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sorry for the stupid question, but I just drop my car with the pro-kit and planning to get some rims next week.
my question is do I do the alignment first then put the rims or wait until i have my rims on then do the alignment?

 
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I just dropped mine too, about 3 wks ago now, and still haven't got it alligned yet.........I guess you should use the wheels you're gonna have on the car most of the time, but I also heard they could get scratched / not fit on the machine, etc.......i'm just gonna go w/ my stocks and in the spring toss the 17's on, it'll be close enough

 
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Alignment is not dependent on the rims at all. Most people do the alignment first because a mis-aligned car ruins tires. Most people would rather trash stock tires than ones they paid money for.

 
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^ larger rims would affect alignment, wouldn't it?

 
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No. The alignment is a suspension geometry adjustment. you could use 10s, 24s, tank treads, won't matter.

 
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MUCH larger width and HUGE offesets, and MUCH taller, or shorter tires would not change the alignment but the settings that would be ideal for that car. By changing to HUGE widths and different offests it changes the scrub radius and this changes the way the dynamic alignment is. But for the 99.9999% of us the tires wnad wheels wont effect the alignment settings

 
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so anytime you adjust the ride height you will need an alignment? for example, if I raise my car for the winter - need an alignment, lower my car after winter - need another alignment?

 
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Correct!

 
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that sux lol, is it possible to do alignments yourself, if so what do you need?
(sorry to go a little off topic)

 
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possible? Yes, practical ...NO!

 
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I have heard stories that some shops offer $150 lifetime alignment .. perfect for a person who raises their car for the winter again, because it would have paid for itself by the third time plus!

 
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It isn't rocket science. I do my own, and I do robbclark's too. It takes some know how and some gauges but its pretty damn close to the lasers if you take the time to get it right.
But then again... I know what I'm doing with it, I don't recommend Joe Schmo off the street to just pick up the tools and alignment gauges and do it.

 
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exzactly, and BTW I still have an older computerized aligner for sale if your interested

 
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You mean a rack or a little one?

 
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I have available the actually machine, its a older H111 hunter aligner. Hunter has since stop doing updates on it. You would prolly end up paying more on freight than its worth

 
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Here is an example of what it looks like but its all red and gray not GM baby blue... http://cgi.ebay.com/HUNTER-E-WHEEL-A...QQcmdZViewItem

 
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Thanks for getting my hopes up! j/k I was just curious.

 
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If you lived in the pacific north west i could prolly ship it free

 
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I just had mine aligned after getting new front struts. After the alignment the car is noticeably smoother driving, smoother over bumps and seems to coast for ever.. It's strange how the car can slowly degrade and you'd never notice it... once it's aligned, you can instantly feel a difference.

I did notice a loss in MPG after getting the new struts, but at the same time I also got new BFG tires.. I figured maybe the new tires were heavier than the old and that could have accounted for some of the MPG loss.. or maybe the colder weather now. Now I think more likely than either of those two things, was the poor alignment killing mileage.

 
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^^^"wheel drag" per se so yeah alignment was most likely culprit but it wouldn't be that noticeable unless you're riding the inner or outer sidewalls and not touching the middle treads lol