Recently replaced left and right lower control arm bushings, pitman arm, idler arm, left/right leaf springs and all four shocks in my car. Put it to its correct ride height as well. Time for an alignment.

Called new Firestone that opened near me recently. "You guys up for doing a '73 Valiant?" I asked. "Yeah, sure" replied the tech.

Brought the car down with alignment procedure and spec pages from the FSM just to make sure there's no way anyone could possibly get it wrong. My dad picked me up and in a few hours the car was ready so we went back and got it.

Here's what I got back! The following pictures are of the driver's side cam adjuster bolt on the upper control arm.



THEY WELDED IT!!!! ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BOLT!!!!

Oh man, I was ticked off. I called them up and demanded to speak to the tech who did it. He said "The bolt wouldn't stay in place, and I wanted you to be able to drive it home" to which I responded "Didn't you ever once think it might be time to give me a call and let me know there's a problem, instead of fudging it and hoping nobody notices until the next time someone tries to align the car!!!" I went on to explain: "If there's a problem with a part on my car I want to know about it and fix it. And now you expect ME to have to scrape this weld off so I can replace the bolt?"

Eventually he realized he wasn't going to talk his way out of it and my next call would be their corporate offices, so he offered to order a new cam bolt, replace it and re-align the car. So I am satisfied. But man... imagine if I hadn't inspected his work? Imagine if I brought it somewhere else for an alignment and they saw that? I'm sure if I brought it back to Firestone a month or two later they'd deny that there's any way it happened in their shop.

Man oh man... its becoming nearly impossible to trust anyone but myself touching my car.

Wow. That is pretty incredible. I gave up trusting other people to work on my cars years ago, but that half-assed hack job is much worse than anything I experienced. You should sue them, seriously. Whatever moron they let near your car shouldn't be working on cars, period. Who knows what other unsafe "repairs" they have put out on the road.

I believe we have gotten to the point that one must know how to do basically all the work on their car if they wish to own an old car. New young tech simply aren't trained n the systems used on our beloved old cars. You might get lucky and find a shop with an old timer or someone else who is into old cars who knows what they are doing, but i won't chance it. Stories like this one reaffirm my belief that nobody will repair my vehicles but me, if I can help it.

I would not put Firestone tires on my car, or let any of their shops touch my vehicles.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I've seen shoddy work from them in my town as well and wouldn't trust them to do the job correctly or provide a set of tires that would last.

-D.Idiot

Folks, I'm afraid the awful truth is that "a lick and a promise" is likely the only service available for our cars, especially at a franchise shop.
The "kids" working there aren't trained except to use their equipment and the computer cash register.
There's surely a different work ethic out there than when we pumped gas, cleaned windshields and checked oil in exchange for the use of the service station's lift.

[/futile rant]

BC

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'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!

Finding a shop to perform a proper alignment of Mopar torsion bar suspension is almost an impossibility these days. I don’t care how many framed professional car repair certificates are plastered on the walls of a shop; they mean nothing. I also suspect that front end alignment* is one step up the ladder from floor sweeper and trash dumper in most of these tire / national shops. Let’s face it alignment ain’t rocket science when working on late model cars; there are generally only two adjustments; camber & toe. Most of these shops put car on rack, check alignment readings for green numbers, and call it good if all green, others live by the motto; “toe & go…“ Either way it’s a tire shop, trying to sell tires, what better way to boost sales than a fresh crappie alignment.

You have to find a shop that does alignments and not tires manned by old guys, or attend a few car shows and ask the Mopar guys for alignment shop recommendations in your area.

I haven’t stepped foot in a Firestone store for twenty five years since encountering a bunch of knuckleheaded wrench jockeys, and the big service sell to build the job.

*My appolagies to any /6 member tasked with alignments in one of these joints that actually knows how to do their job; you sir are one in a hundred.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I live in a small town and there are a few independent shops will real honest, knowledgable mechanics (most raced in the 60's & 70's), but they are a dieing breed. Looking at the pictures above, I wonder if they didn't just go for the quick fix instead of the correct repair, so they could move onto the fool in the Lexus that they will milk for everything they are worth?

