I'd just pay the 250$ guy for alignment also, why take the risk? Think of the future, not about the few hundred your saving right now.

I vote get alignment done

 

1 inch is alot on a car. how much suspension travel does the A4 have? like 4 inches? 1 inch would be 50% of your uptravel.

 

Yes you will need an alignment, headlight alignment would be as needed, at the dealership I work at they would charge5 hours for just the install and 4 wheel alignment. I commonly do lift kits, wheels and tires on brand new trucks and suv's which they charge $3000 for and it costs $400 for the lift kit, $600-$800 for the wheels and tires the rest is labor. I would say that price is on track depending on their hourly rate, but I wouldn't get the headlight alignment untill I couldn't see the road (I don't adjust headlights with a 3 inch lift).

 

I can't imagine its that hard to adjust your own headlights.. its just two screws no?

 

i think they are auto leveling or something

 

When I had mine put on, it cost ~300 for the install of springs / shocks + an alignment (but i knew the owner).

If the guy who quoted you 250 for an install seems reputable Id go with them b/c @ 600 you might as well go to the dealer...

Or maybe have the cheaper guy put them on and have a dealer align for you.

And my drop was about 2 in and no scraping.

 

yea well the guy is chargung me only 250 for the spring install no alighnment of the tires or headlights. ive decided im gunna get the springs installed for 250 (the mechanic is a client of my fathers we're his accountant so i trust him a little) and then the same or next day get the wheels alighned at MIC tire pros for i guess like 150 i hope.

 

Any time you alter the hieght of a vehicle (at least on with a wishbone suspension, or macpherson strut suspension) you are going to alter the alignment of said vehicle. When lowering usually what happens is 1; your camber becomes negative, not a huge deal at only 1.3 and 1.4 inches, but it'll be a little noticable. and 2; your front tires will toe-in, creating a "scuffing" that will wear out the inside of your tires. When I aligned my integra (no camber adjustment) and got the toe corrected, with the new tires it didn't wear abnormally. I think a majority of "camber wear" comes from incorrect toe-in, unless you are extremely dropped and riding on the sidewall.

I'd say $250 is a reasonable price for install, but I'd make sure to put bilstien or similar struts on it as well or you'll be replacing those soon enough anyway, and it will start to ride like $hit soon. And also, a 4 wheel alignment will only save you from buying tires in the near future, it'd be in your best interest. If you don't have the money right now, just wait, it will be worth the extra money you spend, I promise.

 

yea im gunna get it all done at a great tire shop that i mentioned above called MIC tire pros they said 390 installed w/ alighnment.....that sounds reasonable to me. I did my research as far as my shocks and struts goin out, and audi said ill be under warantee with the eibach springs since they sell eibach springs under audicollection.com. Audi said id be fine for 30-40k and i dunt even plan on having the car that long anyway. but i am open to imput so lemme know if their totally wrong cuz i had a whole thread on this topic.

 

If they're gonna warranty them out, then I'd say go for it, I really dont think a drop that mild is going to do too terribly much damage to the struts, but I would see if you could get that in writing. If they blow, I'm sure what Audi will be telling you is that its because you lowered the car on stock struts,the warrant isn't going to cover them...