Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

a new tire and an alignment cost you $430

man they are really proud of their alignments

Guy down street from me who runs garage dropped $65k on an alignment machine few years ago.... freakin GPS and laser... I think he charges $125 for four wheel alignment, which cracks me up- four wheels-.... uhhuh...

I fabricated a device for my super duty, solid front axle truck, which bolted across inner face of wheel... made it level using simple bubble level, and bolted a laser pointer to it... waited until dark and parked in front of the barn.  Turned on lasers and went to measuring....

I took four 16" vinyl tiles, two per front wheel... stacked one atop other with wad of grease between them.. made wheels turn easier using the tie rods. 

I did this after installing a four link suspension on the front of the truck.... knowing I wouldn't be able to get to the shop for a proper alignment for a few days. 

Got to the shop and cut one of my buddies technicians loose on it while me and my buddy chatted and the guy come got me... he said "I cab try, but I'm not going to get it any better than it is and don't want to charge you for just trying"... I was standing there looking at the monitor and.... it was dead on center of the parameters ... they were amazed when I told them how I did it.  I didn't design this method, it's been around forever- this tale is more akin to a kid not knowing how to use a rotary phone than anything else...

Now with four wheel independent suspension and cv joints/half axles, this is more difficult... with a solid front axle, though, it's a waste of money to get the fancy alignment..  that four link suspension allowed me to dial 6* castor... stock is 4 to 4.5... that big ass truck handled like a sports car!

I got a "lifetime" alignment, $200.  The tire was a shade over $200 with disposal fees and taxes.  There was a "low profile tire mounting charge" of $0.

And I donated $5 to Boys Club.  Or the manager.

When the car was almost new, it had a tiny nail too near the sidewall, and I had to replace the tire then as well.  

The wife said she hit a new pothole and tried to slew at the last second and probably that nailed it.

They were supposed to have redone that road last fall.

Tire Size 225/40R18 | Tire Rack

The tire wasn't on sale of course, and it's a moderately high performance tire.  They are $380 at Discount Tire here.  Ouch.

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A | Discount Tire

I'm not a fan of "cheap" tires.  Braking distance is a key metric for me.  At least I know where the spare is now, and the jack.  I need to make sure they repacked everything properly, I think they did.

Tire man from way back. 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=christmas+story+fuuudge&t=iphone&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D11q4q3S57jE

I say oh fudge all the time

except its not fudge

Golf Jargon?  Is that a new band playing at Coachella?

Some dude I don't know gets these photos using drones, I find that fascinating.  Construction crews use drones now often.

There is an effort to cap that freeway with a park, the concept is great, but too  expensive.  I'd settle for something smaller.

A guy I used to work with ended up here: https://www.gnarbox.com/

They do some pretty awesome things with drones. They're pretty advanced.