Can any shop do wheel alignment

[CoolBuddy]

I got the estimate back from Akron and they want $275 to do an alignment. I think I'll take my chances with the local shop first.

Thanks for the reassuring anecdote.

 

[deuskid]

Was going to say we could use string to align these cars. Firestone claims they need to have access and ability to calibrate the cameras after alignment, but they're just misinformed at the corporate level.

You supposedly need to drive the car for 30ish miles without autopilot, and then let it deep sleep afterwards to reset the steering sensor.

Not sure if that's true, but that's what I read on this forum before. There might be some truth to that, cause after I did one alignment (before hearing about the no AP and deep sleep thing) the car randomly had the steering orientation shift left over the course of 2 days. Took it back, realigned it, and we found out about that sensor reset. Something about adaptive steering in Teslas. It's either that, or they didn't tighten the lock nuts for my adjustable toe arms.

Either way, I do the 30 mile drive without AP and deep sleep the car after any alignment.

@MountainPass you guys ever have random steering wheel orientation drifts after alignment?

I'm 5-9 months out from having my M3 delivered so this is a new term to me.... what is this 'deep sleep' of which you speak?

Thanks

 

[drpheta]

I'm 5-9 months out from having my M3 delivered so this is a new term to me.... what is this 'deep sleep' of which you speak?

Thanks

The car just goes to sleep to not waste battery when not used after a while.

 

[Chattanooga3]

Literally any qualified shop can align these things. No idea why people post the nonsense on the internet they do.

 

[Rmchrger]

Steps 10-13 of the Model 3 alignment procedure copy and pasted from the Tesla service manual:

10. Connect a laptop with Toolbox 3 to the vehicle.
11. In Toolbox 3, click Actions, type "angle" in the search field, click Play to the left of "PROC_EPAS_ESP_CLEAR-ANGLE-OFFSETS", and then select RUN.
12. Click Actions, type "angle" in the search field, click Play to the left of "TEST_EPAS3P_X_CHECK-APPLIED-ANGLE-OFFSET", and then select RUN.
13. Disconnect the laptop from the vehicle.

Toolbox 3 access costs a few hundred dollars a month at minimum. It sounds like several people here have gotten successful alignments even though they skipped resetting the power steering assist and stability control angle. Probably not a big deal if the toe needed only minor adjustment. The alignment technician might be unwilling to purchase Toolbox 3 access to work on a single Tesla. Poor ROI. The alignment technician SHOULD be unwilling to adjust toe without an angle reset for liability and safety reasons.

As noted above, Is this specialized equipment used by Tesla?
Yes.
That said, is this equipment required to do an alignment at a non-tesla shop? No.
But this also depends on the shop and their capabilities and who your askjng (we know what teslas answer is).
As you said, "any qualified shop" should be able to do it,. Agreed. Yet some still refuse to because its a tesla.
So whats the answer to the ops original question...
"Can any auto shop do wheel alignments on an M3?"
It depends on the shop. Any shop can and should be able to, but even as the op said, his firestone said they can't.

 

[silverp85+]

Goodyear and mavis showed me why they can't align the car on the system itself. Tesla does not share how the camber is set and what the setting is. The video option for the setup is greyed out.

For years I had goodyear do the alignment and I noticed my driver side wheel was off center. I asked them to correct it and they did not have the ability.

 

[drpheta]

I thought you couldn't officially change camber on the stock suspension. It's just toe and caster.

To truly change the front camber on the stock, I believe you need to loosen the top mounting bolts and try to shift the strut in or out to get about 1 degree of range.

 

[MountainPass]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to chime in here again if you're having trouble with alignment shops. Just to add some understanding for those of you that are new to alignments:

There is nothing special about an individual car that makes an alignment shop "unable" to align one car versus another. All that these systems do is spit out recommended alignment values.

Any alignment shop, if they cared to use their brain, could select a car in their system with a similar wheelbase, and the system would show the actual wheel alignment, and the alignment tech can simply set the alignment to whatever values are desired.

As the camber is not adjustable on the Model 3 front (although you can loosen the FUCA mounting bracket as mentioned above) or rear, you're simply setting the toe and going on your way. For most road car applications, that can be as follows:

Front: -2mm to 2mm per corner, negative for more steering response, positive for more stability. Closer to zero for improved tire wear.
Rear: 1mm to 2mm per corner, which is less than what Tesla recommends but this improves tire life considerably.

If you're working in degrees, 1mm (measured with toe plates) is approx 0.08 degrees.

This is not rocket science. If the shop is too lazy to do this very basic work, find a new shop (that includes Tesla service centers).

To straighten your steering wheel, if you are confident to jack up your car and remove the wheel, you can follow the simple steps in this video below to straighten out your steering wheel yourself. For free.

 

[drpheta]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to chime in here again if you're having trouble with alignment shops. Just to add some understanding for those of you that are new to alignments:

There is nothing special about an individual car that makes an alignment shop "unable" to align one car versus another. All that these systems do is spit out recommended alignment values.

Any alignment shop, if they cared to use their brain, could select a car in their system with a similar wheelbase, and the system would show the actual wheel alignment, and the alignment tech can simply set the alignment to whatever values are desired.

