices were quite a bit higher at some other shops only a few years later. I have to assume part of that is due to the extremely high cost of the alignment computers. If you have the opportunity to visit the alignment shop again, I'd like to know what they meant by that "special" alignment.

That can mean all the other adjustments were okay and only "front toe" needed to be adjusted. Those two adjustments are on the new steering gear and will definitely need to be adjusted. It could mean the mechanic is very experienced and is good at hitting the right adjustments on the first or second try. It can even mean two people worked on it at once, one on each side of the car. We still don't know what they meant by "specialty" alignment.

With some of the newer alignment computers, all of the angles and adjustments can be read or calculated in as little as ten minutes, including the time needed to drive the car into the shop. After that, more time is needed when anything needs to be adjusted. I've had alignments that needed something to be adjusted, but were completed in as little as a half hour, and others that took well over two hours. To address that, almost all shops use a very large book called a 'flat rate guide". It lists every possible procedure for every year and model, with a time, down to tenths of an hour. By using this guide, every shop should give you a repair estimate that lists the same times as those of a competitor, then the only variable is their hourly labor rate.

Think of a barber who has one set charge for a haircut. It doesn't matter if you're almost bald or you come in looking like a hippie, the charge is the same, regardless how long it takes. With flat rate, you're quoted a charge for a service, the alignment in this case, and if the mechanic is very experienced, has invested in himself with lots of training, or has spent thousands of dollars on specialty tools, he will get the job done in less than the listed time. You still pay the same amount, the mechanic gets paid for that job, and he can move on to the next job sooner. He earns more by working efficiently and productively, and you get your car back sooner. If he runs into problems and the job takes longer than what you were quoted, it takes longer to get your car back, but you don't get charged more, and the mechanic may have to lose a job or two to someone else. He earns less that day, but conscientious mechanics value a quality job over a fast one.

Flat rate has checks and balances built in too. If a mechanic hurries too much or overlooks some important steps, and you come back with a complaint, he has to do the job over, for free. You're out the inconvenience for having to come back, but he has to give up his next job or two to take care of his mistake, the shop owner loses because one or two fewer cars get worked on that day. It's to everyone's advantage to take the time to do the job right the first time.

Even when something happens outside the mechanic's control, such as a new part develops a defect, you are not expected to pay for it again, but the shop owner recognizes it wasn't the mechanic's fault, so he will pay him to do it a second time. This is where a lot of the shop's profits go; to pay the mechanic to do things no one is paying the shop to do.

There are some exceptions to using flat rate, and alignments is one of them. While that procedure is listed in the book, each step is listed with its own separate charge. For example, instead of just saying it should take an hour, it will list the basic alignment as, "set up and take the readings": 0.3 hours. "Adjust camber on one front wheel": 0.2 hors. "Set tire pressures": 0.1 hour, etc. It would take way too long to figure out each little thing to add to the bill. There's way too many places to cheat or to make a mistake. The frustrating part is they would have to explain why your alignment cost ten dollars more than the one your friend just had done. It would be easier to explain why ten customers at the grocery store had ten different bills. Instead, they look at what it costs them in time, wages, material, and shop resources for the average alignment, and base their charge on that. They know they're going to lose on a lot of them, but they'll gain a little on others. You get charged for the average. They also have to factor in the need to be in line with their competitors. If you can't be less expensive, you have to offer better quality, faster service, or something else of value. A lot of the new-car dealers in my city have great reputations for doing jobs right the first time. Many customers are willing to pay for that. Most of our independent shops also have excellent reputations, but they don't get the factory training, so they offer lower prices to offset having to take longer on some jobs.

There's way more than you wanted to know. If you get a chance to find out why you were charged more for this "specialty" alignment, please let me know what that included.

What can't you determine? Don't tell me I missed something.

Dandy. Please understand most shop owners are reputable and trustworthy, but as a whole, we do a really poor job with communication skills. Some car owners get offended when we dumb things down to make them understandable, and others just assume we're here to rip them off when they don't understand how these machines they trust to get them back home work. There are bad apples in every profession, and we will never defend them, but they set the tone for our entire industry.

Please come back to see us with your next question.