abnorm

I am having steering wheel vibrations at 70-90mph. Planning on having it inspected. How are your experiences with Firestone?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

They are okay. Not the greatest, not the worst. I hear getting the lifetime alignments is a good deal if you do suspension work alot

Daniel B. Martin

An alignment job is only as good as the man who did it. Some technicians are patient and thorough; others aren't. Therefore it isn't possible to say Firestone is good or bad. They are a nationwide chain and no doubt have some good and some bad shops.

The trouble with some shops (especially the guys who advertise a $39.95 "special") is that if a wheel is anywhere within the "factory spec" range they won't adjust it at all. Their attitude is "Duh, it meets the spec, that's good enough." You have to find the skilled technician who will take the time to adjust your car until the wheels are at the Nominal specification, or as close as humanly possible. Be prepared to pay extra for this because it takes extra time.

Be aware that steering wheel vibrations can come from problems other than alignment. These include ...
- bent wheel
- internal tire defect such as tread ply separation
- bent hub
- looseness in steering system due to worn ball joints and tie rod ends

If you like to do your own "wrenching" you could rotate the tires, exchanging fronts with rears. If the symptom changes markedly, the problem is with the tires or wheels. If the symptom remains unchanged, it is something in the front suspension or steering mechanism.

sachin98max

Totally agree with Daniel. It's the technician, not the store. I have the Firestone unlimited alignment, but always have a hard time getting them to even get my car onto the machine. They give me the "your car is lowered and can't get onto the rack" (although it's been done several times at random Firestone locations)...or that "the technician does not want to mess with it because he may make it worse" (although several Firestone technicians have dealt with my car and have done a good job). It all depends where you go and what technician does the job. The technician I had good luck with left that location and has gone elsewhere, so right now all 5 or 6 Firestones within 15 minutes of me will not even attempt to align my car. Yeah it kinda sucks since I paid $140 for lifetime, but then again I've had it aligned at least 5 times, so I've definitely made my money's worth. But all in all, Daniel is exactly right (how many times have you heard that???!!)

My97Maxima

Let us know if the alignment helps your vibration. Many of us have the same problem. We have tried all the usual suspects including, I think, alignments. Still have the vibration.

sachin98max

I had my alignment done to try to smoothen out my vibrations, but it didn't help much at all. I took it to Discount Tire where I bought my tires and rims and had them re-balance....that didn't help. So for $5/tire, they put it on this machine that spit out the exact way the tire should be put onto the rim so that the rim and tire were in balance (im guessing by counter-balancing any unbalanced parts of the tire and/or rim).....and after that i've lost most of my vibration...i have a very very weak vibration now, but that's fine with me compared to what I had before. Hope this helps. Definitely worth the $20.

2ndMAX

Daniel B. you hit it right on the mark. I had an alignment done about 2 months ago, and they tech asked me if the car was lowered. I said yeah, and he began to chastise me for even lowering the car. He said that once a car is lowered it will never be the same. Well I told him that this is the mildest aftermarket lowering spring available and that it barely reduced the ride height. He began with the alignment only to tell me that the values wouldn't match on each side and that it was okay if it didn't. As long as everything was in spec. So when my values for caster or camber (dont have the specs in front of me right now) were off he said the car will still drive fine because the roads in Long Island are crowned and that if the values were equal on both sides with these crowned roads it would feel like it was off. By then I just couldn't take the nonsense anymore. It was clear the tech just didn't want to put up an effort to ensure values matched on both sides as close to the nominal value as possible. So about 50 bucks later I'm rolling out of Firestone with my wheel slightly cranked to the right and heading perfectly straight down the road. To any people in the tri-state area (NY, CT, NJ) I'm searching for a good alignment shop. My criteria will be a shop that is willing to coax the suspension and or subframes into their proper orientation/setting to achieve an optimal alignment. This may be costly but I believe that if you go to an alignment shop and display a fair amount of knowledge about alignments and "exactly" what you want done I'm sure they can. I'm gonna make clear to the next shop I go to that if they can not meet or come as close as possible to my demands I'll simply take my business elsewhere. At this poitn I'm willing to spend $100 just for an accomplished tech to do a good alignment. Hey Daniel B. if the alignment is only slightly off and I've just installed a new set of tires, can I expect this to unevenly or prematurely wear out my tires? (remember its not off by far but it really shows itself from time to time). I'll be sure to post my values tomorrow.

Daniel B. Martin

Depends on what you mean by "slightly off". I think the simple answer to your question is ... "It will make no difference at all. 90% of the cars on the road have alignment which is slightly off."

Eric L.

Some Firestones are better than others...like DBM says, it depends on the technician who works on your vehicle.

I have the Lifetime Alignment from Firestone and I take mine to the Firestone next to Tanforan Mall in San Bruno (near SF). They always get it right the first time. However, two firestones, one in Sacramento and one in Fairfield, aligned my car but the car still wandered.

Vyrus

iTrader: (4)

Everyone who has posted here has said what I would, so I'm just going to say I got the $109 Lifetime Alignment Deal from them and I am pleased for the $109 - so cheap I can't complain. Sometimes you just get what you pay for. I'm technitians from some shops take more initiative than Firestone employees, but you you will spend nearly $60 on 1 alignment.

BRIGBOY

After I put on my toks and bachs. The guy that did my alignment is dang good. He has the machine that holds up to 23" rims. He knows his stuff.

abnorm

Thanks! I'll try the one in San Bruno.

abnorm

They don't have Firestone listed in San Bruno.

SuDZ

I have not seen a Firestone Shop near me but was curious about the Alignment for life deal you metioned. Is it for the car an unlimited amount or is it like 3 a year type of thing? Anyone have it yet? Just curious because it sounds like a good deal.

SuDZ

chris j vurnis

Depending on how firm your sidewalls are, you could turn the wheels a few degrees and the direction of the tread itself wouldn't change direction because of the twisting in the sidewalls of the tires.

If you have 15" GXE, you won't notice anything being a few thousandths off.

Turbo95Max

iTrader: (25)

thats we're not in San Bruno!! hehe. its South SF. we're located at 190 El Camino. I work there on friday and saturdays. Where are you located?

abnorm

Hey! That's kool that you work there, I'd rather talk to someone who has more experience with Maximas. I made an appointment with the one in Daily City, but I wouldn't be able to make it. I live in San Francisco btw. Which hours do you work? I added Turbo95Max to my yahoo messanger, if you ever use it...