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On our Hunter, we can have the heads on the car and compensated in 5 minutes or so, make the adjustments within 15 to 20 minutes on most cars, unless the alignment is way out or some of the older stuff with shims in the front.

 
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you can't flip direction tires onto the other side!...

 
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does it matter what machine they use for the alignment? or is it all about the technician?

 
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It is all about the tech. Our main alignment guy has big skills in brakes, front end, etc, and is paid very well. BTW, if you flip a directional tire around on a wheel, you can move it to the other side of the car.

 
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the tire shop said that you can't flip a non directional tire to the other side.. is this not true? what do you do exactly when you do a alignment? Does it take a lot of skill? I always thought it should be easy

 
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Directional tires can go on the other side, but they aren't supposed to. It won't kill them.

Technicians make sure your wheels are aligned. They check camber, caster and toe and set them within specs. ****, I can do it if I had a machine.

 
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Dude, i lowered my civic 2.5", and got an spc camber kit and did it myself. I was a technician for chevy and that alignment (your attachment) was negligable. I first took my car to get aligned at the place i worked at, and it made it worse in the rear, the front was fine, I physically had to align my tires with my eyes. Since i've done that i have not had any tire wear to either side. If you try do do it yourself beware of dogtracking if you mess around with the rear.

 
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Mainly its about the tech. I've used BOTH the 2 major brands, Hunter and John bean (aka JBC) for 18 years or so. I also was a manufactures sales rep for JBC for 3 years. Each machine has its pros and cons. But if any alignment machine is set up properly and well maintained. The majority of the aligmnet results falls in the techs hands. As far as set up times, depends on the machine and rack its on. Some machines can get numbers in about 2 minutes most can get the numbers in about 5 mins. As mentioned earlier MOST cars can be aligned in a matter a 5-20 minutes give or take. But some take longer. A good tech can do lowered/lifted cars and trucks in the same time frame as it takes to do stock vehicles unless the lower or lift makes getting to the adjustments harder. Some hoist are VERY hard to do lowered cars /trucks on and lots of shops wont do alignments because of this. Alignmnet Pits are the best for lowered cars. with a pit the car never has to drive up a ramp to get onto the rack.

 
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I STRONGLY discourage people doing thier own alingments unless they have a basic knowledge of alignmnets and know what can go wrong if its done improperly.

 
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I've got a used hunter at work if your interested , Think its an "H"

 
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Heh, i just looked at the print out of your car. Oddly enough they also measured SAI, If you look close you will see the SAI is lower on the right side and also caster is a bit low compared to the left side. Caster is still in spec but there is a difference from right to left . That being said, JUST a shot in the dark but i bet the right lower control arm is bent ever so slightly. Granted its only .2 of a degree of camber and .6 of caster.

 
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^^ whats caster, toe, camber... I understand when ur wheels aren't aligned you get camber wear, but i don't understand what all these things mean... is .2 degree of camber and .6 of caster good or bad?

 
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) Camber/Caster/Toe
Camber, caster, and toe are all changes to the way your wheels and tires come in contact with the ground. Most factory cars have some negative camber in the rear set. Most owners’ manuals will tell you OEM specs of camber, caster and toe. These settings can become moved by driving, hit potholes, racing, etc. This is why you get an alignment every so often. Alignment shops will return your car to factory or near factory settings.
They affect vehicle dynamics greatly if fine-tuned. Each car is different so you will have to play with the sittings to get the desired results. General rule of thumb is that some negative camber and some toe out will help handling, but the amounts will vary. So please don’t think that leaving your tires at –2 degrees camber all the time will help you! By changing the camber, caster and toe, you WILL ruin your tires faster. They take more stress and take the corners harder so it is suggested that you don’t run with “race” settings on the street if you can prevent it. You will be buying tires every month. Parts like Camber or caster plates allow for quick changing of the camber or caster for race days.
Links
http://www.artsautomotive.com/thealignmentstory.htm
http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html
http://corvettesuspension.com/cambercastortoe.htm
http://www.stockcarracing.com/tipstricks/31519/

Read the Autox FAQ. Google is your friend....


tfnaafLet me put the Hunter on my front porch. I am sure the home owner's association would love that!

 
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COOL! I'm going to take my car back today to the same place.. (i don't have any money to get it redone).. Should all the numbers be in spec if its done right? Or what should i look for? I don't want to get it done, then bring it back and all that.

