THSCC Forums

This morning I was determined to get a high-performance alignment for my Miata, and Hubcap Heaven was closed and The Digital Chassis didn't answer their phone (only answering machine).

I stopped by the Firestone store at New Hope Church and Capital Blvd, and they were unwilling to align to anything other than stock specs. Said it was not possible with their 'satellite alignment machine.'

Next I tried NTB (5400 Capital Blvd; 919-872-0910), who welcomed my request. Paul Schuster (Store Mgr), Emir (Service Mgr) and Moe (Alignment Technician) took good care of me, without an appointment. They don't do a lot of hi-perf alignments, but had no problem with me sitting in the car while Moe worked on the alignment.

He didn't hit all of my specs exactly (due in part to the fact that his John Bean alignment machine diplayed in degrees and minutes, not X.XX degrees like I had expected), but spent about an hour doing the best he could with it. It's a well-balanced alignment, though about 0.4 to 0.5 degrees more conservative than my specs.

Having said that, additional practice with Miatas will probably help Moe as they aren't the easiest cars to align. I'll be seeing him again as I purchased a 5-yr alignment for $179.99 (transferable to another vehicle one time over the 5 years). No limits as to how often you can request an alignment.

For those of you (like me) that are much closer to Raleigh than to Cary or Durham, you may want to check them out, especially if weekends are the most convenient time for you to do this kind of thing.

Paul is interested in becoming an 'official' THSCC vendor (if no cost is involved), but I had no idea about that process. If appropriate, I'd love someone to share that info with him.

Hope this helps,

Bob

Like use Brad and Mark don't work Sat. so they can do the
things they like to do, like go racing with us.

The problem being able to find a suitable Alignment Shop to deal
with non factory settings, lowered, cars, race cars, etc, is why we
secured two club sponsors.

I suggest trying to support the business that support us even if you
got to leave the car there or book an apoitment. Most of these shops
must book because of the time it takes to do it right
and by spec.

IF you are really stuck, Atlantic TIre & Auto is a well published
club sponsor with Hunter Equipment. They would not do my
Corvette because it was lowered, but they may do your car.

Sorry you could not give the home team a chance considering
they pay $ to the club to be a sponsor and give discounts to our club
members.

_________________
Mark Vitacco
THSCC TT Chairman
mvitacco@bellsouth.net