Colonial Tire: Great alignment place in RTP, cheap too!

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 11:04 am

I just found a pleasant surprise for alignments in RTP: Colonial Tire. They're in the shopping center where Taco Bell is.

http://www.tiresautorepairnc.com

2105 E NC Highway 54
Durham, NC 27713-5235

When I owned the S2000, I always took it to Performance Chassis. They did awesome, precise, repeatable work. But I've got a lot going on this week, and hoped to find a place closer to home or work. A lot of folks at NetApp really like WASP Automotive for general service, so I called them first. They're the ones who referred me to Colonial.

I talked to Connie, who I think is the owner, and explained what I wanted. An alignment to my specs, but since it was a new to me car, I didn't know what the specs would be. I also asked to sit in the car while the work was done, which at first she hesitated about, but agreed to let me do - "please don't fall." :lol:

They have the requisite Hunter laser alignment rack. The tech who did the work was named Edison, and he was great. He took his time and made adjustments repeatedly to get things as close to perfect as possible, often asking me to turn the steering wheel back and forth to look for changes.

I asked for as much front camber as he could get me, then set the caster for whatever's available, then set the toe to basically zero. In the rear, I asked for 1/16" of toe per side, and 1.5 deg. of camber. Their machine reads in degrees, and I don't, :lol:

but my calculations show that he nailed the rear toe at 0.12". I sat in the car for the whole process, watched the numbers move around, and when he got it where I wanted it, I yelled out "that's great, stop there." On the very short drive from Colonial to NetApp, the car feels great. They set it up exactly how I said to, so if it doesn't autocross well, that's on me.

Here's the best part - this cost me $70.00. I nearly squealed with delight.

Edison told the front desk that my car was really easy to align, because none of the bolts were seized up. So maybe if it's a car they struggle with, it'll be more, but I can't imagine it being a huge difference.

I made sure to ask them if they were willing to do competition alignments for more people, and they seemed happy to help.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

$70 is a lot less than my most recent alignment at PC ($364 - corner balancing, install new eccentrics, etc).

I'll keep these guys in mind when I have my car aligned in June.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 11:43 am

Noted. Do you have street address? I don't go to RTP much.

Sounds like your car was garaged for a long period of time if the bolts were easy to deal with. Great find, both car and shop!

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

Karl Shultz wrote:

They're in the shopping center where Taco Bell is.

That is remarkably descriptiveness Karl, what shopping center *isn't* where the Taco Bell is?

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

I just think its funny there is a place in RTP that the NetApp folks like to take their car to called "WASP automotive". . .

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

BriceJohnson wrote:

I just think its funny there is a place in RTP that the NetApp folks like to take their car to called "WASP automotive". . .

only if happy JAPs is booked up

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:13 pm

Intersection of 54 and 55, which is about a block south of I40. On the corner with the Taco Bell, Arby's, Spice and Curry, Baba Ghannouj, and there's even a NAPA in the same building.

http://www.tiresautorepairnc.com

2105 E NC Highway 54
Durham, NC 27713-5235

WASP Auto told me to ask for Connie when I called.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:29 pm

Wow. I've paid $60 just for a front-end alignment before. They sound very legit and I should probably realign the IS after installing new control arms last month.

Good to know.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:37 pm

FWIW, Sturdivant's in Chapel Hill only charged me about $80.00 to align the Mercedes last year, and it too has adjustable camber and caster. I had an appointment set up with them for first thing Friday morning, but they're so far out of the way that I figured I'd take a chance on this place. Glad I did.

A question for the Miata people - I've been told by a reliable source that I should go back and tighten the hell out of the eccentrics, like, as tight as I can make them. Is this true?

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:08 pm

Karl Shultz wrote:

A question for the Miata people - I've been told by a reliable source that I should go back and tighten the hell out of the eccentrics, like, as tight as I can make them. Is this true?

Mark them first, then tighten them. Granted on street tires, as compared to r-compounds, you won't put nearly as much stress on them, but some shops don't tighten them nearly enough. - AB

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:15 pm

Yeah, they should be super tight. If you hear clunking under hard braking you're most likely hearing the eccentrics moving around.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:45 pm

Do all the NBs have the (better) fine-thread eccentrics from Mazdaspeed? I changed mine to the Mazdaspeed ones, but I have an NA.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:18 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Mark them first, then tighten them. Granted on street tires, as compared to r-compounds, you won't put nearly as much stress on them, but some shops don't tighten them nearly enough. - AB

Thanks Aaron, I'll do that tonight.

Vincent Keene wrote:

Do all the NBs have the (better) fine-thread eccentrics from Mazdaspeed? I changed mine to the Mazdaspeed ones, but I have an NA.

I don't know.

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

BriceJohnson wrote:

I just think its funny there is a place in RTP that the NetApp folks like to take their car to called "WASP automotive". . .

WASP Automotive: that's a Hudson reference. They used be located in Durham near I-85&Guess Rd, and at the time they serviced Honda, Toyota, Subaru, and AMC.. because they have a sense of humor and also the Hudson lineage. No Nissans, though, because their reliability issues made the shop look bad.

The last time went to them was in 1992.. My first Auto-X car, an '84 Civic S, had oil leaking from the head gasket. Pete gave me a quote for the job, but advised that since it was a first year model I'd be better off selling it as is, before anything else went wrong. I took his advice, bought a 5.0 Mustang, and the rest is a crying shame.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

VK: Mazda has a new eccentric type that's been around for more than a few years now. If you order new eccentrics, they're all the new style.

P/N is anyone cares: NAY9-28-6AZ

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