What did you pay to have your EP lowered?

[Penguin Aviator]

Just wondering what a reasonable price is to have springs/camber kit installed and aligned. So how much did you pay (labor only, not parts)?

Thanks

[socmex7]

case of beer and $50 for the alignment. :mbiggrin:

[RHCP0801]

$0, do it yourself....learn a lot and save $$$$

[ep3steez]

x2 diy

[trippy]

i pay 100 because im rich

[starwars_ep3]

i paid $75 my first time, but in retrospect, you're better off just doing it yourself and its not that hard.

[vboy127]

$20 and some lunch. haha, my friend helped me out.

[RedSiBaron]

find an ephatcher to come help you and learn from them, buy them food and/or beer...

SERIOUSLY take the time to learn, all this car shit, really freaking easy, you just need to learn the simple ins and outs...in my oppinion all you need to work on cars is a service manual, tools, and the ability to read the manual and comprehend numbers (and i mean simple comprehension, like 50=50 so you can set your torque wrench to 50) and follow directions...the way in which factory service manuals lay this shit out anyone can do it

[MBaG]

alignment too?

[RedSiBaron]

alignment too?

alignments are easy, 2 jack stands a piece of string and a ruler...didnt pay for an alignment until i owned the ep...and only reason i pay to have it done on the ep is because i dont have the time to work on cars right now

[MBaG]

alignments are easy, 2 jack stands a piece of string and a ruler...didnt pay for an alignment until i owned the ep...and only reason i pay to have it done on the ep is because i dont have the time to work on cars right now

wish there was a DIY for this. i don't wanna dish out $$ for an alignment.

[Drew1d]

Around $50 - $90 for the alignment. For the install, I'd imagine it's around $300-450 to have the shop do it.

Doing it yourself cost money too. And time. If you don't have the tools, you'll have to buy them. If you mess up a part, or take something apart and find something warped/cracked/broken, you have to borrow a second car to get the part. (If it's not a dealer specific part) Otherwise you may have to wait for a mail-order part.

RedSiBaron, I'm not sure how you'd do an alignment at home. For me it's impossible, because I don't have flat land, I have "flat enough" land. And jacking the car up will change the camber and toe. So if the car is in the air, you could zero your toe at full extension of your suspension but once the wheels are on and you settle it back down the toe would be proportional (assuming the bushings deflect at the same rates) but it still wouldn't be zero. And what if you didn't want it at zero? And how do you check the camber?

[Penguin Aviator]

Ok, if someone around here wants to help me, I'm willing to pay. I'm more of a motorcycle guy, I guess. I have no problem wrenching on my bikes, but cars scare me for some reason. :mredface:

[Calvinep3]

its real easy man
just get the right set of tools and some time and your set
i installed my springs and camber kit myself.
but the alignment i had no idea so i paid 45bucks

[ep_hatcher_510]

Get a low profile jack
car stands
socket/wrench set
breaker bar
torque wrench

really is all you need, since you work on bikes i suppose you have most of the tools you might need, is super easy there should be a DIY, if not here then go onto clubrsx as it is the same thing.

[MBaG]

Around $50 - $90 for the alignment. For the install, I'd imagine it's around $300-450 to have the shop do it.

i'm not scared of installing the coilovers myself, but i never thought of doing an alignment myself.
i know of a shop around here that does an alginment for $90. & that's the cheapest i know of. & i don't know how good of a job they do.

[Drew1d]

i'm not scared of installing the coilovers myself, but i never thought of doing an alignment myself.
i know of a shop around here that does an alginment for $90. & that's the cheapest i know of. & i don't know how good of a job they do.
Well, you live in CA. When I lived there, everything was more expensive. My electric and water bill was just short of rape.

What I'd ask the alignment place is that if they can do a custom alignment on a lowered car. I once had a hard time convicing a place that you can adjust the rear camber because I put in adjustable upper arms. (rear camber kit) Other places wouldn't touch a lowered car. (they set the alignment computer to Civic Si, and when the geometry is all wrong they say they can't adjust it that far, rather than change the programming of the computer.)

As for installing the coilovers yourself, it's not too bad if everything goes to plan. But will it? And if it rattles or something doesn't seem right, you have to have the time and be willing to take it apart and fix it.(or live with it) Also, Aftermarket setups tend to need some extra considerations. (Like how far to cut bumpstops, which original pieces you can reuse... etc.) Good luck.

[robhep3]

I work in automotive repair (currently at a dealership.) I have always done all of my own work (including fluid changes, tires, etc.) myself. Honestly, like Drew1d said, if everything goes to plan the coilover install should be relatively simple. However, if you have ANYTHING that goes wrong and you're not prepared to handle it, it can turn into a real mess.

As far as an alignment goes, I would never do one with string and a ruler. EVER. That may have worked back in the day on '55 Caddies, but nowadays the machines we use are SOOOOOOO much more accurate. Find someone with half a freakin' brain who can actually manipulate the settings in the computer to get it where YOU want it. Make sure you install a rear camber kit if you're lowering more than an inch. Don't take any shit from the guys doing the alignment, either. If they adjust it and it doesn't drive straight, take it back and make them fix it. Keep in mind that they'll probably throw the old "road crown" argument at you. They'll try to say that the way the asphalt is laid, it tapers off to one side, so your steering wheel will be slightly off-center. True, but if it's more than 1/2 way to 11 or 1 o'clock and it doesn't recenter on a normal smooth flat road (in the center lane) then they're just blowing smoke. If they don't set it up right, the tires can (and likely will) wear funny or prematurely. They know that, but if you don't, they never have to worry about it.

That being said, I've done a full 4-corner coilover swap at work, with air tools, in under an hour. If you go by book time (SAE/Mitchell/ALLDATA Labor Guides) a shop would normally charge about an hour a shock/strut, and in some cases require (and therefore allow in that time) an alignment.

If you're not ready to buy a bunch of tools and really get dirty, don't let others make you. No one should go out of their way to mock you for paying to have work done on your car. (If everyone worked on their own car, I'd be out of a job.) If you are, though, be prepared to embark on a really cool journey into a hobby that you will love and hate at the same time. Cars are just like bikes.. just with more parts and slower.

[bmyers4321]

Free

DIY FTW!!