s.cal alignment shop recommandations
- Thread starter adriannsx
- Start date
I agree with the above. West End Auto in Gardena is excellent.
- Joined
- 11 July 2006
- Messages
- 110
another one for west end.
Again, Darin at West End.
Ditto...Darin at West End.
westend for sure. i have an appoinment on the 9th
wow you NSX guys go to Darin too???
most of us lexus guys love that place!!
most of us lexus guys love that place!!
West End Alignment
18008 S Vermont Ave
Gardena, CA 90248
310-808-9233
Here's a photo of the inside of his shop...
Here is Darin working on my NSX...
More photos here.
.
- Joined
- 14 September 2006
- Messages
- 1,725
West End Alignment
18008 S Vermont Ave
Gardena, CA 90248
310-808-9233
Here's a photo of the inside of his shop...
Here is Darin working on my NSX...
More photos here.
.
Thanks so much! Excellent work.
It looks like a very clean shop. I'll be making an appointment if I need an alignment done.
Anyone know why he still does things by hand and doesn't switch to laser-guided machines? Can you be as accurate and precise by hand?
If anyone asks me where to go for an alignment, I send them to West End. Darrin's excellent reputation is well deserved.
Darrin can align your car to match your driving style. Also, if you have coilovers, his shop is also one of the few places that can corner balance your vehicle instead of simply adjusting it by height/number of turns.
Darrin can align your car to match your driving style. Also, if you have coilovers, his shop is also one of the few places that can corner balance your vehicle instead of simply adjusting it by height/number of turns.
I asked him the same question when I was there the first time, however I can't recollect the answer.
All I know is other shops I've used in the past with, what most would consider, state of the art equipment never measure up to Darin at West End. No pun intended :tongue:
He is the car enthusiast's suspension guy. His work is truly an art form.
I wasn't going to respond to this thread, but thought I should share my experience with everyone who reads this thread.
Back in May of 2006, I took my NSX to AutoWave in Huntington Beach (on recommendation) to resolve a number of issues I had with the car.
One issue concerned the alignment of the car. A friend, also an NSX and other exotic car owner, road tested my car and felt that it pitched somewhat when going over dips in the road at freeway speeds. I was in the car but did not detect this abnormality. Ironically, I had just had the car aligned by Darin at West End.
AutoWave advised I have it sent to EMI Racing, also in Huntington Beach, to check it out. According to EMI Racing, the front end was a quarter inch off center; that they would have to correct that before doing the alignment. When I picked up the car from AutoWave in July of 2006, I saw that EMI had charged me $1,000.00... that's right... $1,000.00.
Like a fool, I paid my bill and went my merry way.
The car never seemed to handle nearly as well as it did before EMI got their hands on it. In fact, my NSX handled like sh.. It was no longer fun driving it. Finally, I took the car back to Darin last October. Darin restrained himself when he saw what EMI had done. Darin worked on it for over three hours and corrected the problem, and he only charged me $250.00... that included the alignment and four-corner balancing.
Moral of this story. When you find someone like Darin, don't take it to anybody else. This was a costly lesson. Again, horay for DARIN OF WEST END ALIGNMENT.:smile:
Back in May of 2006, I took my NSX to AutoWave in Huntington Beach (on recommendation) to resolve a number of issues I had with the car.
One issue concerned the alignment of the car. A friend, also an NSX and other exotic car owner, road tested my car and felt that it pitched somewhat when going over dips in the road at freeway speeds. I was in the car but did not detect this abnormality. Ironically, I had just had the car aligned by Darin at West End.
AutoWave advised I have it sent to EMI Racing, also in Huntington Beach, to check it out. According to EMI Racing, the front end was a quarter inch off center; that they would have to correct that before doing the alignment. When I picked up the car from AutoWave in July of 2006, I saw that EMI had charged me $1,000.00... that's right... $1,000.00.
Like a fool, I paid my bill and went my merry way. The car never seemed to handle nearly as well as it did before EMI got their hands on it. In fact, my NSX handled like sh.. It was no longer fun driving it. Finally, I took the car back to Darin last October. Darin restrained himself when he saw what EMI had done. Darin worked on it for over three hours and corrected the problem, and he only charged me $250.00... that included the alignment and four-corner balancing.
Moral of this story. When you find someone like Darin, don't take it to anybody else. This was a costly lesson. Again, horay for DARIN OF WEST END ALIGNMENT.:smile:
+1 for darrin...
my car drove like !#$!$# pulled heavy right... after darrin straighter then a 16 year old gettin into a strip club with a fake id...
my car drove like !#$!$# pulled heavy right... after darrin straighter then a 16 year old gettin into a strip club with a fake id...
Has anyone had Darin do any suspension installation?
Yes... he installed my JRZ coilovers.
Great, thanks. Sounds like he's my guy.
Just spent the last couple of hours with Daren at West End Alignment and I have to say that he is one of the most meticulous people I've ever met.
We chatted while he worked on a customer's Porsche (with the customer seated inside) and I could tell by the way he talked and the care he put into the P-car, that he is definitely one of the best in the industry.
Now.... I have some work to do. I need to figure out which suspension to put into my car, then take it to him. He recommended I look at, and take a ride in, NSX's with various suspensions installed.
With that in mind, anybody in SoCal wanna meet up? We can make it an impromptu dinner meet.
We chatted while he worked on a customer's Porsche (with the customer seated inside) and I could tell by the way he talked and the care he put into the P-car, that he is definitely one of the best in the industry.
Now.... I have some work to do. I need to figure out which suspension to put into my car, then take it to him. He recommended I look at, and take a ride in, NSX's with various suspensions installed.
With that in mind, anybody in SoCal wanna meet up? We can make it an impromptu dinner meet.
Just ordered a set of KW Variant 3's. Should be arriving direct from KW in a couple of weeks.
Should get it dailed in with Daren soon. Can't wait.
Thanks for the help guys.
Should get it dailed in with Daren soon. Can't wait.
Thanks for the help guys.
Does the corner balancing and alignment process involve adjusting the ride height so that the car is as low as possible without the tires rubbing at all or excessively?
TIA
TIA
Somewhat involved as he will have to play with the height adjustments first to get you to the point of low ride height/minimal to no rubbing. This will take them on/off the rack so more shop $$. Once he gets you there, the car will then be corner balanced/aligned. Hope those minimal adjustments don't "trigger" any rubbing but again on/off the rack for a test drive. Just be sure you double check your wheel/tire widths and offsets to know you are within tolerance. Are you having him install the shocks/springs/coilovers??
Jeff
the suspension is already on; I'm just debating if I should adjust my suspension first (lower) before getting it corner balanced/aligned. If it's included in the price, then I'd forgo my wrenching/troubleshooting
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