Ben: From one fellow curious cheapskate to another I agree whole heartedly! I, like you, would prefer to see the how and the why of things rather than just replacing them for the sake of new. And I'm sure that you, as I, have the mechanical skill to take care of most anything that goes awry (though it might take a little longer than it would take someone who earns a living doing the same job). My point, however, is that while I might be interested in why my back is hurting after 'dead-lifting' a tranny off the bed of my neighbor's pickup, I'm not going to self-treat a herniated disk....With all of the equipment out there that can get alignments correct to +/- 1/16th of an inch or 1/4degree, why even fool around with tape and a magic marker, especially when you have to get someone to help you and, believe me, that steering wheel issue is a real pet peeve of mine. If it's not straight, I take the car back, and back, and back, until the shop gets the idea.

Brad