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Hi again fellow car lovers, I went to Big O today for the free alignment check and felt like I was maybe not getting the straight scoop, perhaps they just wanted their $100 for an alignment even if it’s not really necessary. I wanted to check with you all for an unbiased opinion as to how bad my alignment really is, or if it’s not worth fixing. To me, less than one degree off seems like it might not be worth it. Please weigh in!
The rear toe is -0.03 degrees on the left rear and +0.38 degrees on the right rear (I assume right rear is the passenger side).
Here’s a scan of the full readout:
[IMG]http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb130/7h645764n57/alignment_zpsjakqfe7p.jpg[/IMG]
Edit: Even though it says what make/model/year on the printout I thought I’d mention it in text for searches in the future… I have a 1994 Honda Accord EX four door sedan with 4-banger VTEC / Automatic.
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In general terms, the closer the numbers are to “spot on”, and the same from side-to-side, the more life you’re going get out of your tires, and the car’s handling will be better.
[quote=”Evil-i” post=168457]In general terms, the closer the numbers are to “spot on”, and the same from side-to-side, the more life you’re going get out of your tires, and the car’s handling will be better.[/quote]
Thanks for that, I was hoping someone could also pipe in with something like “0.38 degrees is nothing to worry about. It is very small and won’t effect the life of the tires enough to warrant $100 fee for the alignment”. True/False in your experience?
That rear toe should definitely be fixed and in any event you want the optimum settings side to side in an alignment Front and Rear.
The right rear, at 0.38 positive toe, is significantly out and in fact the rear wheels set up is such that you have each of the rear wheels pointing in different directions.
[quote=”cam0888″ post=168479]That rear toe should definitely be fixed[/quote]
Does anyone think it’s worth it to do this myself? I’ve done a lot on this car!
[quote=”ben_tech” post=168481][quote=”cam0888″ post=168479]That rear toe should definitely be fixed[/quote]
Does anyone think it’s worth it to do this myself? I’ve done a lot on this car![/quote]
Personallly I check my alignment every 10k km and have it set to spec when needed. I’ve driven cars with bad alignment and it sucks, steering feel is bad, also causes weird tyre wear and if its bad enough causes extra wear and stress on other components. So I would set it and be done. The alignment shop I use also checks everything suspension related and won’t set alignment if something is worn, like a ball joint. They tell me fix it and come back or you just wasting your money.Today, I found a place that did alignment for $40 and they did a good job, everything is within spec now according to their equipment. 0.06 degrees instead of 0.38. Note that the guy at the counter looked at the report I got from Big O and told me that it didn’t really need an alignment but I went ahead and had it done anyway. So, clearly a person that does alignment every day thought that 0.38 degree rear toe, while technically out of spec, was very minor.
Well, look at it this way. While the numerical values are very small and probably beyond the ability of the human eyeball to detect, 0.38 is still several times above the recommended setting. You wouldn’t gap a spark plug two or three multiples above the proper gap. Accuracy counts when accuracy is called for.
It’s a good thing that both the left and right settings are now similar to each other.
[quote=”Evil-i” post=168534]It’s a good thing that both the left and right settings are now similar to each other.[/quote]
They are and that’s why, due to your good advice, I told the service guy to go ahead and do the alignment even though he, being clearly a very honest shop, didn’t think it needed it. He almost told me to go away (very nice guy though)! But he relented, saying “it’s your car”. 🙂
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