rear_wheel_alignment?

16 years ago

Hello all and Happy New Year--Yesterday I had to buy 4 new tires for my '97 Ford Ranger extended-cab 4WD, 3L, V6, rear wheel drive, truck from a local Town Fair Tire Center here in Seymour, CT.

Front end alignment was n/c but they charged me $48 for computer balancing and,(this I really don't understand--),

$49 for a REAR wheel alignment. I have never heard of aligning the rear wheels on ANY vehicle I can think of that has a static and fixed rotating axle w/ no means of adjustment that I can see. My Ranger has drum brakes in rear, pads in front. Opinions? :)

Comments (2)

john_g
16 years ago
Typo, or otherwise simply a poor communication occurance.

$49 for an alignment likely means a Rear Thrust Angle Alignment was performed. This means the heads are installed and compensated on all four wheels. Similar to a four wheel alignment, except adjustments are only performed in the front of the vehicle. This gives the machine the ability to measure the thrust angle of the rear wheels and aids the technician in centering the steering wheel while the front wheels are aligned. In many way's you can probably chalk this up to a non technician service writer getting tongue tied as he/she attempted to communicate the services that were performed.
guitar42
Original Author
16 years ago
John,
You're obviously someone who knows what they're talking about because that's EXACTLY what happened...I found out the kid behind the counter was new and wrote invoice up wrong. Lead tech. explained it almost verbatim over the phone. The place I had tires done is very reputable so I new something else was up. Thank You very much and God Bless...... :)