Date:         Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:34:29 -0700
Reply-To:     Andrew Martin <campahvan@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Martin <campahvan@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: My van was aligned ...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I'd never take my van to a chain store for anything.  When I lived on
Boston's north shore I used an independent alignment shop for my 85
Westfalia and I was very satisfied.



John's Alignment and Repair, 37 Pearl Street, Gloucester MA 978-282-0055



John has been doing alignments for a very long time; he's very busy and does
every job himself.  I dropped my van off in at 7 in the morning and he
called me mid day to say it was ready.  When I arrived to pick my Westy up,
John said he noticed that I had recently replaced the upper ball joints and
tie rod ends and that he had confirmed that everything was tightened
properly.  He was satisfied with what he had done but suggested replacing
the lower ball joints soon as the boots were split and dirt and water was
getting in.



It was a year or so later that I ordered the lower ball joints but I didn't
have the necessary press to install them.  There are no Vanagon friendly
shops in Gloucester but I showed the pieces to Baron of Baron's Auto Repair
(2 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA (978) 281-2034).  Baron's better known
more for making fast cars even faster but I think he accepted the job
because it was a bit out of the ordinary.  He had them ready for me the next
morning but mentioned he had to fabricate the adapters needed and they were
the hardest thing he'd ever pressed out.  At first he thought his 50 ton
press was failing but after applying some heat to the knuckles the old ball
joints finally eased out.



After reassembling the van, I took it back to John for realignment.  Once
again he took the van on schedule, he double checked all the fasteners,
check the alignment, made whatever adjustment were necessary, confirmed that
the steering wheel was straight and called me when it was ready.



After driving over 45K miles, my tires are all evenly worn and my van still
tracks perfectly.



Andrew

Bainbridge Island WA