New Tires and Alignment

Silly question, I need new tires and was going to get it installed at a local Tire Rack recommended installer. I also need an alignment. Can I trust a national tire chain to do the alignment or do I have to go the P dealer?? I have the specs for the 996 to give to them...

Generally the answer to your question is a firm "No." It is not the specs, but the experience in applying the specs. Small adjustments that would barely matter on a family car can significantly effect handling and tire wear... and tires are just too damned expensive to chance. Check with other Porsche owners in your area or the local PCA region to find a good independent to do both the install and alignment. You will probably get some good advice in this thread. Might help if you narrowed your location a bit.

Ralph, I am in Long Island, NY. Thanks for the comments.

take it to a shop that deals with Porsche a daily Basis...

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I've been to a few local shops that do all makes/models including P/F cars (saw them in the lot) and even a dealer. The general shops and even the dealer couldn't seem to get a rather "generic" alignment right. I got a referral from here to an indy that is very experienced with Pcars. Solved everything in less than 2 hours. My vote is to not waste time/money and ask board members that are local that can recommend a local shop and go there.

So what marriotm needs now is a LI shop recommendation...

I think a place that does race alignments would work. Racers, including serious autocrossers, usually have very specific and sometimes goofy settings (relative to good family sedan settings), and will notice if it isn't done right. They also get multiple alignments done a year. I have a place here that does them for pretty cheap, and they know what to do (I'm back there the whole time, including getting the final set and tightening done with me sitting in the car). But yes, in agreement with others here, generic tire shops are unlikely to have much clue, and if they think your settings are too aggressive they'll happily change/ignore them figuring (1) you made a mistake, and (2) won't notice anyway. I'm just not convinced there aren't a fair number of Porsche dealers who will do the same, considering some of their customers are professionals who hardly drive the cars anyway.

Just align it yourself. Throw negative camber to the stops and tighten it down. Use a tape measure on the treads to get your toe right. Then take it to your local chain shop to get the tires mounted, let them do the free alignment check, and see how close you got. (Ignore their doom and gloom; most chain stores will refuse to give a porsche anything resembling a proper performance alignment.) If you're happy with the numbers their machine spat out, tell the tire shop where to put their protection plan and drive away happy. Preferably at a high rate of speed, you know, to scrub in your new tires You'll likely have to take it to a race shop to get a good alignment. Most race shops are well used to mounting specialty wheels/tires, too.

Around me, a local and somewhat respected stealership runs alignment specials of $150.No one ever complains and they will also set to "your" specs. Might be worth a call to see what the local dealer charges just to compare against an indy shop. Plus you might get a loaner if you need one