Alignment

[Flyer]

Just moving to Phoenix, Peoria (Trilogy to be exact). Does anyone know a good alignment place? S&S in Surprise was recommended. another need is storage. Thanks.

[bachler]

We have had a few motorhomes. (rental units) What I found was a good truck shop Is the place to start; They know how to do an alignment best; Or they would not be in business; It may cost a bit more but they are worth it; I used to do our own alignment But no more.;; Life is good.

[Mr_D]

I've found that a lot of truck shops still use boards and tape measures to set your alignment. True truck alignment shops have the latest electronic units.

Check around. The closest Spartan shop to us is maybe 20 miles, but they still use boards and tape measures. I'll drive 200 milers one way to Hendersons Alignment (Grants Pass OR) to get it done right.

[DandT]

Just noticed light feathering on outer edges of my front tires on our new-to-us Horizon 36RD with only 7.5K miles(!). I'm in Portland and have been on a mission to find a service center to rotate my fronts to rears and perform a FE alignment. Took the rig to Les Schwab's today as they made arrangements with a Mobile alignment guy. One look under the coach and he said no can do - it's an IFS. Had Les rotate the tires to the tune of $210 - though probably worth it. They took the 2 fronts and swapped them with the 2 left rears. I contacted McCoys, a local Freightliner service center, today and they said they can do the job but they insist on aligning all axles to include cutting and welding if necessary to meet factory specs. This is not a string/block alignment but a full chassis alignment. This service will run $300-$400 - but will be worth it in the long run - and hopefully preserve my precicous rubber!

[Hipshot]

The place I used here in Texas bills itself as a brake, spring and alignment shop. They did a great job and gave me computer print outs showing before, after alignment and Ford specs.
I went to a truck repair shop to get an alignment. The service writer did not know what a Ford F53 was, I left fast.
Point being don't limit yourself to dealers or truck repair shops.
Good Luck

[DandT]

I misspoke- I'm getting a 3 axle alignment - not a chassis alignment. 3 hours and counting....Waiting for the rig...these guys definitely know their stuff wrt Freightliner chassis. They also brought up the fact that my rig has an outstanding steering shaft seal recall (something you may not get a Joe's align and tune). So far so good.

[DandT]

Got out of the Freightliner shop for $280 - not a bad investment. They found the rear axle in spec and had to adjust the FE back in to spec. Hoping to get a couple more years out of the Michelins - they only have 7.5 miles on 'em but they are 6 (going on 7) years old. We are new RV'ers and working stiffs....so we won't be racking up any serious mileage anytime soon. Local (PNW) trips for now.

[Martind4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DandT Hoping to get a couple more years out of the Michelins - they only have 7.5 miles on 'em but they are 6 (going on 7) years old. We are new RV'ers and working stiffs....so we won't be racking up any serious mileage anytime soon. Local (PNW) trips for now.

If your tires are almost 7 years old, you might think about replacing even though they have low miles. There's a lot of discussion on this forum about how long you should run tires, RV tires tend to "age" out before they "wear" out.

Our coach was 6 years old when we bought it, still had the original tires, looked good, lots of tread, no sidewall checking. We had a blowout (inside, left rear dually) that quickly convinced me to replace all of them. As blowouts go, it wasn't serious and didn't cause a lot of collateral damage, but it only takes once.

Bottom line, don't be lulled into a false sense of security because of low miles.

[DandT]

Good sound advice! I've read about some blowout horror stories on this site and I don't want to be that guy I'll start saving my pennies for a complete set - a local dealer quoted $3,800 for a new set of Michelin XRV's.
Maybe Santa will bring me some rubber for Christmas!