Camber Adjustment??

[Kwing]

Howdy folks. I got me a problem. I'm hoping the experts here can help me. I am now preparing to purchase my 3rd set of tires prematurely on my 2007 Tahoe, 2WD, LT... bone stock as they get.

The 1st $1200 set had to be replaced with 3/8" of tread left because the front right tire was showing cords at the very outer edge only, and the front left was about 2 weeks behind if i had to guess. So the 2nd set I had them do an alignment and i have been almost religious about rotating tires. What did that get me? Lasted maybe 2 months longer than the last set and all 4 tires now have bald outside edges with over 1/4" of tread on the rest of the tire.

I know I'm not an expert, but I'd say there's a camber issue.

Here's my problem, I specifically asked about the camber when they did that alignment and they swore to me that the camber is 100% NOT adjustable on this model.

That doesn't sit well with me on several levels, chief among them is that the camber is clearly substantially positive and I'm tired of blowing $1200 every 18-24 months because of it.

So what say you? Is this shop (Big-O) full of crap, or did GM really build a family SUV that has no adjustable camber?

 

[OR VietVet]

They are full of crap. Camber is adjustable. The wear you speak of is either way positive camber or to much toe in but I would bet the camber is the problem, especially since they told you it is not adjustable.

Might want to show the idiot that told you camber was not adjustable to look at this video.

By the way, you should always get a copy, insist on it, of the before and after readings of the caster, camber and toe in readouts and what the factory specs are.

I have seen some very lazy alignment techs in my day but have never heard of one just lie up front like that. That guy should not have a job at that shop or any other shop if he is talking crap like that.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I'll keep it real simple. Find another alignment shop. There is no way that you should be chewing up tires at the pace that you are doing.

 

[Kwing]

I feel like such a moron!

I have been down under this monster dozens of times since then doing brakes, motor mounts, holy crap I even did the struts and swear to you I did not see those cams until after watching that video above. Son of a *****!

I almost deserved this.

Thank you for reminded me how stupid I am. I'm gonna go get this dealt with...

 

[OR VietVet]

I feel like such a moron!

I have been down under this monster dozens of times since then doing brakes, motor mounts, holy crap I even did the struts and swear to you I did not see those cams until after watching that video above. Son of a *****!

I almost deserved this.

Thank you for reminded me how stupid I am. I'm gonna go get this dealt with...

When you get this redone make sure you get that printout of the before and after readings and the factory specs and post it back here in this thread. You can take a pic of the sheet and post the pic or type in the readings for each side. I am curious where the before readings are.

By the way, don't beat yourself up over it. If you don't know you just don't know. Now you do and can move on but I would take the print out back to the BIG O shop and tell them they owe you money for some tires. Or you can rightfully post what happened to you by them on Yelp or Google. Crap like that should be shared.

That says a lot about this because I hate review sites like Yelp and Google.

 

[iamdub]

WTF is it with the piss-poor alignment shops lately?!

We go from "can't quite get it 100% right" on a modified vehicle (somewhat understandable) to "we got it as close as we could" on a STOCK vehicle (unacceptable) to "camber is 100% NOT adjustable on this model" (bold-faced lie).

If it weren't adjustable, then why are special cams made for increased adjustment when lowered? I aligned mine at home with a string and digital angle finder.

 

[OR VietVet]

Techs like that should be ran out of town on a rail and tarred and feathered. Fired at least.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I feel like such a moron!

I have been down under this monster dozens of times since then doing brakes, motor mounts, holy crap I even did the struts and swear to you I did not see those cams until after watching that video above. Son of a *****!

I almost deserved this.

Thank you for reminded me how stupid I am. I'm gonna go get this dealt with...

Don't beat yourself up over this. Learn from it instead. That's why you joined this Forum, so that you can share in and eventually contribute to our collective knowledge base.

Folks here are very knowledgeable and freely share their experiences and perspectives, without all the snarky BS that you see on other sites. We do kid each other, but we also respect each other, and that is a key difference.

 

[Fless]

Techs like that should be ran out of town on a rail and tarred and feathered. Fired at least.

This blatant lie issue should be escalated to the manager at the Big O store in question. He/she should at least be made aware of it, and you should ask for them to make it right. They're selling you tires and their "work" is causing those tires to be worn prematurely. If they do the alignment they should warranty the tires if you are having them document their regular balance and inspection. It's time to advocate for yourself and call this BS.

If they don't make it right, then escalate to Big O corporate and file a complaint with the BBB.

