I complained to the regional manager of NTB and got my money back

 

I called firestone about 30 minutes ago and explained the situation. She put me on hold and told me the manager in the area would call me back in 48 hours.

So hopefully he can get me setup to get this resolved. Even if I have to drive a little further to a different location with better employees.

It's a shame they won't pay for all that gas and my wasted time doing all this additional driving, too.

 

That's a bummer. Most chain stores don't have great technicians. You need a shop that specializes in alignments and actually knows what they are doing. With the camber arms you should not need the cam bolts. Cam bolts can be a bit of a pain to stay in the right orientation anyway.

 

After contacting Firestone's offices I was setup with the manager for the Firestones in the area. He got back to me 2 days later and told me he would get it fixed and I decided to take it to a whole different location this time too. This location did a MUCH better job.

First of all, I told the previous location I wanted static balancing.. hiding the weights. They didn't even TRY. They just stuck a big strip of weights on the outside edge of the wheel barrel. Now they are much cleaner looking.

Secondly, they did a much better job with alignment. I watched the guy who I came to have do the work drive up from being on lunch in a G35 coupe. He's known in the area for doing a great job. He actually asked me what I want as far as camber too, instead of just doing whatever... because he understands.

Here are the results of the new alignment:




However, it turns out the original store actually damaged my wheels. So I'll be giving the area manager a call back. I bet it will be more difficult to get something for this concern. Worst case scenario, I do a chargeback on my lifetime alignment and take my business elsewhere, I guess.



Update: I called the manager of the area back and he told me he'd get me taken care of, without really giving much more info than that. He told me to send pictures to him, and I did. He said he would get back to me Tuesday. I also explained on the phone call that the guy who is so highly reccommended in the are (the G35 driver) was the one that pointed it out and he even let me take a picture of him holding the tool they use for balancing up to the wheel. He said that they have a soft rubber thing on it but the other shop just used the hard part right against the wheel.

 

First, about the wheels... the area manager for Firestone told me on Saturday he'd get back to me Tuesday. Tuesday, he didn't get back to me so I asked for an update at night. The following morning he replied stating that he has a company who's able to fix it at no charge to me (well I'd sure hope so since they damaged it LOL). He said they'd be reaching out to me that day or the next, so 8/31 or 9/1. Nobody reached out to me so on 9/1 I texted him again at night. No response the next day, but someone called me and it's the wheel restoration guy. He said he was given the wrong number the first time. He is going to come to my house with a trailer and do it right at my house. I don't need to waste more gas or wait around or find a ride anywhere. I looked at the work they do online and they do a great job from what I can tell. I was really worried they'd try to either use retarded excuses like "they're aftermarket wheels so no" or try to force me to go to some city a decent bit away during a date/time I'm working. I'm very surprised and satisfied with how this is turning out. He should be doing the restoration of my wheels on Thursday, and should even be able to restore some other minor scuffs (like the curb rash from the stupid drive-through at my Panda Express).

I work from home so I can be here while he's working on it.

NOW, the phone mount quest I've been on for a very long time:


I may have finally found the best phone mounting solution for the G. I've been through so many mounts. I've returned at least 10 to Amazon probably. The proclip (passenger side) was fine, until people kneed it and it was never the same again.

I have the 38W power adapter, wireless charger and mobnetic maxx mount from Mob Armor.

There's a cheaper option with this mount where you don't have the charger but I decided to go for it.

My issue with the chargers and mounts available is that they either block something I don't want blocked, aren't stable, prevent Qi charging from working or require drilling holes or using window suction cups. Sometimes the mounts cannot hold up the weight/height of the S21 Ultra either. That tends to be the case when you have to put a magnet on the bottom to allow Qi charging to still work. Also there are some where if you choose to use the included power plug they're too big to fit in that tiny slot in the G. Their 38W adapter easily fits.

Even the ones that claim to work with Qi charging tend to be false advertising.

The only downside I've decided to accept in exchange for a new mounting solution is changing my case to one without a kickstand. I wanted to avoid sticking something over the back of the case which removes the ability to pull out the kickstand so I bought a new case just for this reason. This charger and mount also has the benefit of being more sleek and the mount can actually stick to anything metal (like the car body).

This Mob Armor system has a few methods for installation but here's how I did it:

I stuck the included circular steel disc onto the passenger side dash area and let it cure at least 24 hours. I stuck the included (silicone? rubber?) pad on the back of the phone case which is shaped perfectly for this charger and magnetized but allows for Qi charging (with other chargers as well). I stuck the actual mount onto the steel disc on the dash. I stuck the charger to the mount (magnetic). Now I can Just stick the phone onto the mount and it will do fast wireless charging and then I can pull it right off, without it being so low that the passengers kick it. I figure it will be easier to look down less far while driving, too. Finally, it doesn't block the tone control like the proclip one did, despite being higher up (just as a result of how it sticks out more from the mounting location).



I'm going to use this for a little and make sure I'm confident with how good it is before writing a full review on the forum here because it seems like a common issue that people can't find a good mount for this car. The people who have mounts are probably settling or have low standards.

I'm probably going to buy another one so I can replace the window suction cup mount for my Garmin GPS with one of these little mounts. There's a circular indentation where a clip latches onto the Garmin which is perfect for the rigid steel discs these mounts come with.

 

The wheels were restored today, at least the damage caused by Firestone.





I have some updates on that mount for the phone but I will save it for the full review post. In the meantime, I bought another for my GPS:

 

Wheels look brand new. Very nice.

 

I got the Z1 Diff brace installed today. Immediately noticable "higher torque feeling". Who knows if the torque is technically higher, but it feels like the car throws you back better. It's difficult to describe but it's like the time from when you hear the engine rev and the car G force begins is shorter than before. There's still the delay of the computer controlled throttle but the actual launches just feel more solid. No noticeable added NVH. I'm not sure yet but it seems like the rear suspension is less harsh over bumps now, too. Need to drive around more to know about that for sure.

 

Pretty sure your main diff bushing is blown. I mean, obvious right?

 

Yeah many people have commented on this due to seeing the dripping oil. The bushing was replaced before I purchased the vehicle. It's just old oil that has been on there since before I bought the car.

Maybe in a moment when I clean my car I can get under there and clean it off. Maybe purple power would be a good idea?

 

Figure any type of solvent, a bristle brush and some elbow grease. Should clean up fine.

Sorry for the obvious, but it just jumps out at you in that pic.

The brace is pretty cool, and this one looks tough. Single bolt to the subframe?

 

Yeah it jumps out. I've never cleaned it and I'm coming up on 3 years of ownership this month.

It does seem tough. It does have 1 bolt in the subframe with some kind of threaded washer type thing that goes in an existing hole up there.

 

Cleaned up the diff. Seems a little stained but I had a lot to do so I didn't spend too much time on it. It looks much better than before, but of course the camera brings out the worst details...

 

That's an interesting design Z1 has for their rear differential brace. The biggest difference I noticed with my rear differential brace was the ability to put the power down earlier out of corners on track. The back end just seemed a lot more planted. It was a really good feeling in the car and a lot more precise.

 

I ordered a customized start button and cupholder insert from @iCrap