As the camber is not adjustable on the Model 3 front (although you can loosen the FUCA mounting bracket as mentioned above) or rear, you're simply setting the toe and going on your way. For most road car applications, that can be as follows:

Front: -2mm to 2mm per corner, negative for more steering response, positive for more stability. Closer to zero for improved tire wear.
Rear: 1mm to 2mm per corner, which is less than what Tesla recommends but this improves tire life considerably.

If you're working in degrees, 1mm (measured with toe plates) is approx 0.08 degrees.

This is not rocket science. If the shop is too lazy to do this very basic work, find a new shop (that includes Tesla service centers).

To straighten your steering wheel, if you are confident to jack up your car and remove the wheel, you can follow the simple steps in this video below to straighten out your steering wheel yourself. For free.

Until Firestone starts aligning Teslas, thus allowing me to pay for lifetime alignments, I'm going to invest in floating plates to install in my future garage and do string alignment. It's silly to pay $200 every time I want to adjust something. It's easy to do if you have the tools and a level spot to get it setup.

 

[SK360]

Also their alignment machines software sounds out of date. My guys hunter machine had instructions on loosening the upper strut mount and nudging it with a prybar to get some camber/caster adjustment. He also said he can get some play in the rears.

 

[Chattanooga3]

This is not rocket science. If the shop is too lazy to do this very basic work, find a new shop (that includes Tesla service centers).

Words to live by right here ^^^

 

[evroro]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to chime in here again if you're having trouble with alignment shops. Just to add some understanding for those of you that are new to alignments:

There is nothing special about an individual car that makes an alignment shop "unable" to align one car versus another. All that these systems do is spit out recommended alignment values.

Any alignment shop, if they cared to use their brain, could select a car in their system with a similar wheelbase, and the system would show the actual wheel alignment, and the alignment tech can simply set the alignment to whatever values are desired.

As the camber is not adjustable on the Model 3 front (although you can loosen the FUCA mounting bracket as mentioned above) or rear, you're simply setting the toe and going on your way. For most road car applications, that can be as follows:

Front: -2mm to 2mm per corner, negative for more steering response, positive for more stability. Closer to zero for improved tire wear.
Rear: 1mm to 2mm per corner, which is less than what Tesla recommends but this improves tire life considerably.

If you're working in degrees, 1mm (measured with toe plates) is approx 0.08 degrees.

This is not rocket science. If the shop is too lazy to do this very basic work, find a new shop (that includes Tesla service centers).

To straighten your steering wheel, if you are confident to jack up your car and remove the wheel, you can follow the simple steps in this video below to straighten out your steering wheel yourself. For free.

Does toe change considerably after installing coilovers? If so, is it recommended to perform an alignment immediately after coilover installation, or wait a couple weeks to let things settle?

 

[MountainPass]

Does toe change considerably after installing coilovers? If so, is it recommended to perform an alignment immediately after coilover installation, or wait a couple weeks to let things settle?

If you didn't change the ride height, it will be somewhat off. The problem is that many of the fasteners involved in the coilover install have play in them that can result in toe change after reassembly.

If you did change the ride height, you'll definitely want an alignment sooner than later! Usually, shops will install and align in one day.

 

[jkdman123]

Just got the Heisman from a car shop who says he doesn't do Tesla alignments any more because Tesla won't share their maintenance manuals, and if the car doesn't have the latest update and an alignment is done there could be issues. I get that he may be miffed because of the maintenance manuals, but the M3 has no software based suspension controls so his reasoning seemed fishy. . . .

 

[MountainPass]

Just got the Heisman from a car shop who says he doesn't do Tesla alignments any more because Tesla won't share their maintenance manuals, and if the car doesn't have the latest update and an alignment is done there could be issues. I get that he may be miffed because of the maintenance manuals, but the M3 has no software based suspension controls so his reasoning seemed fishy. . . .

The service manuals are available to the public: Tesla Service

 

[jkdman123]

The service manuals are available to the public: Tesla Service

Interesting. I wonder what his deal was. . . .

 

[MountainPass]

Interesting. I wonder what his deal was. . . .

I had one technician tell me on the phone that he won't touch the car because it will electrocute him. I can only imagine the depths of misinformation that are out there about these things. The most common misconception is that you need all kinds of factory tools and technology to align the car, which is funny because we exclusively perform string alignments at MPP!

 

[ngng]

The service manuals are available to the public: Tesla Service

Yes, but you'd have to go through the legwork to set up a Tesla account.

 

[ngng]

I had one technician tell me on the phone that he won't touch the car because it will electrocute him. I can only imagine the depths of misinformation that are out there about these things. The most common misconception is that you need all kinds of factory tools and technology to align the car, which is funny because we exclusively perform string alignments at MPP!

I'll take a string alignment over any of the laser alignments any day of the week. It all comes down to attention to detail. At the end of the day it's money and you get what you pay for.

 

[ngng]

Does toe change considerably after installing coilovers? If so, is it recommended to perform an alignment immediately after coilover installation, or wait a couple weeks to let things settle?

I'd get it aligned sooner than later. "letting it settle" is a myth, with the caveat that new rubber bushings can slightly change the alignment. A quality spring is not going to "settle" over time.