Johnson & Bartlett Alignment Service

Something odd going on here. Took my van here after hitting a curb. They called and said that my tire was low and that they need to replace the strut plates and struts before they could align it. Would cost about $ 800 and they couldn’t start until I brought them most of that amount in cash. I picked the van up and took it to Merchants who discovered that I had damaged the belt in the front left tire. They replaced the tire and aligned and problem solved. It drives great now.

The guys were on top of everything. Fast service and fair pricing. Remember no appointments, first come first serve, just like in the old days. My new goto first stop for auto needs.

Consistently good advice and service — and not limited to tires and alignment. I’ve brought Joe and old muscle car, a 4×4 pickup, a front wheel drive Toyota, and a rear wheel drive tuner running lightweight BBS wheels. In each instance, the work was top notch and reasonably priced. He’s steered me to good alternatives when either the work is outside of their scope or when the value of the car might not justify the cost of the repairs. An example of the care he takes: when Joe mounts and balances tires, he checks each tire and each wheel for true and balance — some tires are slightly out of round from the factory, or not quite as balanced as others in the same batch. Some bare wheels will require more weights to become balanced than others. Armed with that info, he matches the individual tires to individual wheels. And since most tires are directional, he’s careful to mount the best pair as opposites. This allows you to place the best pair on the front, where their fine balance is more keenly felt at the steering wheel and has a greater impact on the driving dynamics and safety. Compare Joe’s carefulness with your average chain, where they remove one wheel, mount and balance the new tire, and then replace it before moving on to the next wheel, regardless of whether the individual tire, out of the four, is best suited to go front or rear, or opposite another of the four available.

Johnson & Bartlett is a great shop, they are very honest and the best place in town for wheel alignment. I always take my car here when I need work done and even just for an inspection!