Things everyone knows: An alignment is an alignment is an alignment. 

Which is true, except when it’s not. A collision alignment is not a maintenance alignment, and shops that don’t know this are bound to learn the hard way. 

Find the Damage, Take Control 

Let’s start with the basics. Many, if not most, collision shops sublet their alignment business and other tire services. That’s understandable but unfortunate, since alignments usually head the list of highest margin services, and there’s ample opportunity to perform them. Subletting this easy work means subletting easy profitability, although not responsibility and liability. 

But there’s much more to it than that. Keeping alignments in-house and performing collision-specific alignments not only makes sense but provides something even more important: control. 

And here’s the bat signal for why control matters: “Something’s bent.” 

If your shop has never had an alignment come back accompanied by the phrase “something’s bent,” you’re  lucky, because when it does, the job you sent out is far from complete and you’re starting all over. 

Which means supplements. Which means inefficiency. Which means extended cycle time, which means neither your shop, your customer, nor the insurance company is happy. 

It doesn’t have to be that way. 

Every shop strives for a clean first sheet, and there’s a reliable way to get one: choosing to do your own alignments. 

A More Profitable Repair 

Collision-specific alignments — using OEM procedures and getting down into the weeds of toe-out on turn, maximum steer, ride height, suspension body dimension, symmetry and setback — benefit from in-shop alignments. 

 This is where “something’s bent!” damage hides, which won’t be discovered by a typical alignment. 

What might this damage be? Many possibilities.  

Shifted or damaged subframe. Damaged lower control arms. Shifted or damaged axles. Bent spindle. Bent tie rod end. And it doesn’t take a major collision to inflict this damage. Thumping a curb can often cause it. 

The benefits from early measuring proceed like a parade. The correct parts are ordered at the beginning, skipping repeated trial and error to figure out what’s wrong.  

The mechanical labor rate, usually the highest a shop will charge, comes into play. A $100 alignment may become an $800 alignment. 

By using OEM procedures, you can anticipate a smooth ride with insurance companies, since they’ll know the vehicle has been repaired properly. 

By maintaining complete control, cycle time can be drastically cut. 

In all, you will be providing professional, complete service, which is precisely what all parties to the repair are looking for. 

Fixed Right, Done Right 

Something is bent! But now everything is fixed by your shop, the first time, efficiently and profitably. 

One last thing: Mastering your own alignments sets you up perfectly for the next logical step, which is ADAS calibrations. But that’s a story for another time.