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1964 Dart GT

"The bolt wouldn't stay in place" Huh? Did they manage to strip the threads on it or something?

i'm with Wjajr on this one. i used to work at a Firestone in San Fernando Valley and i'll tell you man, i've never been yelled at to hurry up so many times. Unfortunately the only thing you're paying for when you get the Lifetime Alignment is a Toe setting, decent if you're lucky. Buy yourself a Modern Automotive Textbook and learn to do alignments on your own.

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

I agree with some here, I would never want anyone to do work on my car, apart from abolutely necessary machine/welding works.

Unfortunately, wheel alignment is one of the few specialized services that I do not feel comfortable with doing myself. I cannot compete with a modern lazer-based alignment bridge! If I try to hang around to see the work performed, insurance companies' rules about having non-personell in an active workplace make them throw me out.

You cannot trust many people anymore, workmanship and pride is almost nonexistent today...

Olaf

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Aspenized

Olaf, my current boss is 70 years old, he can eyeball a toe setting and be within an 1/8 of an inch. bring those Los angeles mopars to our shop.

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

I have owned to sets of Firestones. One was fine. 195R60-14's that were on my 81 Charger 2.2 from the factory. The others were the famed ATX radials of Ford Explorer fame on a Ford van. 2 exploded, one kicked the tread on a steer and I drove to the tire shop on the cords still inflated.

For us that remember.........
500
721
ATX All junk.

That "tech" and anyone defending him wouldn't have a job when I got through with them. Reed is a lawyer!

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's Hookers on jack stands for 8 years in the driveway
'79 Maxivan 360 Offy Qjet Comp RV cam/rusting in the driveway.
93 D350 160HP Cummins Auto Dually Clubcab needs a injector pump
2005 Golden Couch Buick

I just had a new set of Firestone Destination LE2 tires installed on my truck. I asked them to do an alignment wich they declined to do because of a worn center link. They priced the job and I told them I would take care of it myself. So I ordered a new idler arm and center link from Rockauto and installed them myself this weekend. I replaced all four tie rods a few months back so it was now tight and ready for alignment.
I was all ready to go back to Firestone and get the alignment done when I came across this thread and was mortified at MattyBrowns experience!! So I did some homework and found an "old guy" here in Knoxville with 30 yrs specializing in frame and suspension alignment (Alignment Proffesionals) and turned it over to him. He was very informative in explaining to me first (after inspection) what needed adjusting and called me before he started turning wrenches.
The truck now drives awesome, straight and smooth and very responsive. I love these tires but Will not be getting any alignment work done at Firestone! Thanks alot for the warning and great advice guys!! Sam

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1975 Dodge D100 2wd Reg.cab 225/6, 727auto, 3.55 gears, Cat delete with 2.25" Thrush Exhaust, Dist recurve by DI, 9.1 comp, Factory aluminum 1bbl intake with heatshield, 63 Jet, Delete ballast with Pertronix Flame Thrower 3ohm coil

Worn center link? How ? It's a single solid hunk of metal with no moving parts. You meant pitman arm maybe?

One bad apple doesn't mean the whole tree's poison. The Firestone locally treats me well. Family run joint. When I asked him if he likes working on old cars like my 71 his response was "That's too new..."

No, the center link on my truck has 2 swivel ball joint like studs built into it. Driver side goes into the pitman arm on steering box and the other into the idler arm on the passsenger side frame. The driver side joint was worn pretty bad and I had alot of play in the steering wheel as a result.
Anyway, I suppose they could have done the alignment and not said anything but I appreciated them pointing it out to me. They seem like pretty honest guyd I just dont know how well "versed" or skilled they are when it comes to alignments. They are mostly very young technicians and that scares me. I have had ALOT of bad experiences with automotive shops in my area and have had to accept the fact that to get anything done right I have to wind up doing it myself if I have the capability.

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1975 Dodge D100 2wd Reg.cab 225/6, 727auto, 3.55 gears, Cat delete with 2.25" Thrush Exhaust, Dist recurve by DI, 9.1 comp, Factory aluminum 1bbl intake with heatshield, 63 Jet, Delete ballast with Pertronix Flame Thrower 3ohm coil