Does Alignment need to be checked due to car accident

[CoryM]

I'm pretty tired so hopefully this makes sense:

First off, look here:
http://www.platinumautoservice.com/s...0&%20align.jpg

Caster, camber and toe are the only angles to worry about. Your camber and caster are in good shape, and do not need any adjustment.

In terms of tire wear and fuel economy (yes, it does reduce MPG if toe is out), the only part of toe that really matters is "Total Toe". In your case, the Total Toe was 0.20°, which was actually in specification. Total Toe is the left and right toe angles combined. So if left wheel is toed IN .5°, and right is toed OUT .5°, you actually have 0° Total Toe (if you turn the steering wheel to even it out). While driving it would be at 0° Total toe, and the steering wheel would be off center in this case.

From the measurements, I can see that your steering wheel would have been off-center while driving straight (or it is now, after the alignment). Your Left Toe was w/i spec, and the Right was out. The Technician adjusted the Right Toe (and ONLY the Right Toe) until it was close to the Left Toe, making the Steering wheel centered. This worked in bringing all the angles w/i spec and gave you a centered steering wheel.

Sigh, and now I have to point out this is yet another example of flat-rate mechanics rushing jobs. They get paid a certain amount for each job they do, no matter how many they do in a day. For example he probably got paid 0.5-0.8 of a hour's wage for the alignment. More he does in a day, the more money he makes. Primarily found at dealerships, and my reason for recommending to NOT go to dealers except for warranty. I've worked flat-rate at dealers in the past..... good for mechanics/dealers, bad for customers. Ok, so remember Total Toe? The IDEAL spec for it is 0.15°. When you went in you were at 0.20°, and when you left you were at -0.01°. So you were 0.05° away from IDEAL before, and 0.16° after. What he should have done is adjusted the Right Toe to 0.07°, then the left to 0.07° also. This give you the IDEAL Total Toe, and a centered steering wheel. But of course it takes longer to adjust both sides, and he wants to get onto the next job faster, so he cuts corners. Had I done that alignment today, your Total toe would have been 0.14-0.16° (as close as you can really adjust with our machine).

End of the day, the ONLY thing he did was center the steering wheel. He did nothing to improve your tire wear or MPG and it is actually slightly further from perfect than it was when you went in. That being said, it is w/i spec and is acceptable from a wear pov. I just wish he would have done a better job. It's not hard (usually), just takes time.

Again, I am very tired so I hope this helps.
Cory

[Viperoni]

Originally Posted by CoryM

I'm pretty tired so hopefully this makes sense:

First off, look here:
http://www.platinumautoservice.com/s...0&%20align.jpg

Caster, camber and toe are the only angles to worry about. Your camber and caster are in good shape, and do not need any adjustment.

In terms of tire wear and fuel economy (yes, it does reduce MPG if toe is out), the only part of toe that really matters is "Total Toe". In your case, the Total Toe was 0.20°, which was actually in specification. Total Toe is the left and right toe angles combined. So if left wheel is toed IN .5°, and right is toed OUT .5°, you actually have 0° Total Toe (if you turn the steering wheel to even it out). While driving it would be at 0° Total toe, and the steering wheel would be off center in this case.

From the measurements, I can see that your steering wheel would have been off-center while driving straight (or it is now, after the alignment). Your Left Toe was w/i spec, and the Right was out. The Technician adjusted the Right Toe (and ONLY the Right Toe) until it was close to the Left Toe, making the Steering wheel centered. This worked in bringing all the angles w/i spec and gave you a centered steering wheel.

Sigh, and now I have to point out this is yet another example of flat-rate mechanics rushing jobs. They get paid a certain amount for each job they do, no matter how many they do in a day. For example he probably got paid 0.5-0.8 of a hour's wage for the alignment. More he does in a day, the more money he makes. Primarily found at dealerships, and my reason for recommending to NOT go to dealers except for warranty. I've worked flat-rate at dealers in the past..... good for mechanics/dealers, bad for customers. Ok, so remember Total Toe? The IDEAL spec for it is 0.15°. When you went in you were at 0.20°, and when you left you were at -0.01°. So you were 0.05° away from IDEAL before, and 0.16° after. What he should have done is adjusted the Right Toe to 0.07°, then the left to 0.07° also. This give you the IDEAL Total Toe, and a centered steering wheel. But of course it takes longer to adjust both sides, and he wants to get onto the next job faster, so he cuts corners. Had I done that alignment today, your Total toe would have been 0.14-0.16° (as close as you can really adjust with our machine).

End of the day, the ONLY thing he did was center the steering wheel. He did nothing to improve your tire wear or MPG and it is actually slightly further from perfect than it was when you went in. That being said, it is w/i spec and is acceptable from a wear pov. I just wish he would have done a better job. It's not hard (usually), just takes time.

Again, I am very tired so I hope this helps.
Cory

So you're saying that even though he is at 0* toe, his MPG is going to be WORSE that what it was (some toe in)?