Here are photos of the before/after alignment specs of my MY03 S2000 before and after the accident - I slid slideways up the curb and into the median on the highway while avoiding another car. They were given to me by the body shop when I picked up the car. He told me that he couldn't get a good alignment at first since the driver side rear knuckle/bearing/spindle/hub needed to be replaced. So he replaced those components and re-did the alignment.

The first 2 are pre-repair photos. The red indicates out of spec and green good. I'm not sure how to interpret photo #3. The last 2 photos are post-repair photos. What is the thrust angle? I've never heard of that.

How are my specs? And what does they grey color code mean?

*****
And very importantly... the steering is slightly off-center. I have to point the wheel slightly to the right for the car to go straight. It's slight but noticeable since our cars' steering ratios are quick I guess. I brought it back and he told me he could re-do it but he told me that basically, one has to eyeball the steering wheel to make sure it's pointed straight while sitting in the driver's seat, before doing the alignment. I told him that since I'll be putting in new springs/shocks soon (a new alignment is needed then anyway), as long as it is an alignment issue (e.g. the tech can just make sure the steering is straight this time and re-do the alignment) and not a body issue (bent arms or anything else that's damaged), then I'll just live with steering the car a bit to the right for the time being.

His explanation about the steering wheel not being pointed perfectly straight before doing the alignment and is therefore making the car veer a bit, is sound reasoning, right? Thanks.
*****

 

Everything looks to be pretty well in spec.

Thrust angle is the angle that the rear wheels make relative to the front wheels. As you probably already know, the front and rear wheels don't sit completely parallel to each other. The front and rear wheels each kinda create an effective "line" as result of their total toe angle. If you were were looking at a top-down view of your car, the angle created between the effective line between the front wheels and the line between rear wheels is 0.01 deg. This could be a source of the steering wheel not being centered. The car isn't rolling totally straight down the road, otherwise the thrust angle would be 0.00. Try to google some pictures on thrust angle, it might make a bit more sense...

EDIT - slight mistake, it's the angle the rear line makes with the geometric center of the vehicle, which is not always the same line that the front line creates, although it should with 0 degrees of total toe. (scroll down for picture)

As for more on the steering wheel not being centered (probably a bigger contributor), next time you get an alignment, ask if you can sit in the car and hold the wheel at a position that looks centered to you. That way, your car is aligned with your weight accounted for, and you ensure that the wheel is where you want it to be.

As for his comment, that doesn't make sense. After aligning the car to spec, it should drive straight. Why would it's behavior prior to the alignment matter? Also, because the S2K's alignment is symmetric, I'd expect it to veer to one side due to the crown in the road, how bad is it veering?

 

maybe the v of the car is damage or other part maybe was affected...

 

Looks good to me. Besides the steering wheel issue, does it ride straight and normal?

 

if a car was never involve in an accident need frame alignment as well down the road?

 

Thank you for your feedback. Could this thrust angle be modified at my next alignment? Maybe the tech could make it perfect at 0.

Regarding your last paragraph, sorry maybe I didn't make it clear. He meant that prior to the alignment, he may not have perfectly centered the steering wheel himself and that the wheel alignment was done with respect to that steering wheel position. Like you said, next time, I will center it myself before the tech does the alignment.

I'm hoping this whole steering being off is the result of the alignment being done with the steering wheel not perfectly centered, because then the fix is simply doing another alignment, and not having to worry about damaged components.

Regarding the crown, you would think I would have to fight it to the left, but like I said, I have to steer ever so slightly to the right, to go straight.

 

Sorry what do you mean by the "v" of the car?

 

Yea, besides the steering wheel itself being slightly off, everything else seems great. I brought the car up to 90-100 and the car seemed to be as stable as it was prior to the accident - no funny or floaty motions really.

Hopefully, this whole thing is just an issue with the alignment being done with the steering wheel not centered perfectly. At least this way, I'll know it can be fixed at the next alignment.

 

I'm not understanding this thrust angle. Might it have another name?

 

That's the only name I've heard it called, but this picture might help:



As for zeroing thrust angle, this can be achieved, but there is a spec range, and I think as long as it's in that range, it's effect on steering wheel centering may be negligible. I guess I should edit what I said earlier too, it's the angle off the geometric center of the car. Slight correction, sorry.

Now I understand what you mean SiDriver, and yes, just see if you can sit in the car and watch the wheel while your alignment is being done. I actually recently did a garage alignment and forgot to center the wheel... sure the car might've driven straight, but the wheel was at like 20 degrees clockwise!