I recently had my AP1 aligned. The 4 wheel alignment was done on a Hunter laser alignment machine at a reputable shop that I also use for everything else I get done. They are usually thorough and precise with their work.

Are my "After" alignment specs acceptable? I was expecting the printout to read exactly to Honda specs. Is that unrealistic?

The steering wheel is slightly crooked off center now, so I am debating taking the car back for them to fix that. Should I ask them to re-do the alignment as well?

 

I would not be happy with that, but i am very particular with my alignment. Hell I actually sit in the car while they do it, since it is typically just me in the car 90% of the time on the street and 100% on the track. Misaligned wheel would drive me nuts regardless of the alignment though.

 

That doesn't look good to me, it looks really bad actually. Unless they told you that some of your adjusters were seized I would request that they do it right.

Next time you go in for an alignment tell them the specs that you want to see, they just tried to get things within the spec range, but it is far from perfect. Get both sides of the car even.

Everyone will have a different opinion, here is mine:
Get more front left camber, go to the max setting and get both sides evenly matched, or even higher if you don't mind a bit more camber, I'd go with -1.0 both sides. Get caster around 6.0 both sides evenly. Get front toe zero on both sides and total toe zero, steer ahead should be zero, with a straight steering wheel. On the rear get toe even on both sides to .18 degs toe-in, and that will lower the toe.

I spent the last few weeks wrenching over my new alignment settings for this driving season, here is what I ended up with :

Front camber -1.25 degs, caster 6.0 both sides , zero toe front, zero total toe front, steer ahead zero. Rear camber -2 degs , total rear toe-in 3/16ths inch with 3/32nds each side toe-in . The car runs great at these settings, the camber is out of spec but still very safe and easy on the tires.

 

Just had mine done and if that was the sheet they gave me, I'd hand the keys right back to them. You can see the difference in front toe, which is why the steering wheel is off center for driving straight (or they didn't center the wheel when the printed the final measurement, which is just dumb). I'd also never accept rear toe being so heavily imbalanced. Same goes for front caster. Honestly, nothing on that sheet looks "good" to me.

But just as bgoetz above, I am very picky about my alignment and have it done with myself or dead weight in the driver's seat. But regardless, if the wheel isn't straight to drive straight, that's a sure sign that you should have them redo it.

 

Looks like I'm having them re-do it.

I've never done my own alignment, and this is really the first time I've asked for a printout and paid attention to the specs... So I have no idea how hard or easy it is to align the car. Since you guys feel they should be capable of getting the specs exactly right and my steering wheel is off, I'll take it back to them.

When I saw some of the "after" specs, I didn't feel real good about it either. I mean Honda even states front caster 6 degrees with NO + or -. 6 degrees no questions.. and they left it at 6.5 and 5.7. I also thought toe should be the same on both sides as well.

Thanks again!

 

Your caster can be off, you probably won't notice much if it's less than 1 degree difference, and yes the manual says you can have a little cross caster, like half a degree. That said, I don't think these people even touched your caster. It's the hardest part to get right on the car because you have to do a steering sweep every time you make an adjustment. Camber can also be off a few tenths of a degree and it won't affect much. The thing that really irks me to no end is having a crooked steering wheel, and this is caused because the lazy tech that did your alignment didn't set your toe correctly. The toe is the most important thing as far as stability, tire wear, and how the car tracks in general.

When adjusting the rear wheels, the best way to dial in your settings precisely is to loosen both the camber and toe adjusters and move them in opposite directions, tighten the toe adjuster then set your camber by only adjusting the camber adjuster, and make sure to over tighten the adjusters to like 70ft lbs.

For the front there's really zero excuse for that, you have one wheel pointing in and another pointing out so of course your steering wheel will be crooked, and your front camber is off. I don't even think they touched the adjuster. I would demand my money back because it seems to me like they did a toe and go and charged you for a full 4 wheel alignment.