Tires, alignments, camber bolts & other woes

[Mario Tobias 2]

Okay, so here's what's been bouncing around in my head.



Needing tires, and needing an alignment before getting the tires...and needing to install camber bolt kits before the alignment.



Question #1: How many camber bolt kits do I need? Are they only for the front end, or do they go on the rear as well? When I went into Firestone, they quoted me a price of $465 for the camber bolt install...$170 for labor and 4 x $73 for the parts. I've already decided to do the work myself with the help of a friend, and bought two Moog kits off Amazon for $46 total, but wanna make sure I've got the right stuff.



Question #2: I'm trying to decide on tires. I favor the Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo2, but just came across the General Grabber HTS. The General has high marks on Tire Rack, and comes in about $140 cheaper from Discount Tire. Does anyone have experience with the Grabber HTS? I understand its more of a highway tire. While I like the Revo's AT styling better, I don't actually spend that much time off road. Is the difference in these tires just the styling? :banghead:



I've also wanted to consider Coopers, but have found a serious lack of good comparison/reviews of any Cooper tires. Again, any experience you wish to share?



Lemme hear some opinions. Thanks guys.

 

[Jeremiah Morgan]

Well I'm partial due to I work for Bridgestone/firestone. Revo's are extremely popular. They are an extremely quiet AT. If taken care of they usually last well past the 50mile treadwear warranty! If you were near KC area I can hook anyone up with Bridgestone/Firestone tires!



You need 4 camber bolts(2 kits)..Easy to do yourself, take a little time, its pretty tight space..

Then go purchase the Lifetime Alignment at Firestone. The 465 prolly included the alignment right??

 

[scott degroot]

My list on the adjustment kit is $79 and it covers both sides, install time should not be more than 1 hour + the cost of the alignment. At my shop it would run you $245. Very seldom though do I find that both left and right side need kits though, if they do I would be looking for worn out parts.

 

[Mario Tobias 2]

KC...I tend to be partial to bridgestone/firestone as well because they've done well for me. I've had Revos before & felt as they did me good service. Not sure what changes have gone into the Revo 2's. And no, the 465 was separate from the alignment...4 camber bolts @ 73.78 each (I'd thought it was for 4 kits, but now I think it was for 4 overpriced bolts) and 170 in labor.



To shed light on my need for an alignment, for whatever its worth: A while back, after replacing my OEM shocks with Racho RSX shocks, I notice that the inside corners of my front wheels are beginning to wear noticeably. Just last week, I take a good look at the front right and notice that the inside corner is now worn bald. I quickly took it to Firestone to rotate the worn front tires for the more even rear tires. The front left tire also showed increased wear on the inside corner, but not nearly as bad as the right. This is where I got the estimate on the camber bolt install, alignment, new tires, and all.



The lifetime alignment sounds like a nice idea, but I can get my alignment done at my local AAA shop for a third of the price. $60 sounds better than $180 when I'm gonna have to dump $6-700 for tires as well.

 

[scott degroot]

I hate to admit it but a loooooooooooong time ago I once worked at a Firestone (I am not proud of this fact) and the lifetime alignment is a joke. The first time you get the alignment performed is the only time that you "may" have someone half qualified do the job becasue it only pays the first time. After that they will have someone substantially less qualified do it becasue they aren't paying them for it. After 3 months of seeing how these guys do business I got the hell out of there.

 

[Jeremiah Morgan]

L1TECH watch what you say around here..maybe someone works for them and might take offense!! Not all stores are like that!! and a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago is different from today!!

 

[scott degroot]

^^^^



Comment wasn't directed at any employee of above referenced company so much as it was directed at how the company as a whole chooses to go about doing things. From what I hear their practices haven't changed much either but I will throw this in, I believe that my experience and knowing how they do things with them has everything to do with the large town setting, I truly believe that in more rural areas one would get better results.

 

[Christopher Comeaux]

i just did my alignment 45 bucks for the alignment and i got a camber kit for advance autoparts for i think 35 bucks and the shop charged 15 bucks to install i had my passenger side control arm and inner tie rod changed for 145 bucks labor

 

[rob chaw]

Firestone has been a joke to me...



Lazy employees at the one in Florida on commercial blvd.

and they didn't honor the lifetime alignment that i purchased.



boo to firestone, i'll never go back to them even though they are only a block away...



rob