Alignment shop recommendations for pacific NW

[jpratt2]

I just installed the Ingalls 594 adjustable ball joint sleeves to gain more caster and wanted a front end alignment done with the new parts.

The local place didn't have the tools and refused to work on it.

Any recommendations on (a) an RV experienced shop in NW Washington and (b) one that has experience and tools for adjusting these shims? I live in Bellingham but can drive to Seattle area for the work.

[Islandman]

X2 - But I've only been their customer for 20 years, Les Schwab is a great place to do business and have things done right!

[ol__yeller]

I have been a Les Schwab customer for well over 30 years. I have never been upsold. They do present options, especially when it comes to tires but they are presented in an informational way, never pressure. I have been downsold. "You don't need brakes yet", or "your shocks/struts are still good". They have also fixed several flat tires for no charge. They also have not attempted repairs they were not set up for. They have done bearing and brake work on our last trailer but I have not had a reason yet to see if they would work on our RV. I think the "bad" experiences mentioned here are more a function of a "bad" store or even a bad employee, not the entire tire chain.

[OFDPOS]

Yep , its been a few years, but would not trust les schwab to check my tire pressure .

Its upsale upsale upsale !

Had friends that worked at two different ones and left because of the shoty stuff they did to the employees .
It was like the stories you hear for police "got to meet a quota"...

But to each their own its their money...

[BruceMc]

It depends on the location. While I've had great work & service over the years from some locations, I've been ignored and/or been ripped off at others. As a rule, I no longer go to any Les Schwab due to the inconsistent service. It's a crapshoot. I certainly stay away from our local location.

Everyone will have different experiences with various vendors.

I used a local shop for my last alignment on our GM based rig, and was very satisfied with the price & results. However, I'm in NW Oregon, so my recommendataion wouldn't help the OP in the Seattle area.

[carringb]

Travelin2 wrote:
Don't go to Les Schwab for anything. Someone here will come up with an independant shop for you.

I use 2 of their locations with no issues. South Corvallis and Hillsboro Ronler-Acres both do a fantastic job. The Hillsboro location has the Metro West ambulance fleet contract, so the're pretty good at dialing in a good setup.

[JT]

https://brazelsrv.com/ in Centralia/Chehalis, WA.

[Harvard]

In my opinion, take ANY E350 or E450 with Ingalls 59400 concentrics:

Set the concentrics to +2.0 Caster and 0.0 Camber and install.

Then align the toe and you are going to be "good to go" in 99.9 percent of the installations.

For the remainder 0.1 percent optionally tweak the camber if you want the experience. 🙂

[Tom_Barb]

leeper wrote:
Les Schwab said I needed new ball joints on my 2000 Ford 3/4 ton truck after clamping a dial indicator on my frame using vice grips to get measurements. Still on warranty so I went to a very reliable ford truck dealer and was told that I did NOT need new ball joints. Joints were fine. Les Schwab ended up reimbursing me for the charges I paid at the Ford shop. Do you think I want to go back there? Their "special tool" for checking measurements is a pair of vice grips!

one clamp is as good as another.

[j-d]

To those who adjusted their own at home...

How'd you do it?

I can understand having adjustable bushings IN PLACE, not knowing what the actual alignment is, but dialing in a change based on the bushing manufacturer's cheat sheet.

I can understand having fixed Zero Zero bushings, not knowing actual alignment, and dialing new numbers in, using the cheat sheet.

I don't understand having fixed bushings that are NOT Zero Zero but have unknown values, not knowing actual alignment, and dialing in more CASTER while preserving a CAMBER close to Zero.

How did you do that?

[leeper]

Les Schwab said I needed new ball joints on my 2000 Ford 3/4 ton truck after clamping a dial indicator on my frame using vice grips to get measurements. Still on warranty so I went to a very reliable ford truck dealer and was told that I did NOT need new ball joints. Joints were fine. Les Schwab ended up reimbursing me for the charges I paid at the Ford shop. Do you think I want to go back there? Their "special tool" for checking measurements is a pair of vice grips!

[Harvard]

pauldub wrote:
Weird, it doesn't take any special tools to adjust the bushings. I did mine in my driveway.

x2

[pauldub]

Weird, it doesn't take any special tools to adjust the bushings. I did mine in my driveway.

[jpratt2]

Les Schwab is where I went initially. The technician was very nice but admitted that they usually refuse to work on the "double cam" inserts as he called them, as they don't have the correct tools to make the adjustments. I offered to buy a set of tools but they said they couldn't help me. They did get the initial reading and reset my toe-in, all no charge.

[Islandman]

Les Schwab does all my work, they are the best in our area and service is superb; odd why a post from Florida was so negative. (Troll?)