I contacted this shop after reading the mostly positive reviews. I called and was quoted $125 for my son's 8th Gen Civic Si that is lowered.
I showed up for the appointment and Junior was courteous, promptly looked at the car and then said he'd only charge $95 as the rear was not coilovers.
He put it on the lift and did a pre-inspection and then showed me the problem causing the car to pull to the right. The rear Skunk2 upper control arms' bushings were broken in-half, so he was able to rock the wheels back and forth and cause the thunking noise.
He said that he could do the alignment but did not recommend it because he said it would not help. He advised me to buy SPC control arms on Amazon, showed me what they were. They were not as pretty looking as the Skunk2 but he said he's put them on lots of cars and they work great. He said he'd charge $100 to take off the old ones install the new ones, which I thought was reasonable, as I did not know how difficult a job it might be. I asked him if the damaged bushings on the control arms or even they joint itself could be replaced, and his answer was "No, and even if you were to buy the bushings, I will have to take out the old ones and put in the new bushings. If I damaged them then I won't be responsible for the damaged part."
Having little knowledge of lowered cars with camber kits, I trusted Junior's word as I just put new tires on the car, and more importantly, it was for the safety of my son. So charged me $45 dollars and said if I come back, it'll be applied towards the alignment.
From the time I placed the order on 12.21.18 and the arrival of the box on 12.27.18. I researched and found a few very good videos on replacement of the rear upper control arms and it looks like a hour to one and a half hour job (DIY hours) in addition to calling Shunk2 but they were closed.
Anyhow, the new control arms arrived on 12.27.18 in the morning and I made an appointment the same day to get them installed and the car alignmened.
For some reason, the car drives OK on the freeway. When street driving, it pulls to the right much more so with the worn bushings.
I thought maybe this was because new parts were added to the car and that it maybe a few days for the weight of the car to settled but I tested it all day today, and it's still pulling to the right. I'll contact Junior on Monday for an assessment and will update my posting afterwards.
The main reason I'm giving 2 stars is because Junior... with him working on as many lowered cars as he has, he should have advised me that Skunk2 does not sell the bushings but they do sell the Heim Joint (l learned about this after Skunk2 called me back) for $104 a set, which are cheaper than the new arms for $225.
And you can see from the pictures that there is no need for him to take out the old bushings, as once the bolt is removed the whole thing comes out.
I think he advised me to buy new ones because it's just quicker for him to install new arms, maybe 10 to 25 minutes, versus having to play a round with replacing the Heim joints. read more