 
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this is old, but sears doesn't own ntb anymore.

 
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No number "current" number should be red. Sit there and watch them do the alignment and watch the screen. If you feel they are doing it wrong then tell them. I mean you did pay for the service, you should tell them how you want it. It really isn't that hard to get into spec.

BTW When you installed your front camber bolt, you did put it on the top mount bolt right?

 
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OK, Sears doesn't own NTB anymore, but about the same time of techs/quality of work. Our rack is a new Hunter scissor lift, and it is flush mounted in a pit, so it is level with the floor. We did this specifically for some of the lowered stuff we see.

 
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I didn't install it.. i had a performance shop here install it for me.. they told me the camber kit was TOP QUALItY, the best you can get.. so i'm assuming there nothing wrong with the camber kit. And they do plenty of cars and are pretty well known... so i dont think that is a problem, but i really don't know

 
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yes and no.. If you just take the wheel off and try to put it on the other side, its a no no(you would still be left with the same inside camber wear problem anyway) BUT if you take off the wheel, take it to the shop and have them dismount/mount the tires again so that they're flipped around then yes... this way the negative camber wear that was on the inside, is now on the outside so that you can use up the good side. but yeah its only a "band aid" and you have to pay to get the tires mounted and balanced. its best to just get the alignment fixed.

 
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I was wondering if most alignment shops know how to adjust the camber kits on our cars? Or should you go to certain shops that are more credited?

 
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Most cars usually come with some OEM way to change chamber and camber kits are usually OEM replicas that allow for more adjustment. If the shop doesn't know how to adjust camber using a camber kit, then they are dumbasses and take your car somewhere else. However, many places won't even touch a lowered car.

 
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i brought my car back.. is it true that you have to take apart ingalls camber kit to adjust it? I told them that most people with 7thgens have ingalls or spc camber kit (don't know if that is true or not, but i think it is).. and they said that maybe in import tuner that is true but they aren't good camber kits.. and you can't adjust them unless u take them apart first. is this true? However, i think the camber kit was adjusted to maximum when it was installed, however i am not sure. So, if my camber kit can't be adjusted, then did i buy one for nothing? but i think its adjusted all the way already. He said the most popular camber kits are called "aim" or something.. however when i looked most people only offered ingalls and spc for our car. so i dont know about that. Furthermore.. they said they couldn't adjust the camber on my rear because the tires (205/50/15) will hit the fender if i have a lot of weight in the back or hit a bump.. which is true, because they showed me everything. They also adjusted the front more.. he said lowered cars have their own alignment specs , and not the same as stock spec. The guy explained everything to me for a long time and let me watch him to do the alignment .. ill post the new sheet when i get home! tell me what u guys think

 
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why do lowered cars have different specs? I never got that...
NO you do NOT have to take it apart in order to adjust them.
You just loosen the two nuts, turn the big middle thing untill your at the desire camber and tighten the two nuts again..

 
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He is a dumbass. Take it to someone better.

Again, the only issue I can see is if you installed the camber kit at max. Both arms should have only been set at half way when put on the car.

 
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Just read this:
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=201704

 
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This is the reason I'm learning to do my own alignments....

 
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should i get it redone? Because the way he showed me, if they adjust the rear camber anymore, it will hit the fender .. i checked it myself! The manager told me that i could get a refund if i took it somewhere else and got it redone and they adjusted the camber kit with no extra charge, but i don't see a need to do that since the camber is already out far as it can go without the tire hitting the fender.

 
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and i believe my camber kit was installed at max.. i think the guy said like.. he wans't sure how much to adjust it so he just put it on max, but i'm not sure

 
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Lowered and lifted cars and trucks dont have " different specs " But they sometimes need to have the spec altered for better tire wear...

Examples:

You know the idiots that put the 13" wheels on thier civics that stick out 6" beyond thier fenders? Well if this car is aligned to factory specs it will eat tires like wont believe. Same goes if you use a severly altered tire diameter, as in lots taller or lots shorter. Both of these 2 situations are effecting scrub radius and this CAN cause sever tire wear. Adjusting a cars spec to a different spec other than stock is an ART, and care should be taken when doing so.

 
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I didnt catch in your post, but how low is your car? Im running eibach sportlines and have TONS of adjustment remaining in my front cams still.