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Can any shop do wheel alignment
- Thread starter Ev_Rider
- Start date
PianoAl
Active Member
MJB-CO
Member
No - there's a special piece of equipment needed - and the mechanic needs to be Tesla certified. We have a local body shop here that has the equipment and training, unfortunately they moved to another building that doesn't have the basic alignment setup - so our only option is the Tesla SC. So, unless you have a local shop with the additional equipment and training your only option will be a SC.
Rmchrger
Member
Yes if they are familiar with Tesla's procedures. I suggest you find another shop because your local firestone is...(insert non offensive description here)...they are incorrect 
PACEMD
Active Member
Rmchrger
Member
Agreed, you described it much better than me!!
smatthew
Active Member
PACEMD
Active Member
There isn't one.......
I've had 20 plus cars of all sorts. I'm more looking for the alignment tech than just the shop. Our Sears Auto place had a guy who was awesome and if you were a car guy he'd actually explain what was off and where to align it. He also told me which cars I needed to buy rear adjustable control arms for, and then redid alignment. He moved to NTB when Sears closed, and I followed him.
On my Boxster he explained what the factory specs were and that he recommended setting to the limit of the spec to limit understeer.
On a Mini Cooper S he actually did the check, and told me he could get it in spec, but not right until I did control arms. No charge. I ordered and installed adjustable arms and brought it back, with a dozen donuts.
Great alignment guy, find you one.
On my Boxster he explained what the factory specs were and that he recommended setting to the limit of the spec to limit understeer.
On a Mini Cooper S he actually did the check, and told me he could get it in spec, but not right until I did control arms. No charge. I ordered and installed adjustable arms and brought it back, with a dozen donuts.
Great alignment guy, find you one.
srs5694
Active Member
About a year ago I took my Tesla Model 3 to the Tesla SC for some work and was told that, based on tire wear, the front-wheel alignment was off. They said that they didn't have time to do that for me that day and said that any shop should be able to do it. I took the car to a small independent tire store near where I live and they did it (or at least, they said they did; I have no way of checking that). They said they did have a problem because of the Tesla's automatic systems (shutting down the car when it was exited, IIRC), but they worked around it by having somebody sit in the driver's seat while the work was being done. I imagine Tesla has some better way to handle that issue, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the workaround.
is alignment really needed if the car drives perfectly straight and tire wear is acceptable? The inside of my original MXM4 tires wore slightly faster than the rest... but at a rate of maybe 0.5mm - 1mm. So by the time the inside is down to 2mm and the rest is still at 3mm ... you are looking at replacing the tire anyway. If the car drives straight a bad alignment job might be more of a hassle than what it's worth ?
MJB-CO
Member
I'm not sure what it is, but when I dropped by my local body shop the owner said he kept the special piece when they moved even though he no longer has an alignment lift. I've checked with a few tire shops that do alignments, and they all agree that they are not equipped nor certified to do Tesla alignments.
MJB-CO
Member
On another note, my local Tesla SC says they cannot adjust the camber when doing an alignment - has anyone heard that? I've had the same tire wear pattern which would seem to indicate the camber is off.
scalbert03
Member
Nope, nothing special about a Tesla suspension. No special tool is needed. Many often claim this, which is not true.
Thanks everyone. Seems to be a bit of opinion difference with equipment. All I know is my original Primacy tires are at 25K and the insides of all tires are worn down to where they need replacement and the outsides prob have about 10K or more worth of tread. Interestingly enough car still drives straight and true which seems odd.
smatthew
Active Member
My local VIP/O'Reilly aligned my 3. When I went there in 2019, I was the first 3, so they had to manually input the specs into the system. Since then, their system has been updated so that the OEM specs are already in the system. The first time, they had me drive the car onto their Hunter Roadforce rig, and the first thing they had me do was to hold the steering wheel straight, as they adjusted whatever they adjusted. Then I got to hop out and look under the car, as they removed the floor panels and aligned each wheel. Got to look at the motors, etc. Since there are fewer adjustments to make, seemed quite easy for them. They should give us a discount! Around $110.
Rmchrger
Member
"They said they did have a problem because of the Tesla's automatic systems (shutting down the car when it was exited, IIRC), but they worked around it by having somebody sit in the driver's seat while the work was being done."
Exactly what you said here.
One reason some shops have problems. The work around is it requires 2 people. I believe there is a procedure for enabling the steering while out of the vehicle, possibly a service mode option. Some shops are cheap and don't want to pay 2 people do do one alignment and refuse.
Reminds me of when I wanted to put the windows down and listen to music outside the vehicle without it shutting off. I had to reach inside (after the door was shut), push down on the seat to get the screen to come back on, then turn up the music.
One of these days hopefully all shops will figure it out.
Exactly what you said here.
One reason some shops have problems. The work around is it requires 2 people. I believe there is a procedure for enabling the steering while out of the vehicle, possibly a service mode option. Some shops are cheap and don't want to pay 2 people do do one alignment and refuse.
Reminds me of when I wanted to put the windows down and listen to music outside the vehicle without it shutting off. I had to reach inside (after the door was shut), push down on the seat to get the screen to come back on, then turn up the music.
One of these days hopefully all shops will figure it out.
No special equipment is required. We use strings to align our cars and toe plates when making quick adjustments at the racetrack.
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