 

[OR VietVet]

Every now and then you run in to techs that are extremely lazy or dishonest and will take shortcuts and do shoddy work. You also run in to some that just don't know things and instead of admitting it they say shit like this about "camber is not adjustable". When I was a tech, I asked a bunch of questions so I could learn. When I ran shops and did the hiring, I told the new hire tech that if either of these scenarios happened, lazy or not knowing and not asking how or dishonest happened, they were gone, asap. Guys/girls like that can give a shop a bad name and cost other techs money and other techs can see it an lose respect for the service manager or shop foreman. Either way it can cause a shop to close down and guys/girls to lose their jobs.

 

[Just Fishing]

My advice is to find a specialty shop that does alignments.

I ran into issues getting my C4 vette aligned, I fought them since they were idiots.
Even showed them how to use the shims i included (2 shops in a row!).

My reward was to be treated like crap.
One shop i had my dash cam running, got the conversation of the "mechanic" whining about the car and his plan to "send me on down the road and away from him".
I took that to his management, and refused their offer to have a different mechanic work on the car with a discounted rate.

I almost yelled out a "NO" at him..


If an alignment shop can't figure out something as simple as a common GM truck, run away.
Do not walk but run!

I only take referrals now, and the alignment shop that i actually trust is a good 30 mile drive away from me.
(Recommended via the local corvette community)

I left google reviews to reflect the bad shops, and expressed my gratitude to the good shop.

 

[iamdub]

This blatant lie issue should be escalated to the manager at the Big O store in question. He/she should at least be made aware of it, and you should ask for them to make it right. They're selling you tires and their "work" is causing those tires to be worn prematurely. If they do the alignment they should warranty the tires if you are having them document their regular balance and inspection. It's time to advocate for yourself and call this BS.

If they don't make it right, then escalate to Big O corporate and file a complaint with the BBB.

Good point.

@Kwing, if you bought your tires from there, and especially with any kind of warranty, I feel they owe you a new set of tires. I would say they owe you tires AND an alignment, but they are obviously incompetent in that department. Maybe owe you tires and an alignment at another one of their branches? After it's all said and done, wash your hands of them and move forward with your new knowledge of both your vehicle and of crappy shops.

 

[OR VietVet]

My advice is to find a specialty shop that does alignments.

I ran into issues getting my C4 vette aligned, I fought them since they were idiots.
Even showed them how to use the shims i included (2 shops in a row!).

My reward was to be treated like crap.
One shop i had my dash cam running, got the conversation of the "mechanic" whining about the car and his plan to "send me on down the road and away from him".
I took that to his management, and refused their offer to have a different mechanic work on the car with a discounted rate.

I almost yelled out a "NO" at him..


If an alignment shop can't figure out something as simple as a common GM truck, run away.
Do not walk but run!

I only take referrals now, and the alignment shop that i actually trust is a good 30 mile drive away from me.
(Recommended via the local corvette community)

I left google reviews to reflect the bad shops, and expressed my gratitude to the good shop.

When I ran shops and a new customer came in and was complaining about another shop, I never ever bad mouthed that shop because I was only hearing one side of the story. I did tell every customer that if they find a shop they know and trust and like their work, stick with them, even if it was not my shop.

The biggest complaint I got was that a shop charged too much. Typically they did not charge too much but did charge more than the customer could afford and then that customer said it was too much without knowing that it was a fair price. Having a good shop is not cheap. Location, building, equipment, insurance, quality techs, tools, government fees, haz mat fees, inventory costs, upkeep and maintenance on all things at that location, keeping good techs, training and last but not least-feeding all of them once a week. I made a point of talking the owner of the shop in to at least once a week he/she should pay for every employee's lunch to show that they care and respect them and what they do. That goes a long way to making a happy tech/employee and keeping other shops at bay trying to take your employees from you.

 

[Fless]

Good point.

@Kwing, if you bought your tires from there, and especially with any kind of warranty, I feel they owe you a new set of tires. I would say they owe you tires AND an alignment, but they are obviously incompetent in that department. Maybe owe you tires and an alignment at another one of their branches? After it's all said and done, wash your hands of them and move forward with your new knowledge of both your vehicle and of crappy shops.

Agreed. If these shops can keep charging people for less than decent service (kindly put) then they'll keep on doing it. Gotta hold their feet to the fire. My point was to make it a little painful for them by requesting a refund of the alignment charge, and some compensation for the tire wear. Then it's lesson learned, and off to find a reputable shop to get things straight. We can't keep paying for things we don't get, and letting shops get by with that.

Also, posting your complaint on social media can be helpful; sometimes it gets the shop owner's attention and something will get done. Just don't be an ass when you post; use the facts in a non-combative post. If you file a BBB complaint, explain the facts and the timeline, and ask for a specific remediation.