Recommended Alignment Shops, Central Ohio

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to get a good alignment in Central Ohio? I've recently rebuilt the front and rear suspension on my 93 Mercedes 400E, and I'm trying to avoid going to a "Toe-n-Go" type shop. I found a thread from last year with shops around Cleveland, but that's almost a 2 hour drive, versus about an hour down to Columbus. I am willing to go up there though if that's what it takes.

I've tried doing the alignment here at home, built stands to get the car in the air, but I don't think I did the best job getting the car level ( about 1-1/4" drop from LR to RF due to age, cracks and a drain). I got the stands close to level as possible with my cheap laser level. HF Digital angle gauge says I have not quite -1° camber on both fronts (spec is -1°). I couldn't get any good caster readings, my "turn plates" (floor tiles with grease in between) were hitting the lip on the edge of my stands (to keep the car from possibly rolling off) when I turned the wheels. So I set the caster adjustment to give me some small undetermined amount of cross caster. Toe is set at 1/8" in (total), both front and rear, measured at the edges of the rim. Strings were inline with the center of the hubs down each side of the car and parallel to each other. Air pressures in the tires are correct, front tires are new, rears have about 3000 miles on them. All are the same brand and type (Michelin Premier A/S). Set the alignment in the order of caster, camber, rear toe, then front toe. I put sand bags on the drivers side seat and floor to simulate my weight.

What I have now is a pull to the right and my steering wheel is off to the right slightly, even though I used a steering wheel lock.  It'll drive mostly straight in the left lane of the interstate (light drift to the right), so road crown plus whatever is off in the suspension causes a pull to the right. Could be thrust angle, cross caster, camber? 

I'm out of time and patience in my too small garage to mess with this anymore right now, does anyone know where I can take this and not get the usual "you need new tie rods" ( that I just replaced ) or "it's in the green, send it" kind of job?

If you're willing to go into Columbus, I'd sayNorthend wrench, especially for an older German car.

FWIW, if that thread you found about Cleveland shops had me in it, I no longer work for that company, and the place where I work now is far less custom-tolerant.

Performance Alignment in Cincinnati, but then again it's in Cincinnati, but at least in the northern burbs..........but they do fantastic work, race/performance car specialists.

I've had great luck with Wheels Unlimited on E Main St. I haven't had them do any custom stuff but alignments after I did a total rebuild and they were not only careful and thorough (they test drove it!) the tech that does all their alignments walked me through a pull he felt when getting off the gas and on the clutch and he said it was probably a failed strut. It was a very minor pull but the guy behind the counter said the tech was "very particular" which is very good in an alignment tech. It didn't hurt that he complimented me on my work on the Lexus and gave me a fist bump. ;)

I think an alignment was around $75? Maybe? Don't hold me to that though. It's been a while. 

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll give Northend Wrench or Wheels Unlimited a call next week. They both look like reputable places if their reviews are accurate. 

I wish it weren't so hard to find a tech who cares enough to do a good job on alignments (or any other job for that matter). What I think is hard for me is that I used to be a tech when I lived in Seattle. They usually gave me the alignments, because I was picky about getting it right, even if it was Mom's cheerio strewn Caravan. 

I think in the spring when it warms up and I maybe have some time, I'll make some bases to go under my wheel stands out of mesh reinforced self leveling concrete. The spot for the RF tire has quite a bit of slope for a 2'x2' area. I think If I can get that sorted, I can get some good caster and camber readings.

dculberson said:

I've had great luck with Wheels Unlimited on E Main St. I haven't had them do any custom stuff but alignments after I did a total rebuild and they were not only careful and thorough (they test drove it!) the tech that does all their alignments walked me through a pull he felt when getting off the gas and on the clutch and he said it was probably a failed strut. It was a very minor pull but the guy behind the counter said the tech was "very particular" which is very good in an alignment tech. It didn't hurt that he complimented me on my work on the Lexus and gave me a fist bump. ;)

I think an alignment was around $75? Maybe? Don't hold me to that though. It's been a while. 

+1 on them. Blown away with their customer service and how well they did it.

Auto Assets in Powell might be a bit closer to you and they do race/custom/odd stuff all the time. 

steronz said:

Auto Assets in Powell might be a bit closer to you and they do race/custom/odd stuff all the time. 

They can be toe-and-go if they arnt super interested in doing it.

Maybe try ABS Automotive on 5th near Grandview. He did a couple autocross/street alignments on my IROC-Z a few years back. Thing is though his rack was actually set up at Cooper Stadium at the time in anticipation of SPARC opening. All that talk of SPARC becoming a performance center yet absolutely nothing happening isn't quite true since at least my car for one has been worked on and tested there since the ballpark closed. I think he might have had to disassemble it then take it off site and I don't know if he was able to set it up elsewhere. Still, you might want to give him a call. His name is Bruno 614-299-6699

Just a follow up on this thread, I called Wheels Unlimited and they told me they don't do Mercedes, take it to the dealer. Not wanting to do that, I called Northend Wrench, told them what I had done to the car, and they set me up for an appointment this morning.

As I dropped off the car and was walking away, one of the techs was pulling out in a 240Z with what sounded like a hot cam and headers, which made me feel like I came to the right place.

Got my car back about 2 hours later and I couldn't be happier with their service. I even got a before and after print out of the specs without having to ask. My home alignment was close, but not close enough. 

Got in my car and drove away, steering wheel was straight, car drove straight and true. Again very happy with how it turned out.