Hunter alignment
Nov 25, 2012, 08:00 PM
#1
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
Hunter alignment
Recently backed into in a gas station. Got an alignment at a good tire shop on a hunter dsp600 i believe. How accurate is this machine and if i had damage to my unibody would this show?? My back left wheel was off and was corrected. The alignment guy seemed really smart and was the first person not to stall my car, had throw that in there. If my car was succesfully 4 wheel aligned does this mean everything is in spec body/suspension? Would the guy be able to tell?? Im pretty sure he said no suspension parts were bent i just want to make sure nothing could have been tweaked. Car tracks straight on good roads and thr back wheels follow the front wheels. Just want to make sure nothing was overlooked, i also took a bunch of measurements from the strut towers everythings symetrical
Last edited by deadstockkpomp; Nov 26, 2012 at 08:32 AM.
Nov 26, 2012, 08:01 AM
#4
Evolved Member
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: cocoa, FL / Madison, WI
Posts: 537
Likes: 0
Received 8 Likes
on
6 Posts
The hunter 600dsp is one of the industry standards. The heads do not need to be calibrated, and the machine itself doesn't need to be calibrated often because there is nothing moving in the system. Due to this, it's considered one of the most accurate production alignment machines there is.
There are two types of alignments, a "In the green" alignment, and a numbers matching (aka, precision, aka race) alignment.
the "in the green" alignment is done by 95% of the alignment shops, and is good enough for 95% of the cars on the road as their suspension/tires are not as sensitive to alignment parameters. This means that if the car is supposed to have (made up numbers here) 1.0 degree toe in, that anywhere from .5 to 1.5 toe is allowable on each side. You will be close, but not EXACTLY THERE. The tech just makes adjustments till everything is "in the green" on their screen.
A numbers matching alignment takes far more time. because as you change one setting, others are affected, so they are constantly making adjustments on the car to make sure everything is as close to the proper settings as possible. some race shops even ask your weight so they can put the equivalent in sand bags in the driver's seat so that your caster/camber/ride height is set when the car is being operated
Now, if your car has a worn suspension, and there is compliance in your bushings and so forth, and your tires are old, or you have a higher sidewall (45 series and up), the less important a numbers matching alignment becomes, because all of that slop is going to negate the precision settings.
Speaking of which... When your tires are not rotated properly, and regularly, the wear of the tires from each corner will affect the way your car handles, so even if you have a proper alignment done, your car can track to the side and other issues...
Now the great thing about alignment shops these days is that nearly all of them will give you a print out (you may have to ask for it) showing what the before and after alignment specs were. This way you can see what was done to your car.
As for if there is unibody/suspension damage....
An alignment can show this... IF the body/suspension was damaged to a point where it cannot be aligned anymore... The whole point of an alignment is to allow for the variation in specs of suspension/body components, as even when brand new, nothing is perfect. If the car can be aligned, then there was not enough damage done to the car to affect suspension.
Now to the rest of the story... I followed your initial thread, and I know the type of person you are... and I HATED customers like you. You will NEVER be happy, you will NEVER be satisfied, and even if God himself came down from the heavens and blessed your car saying it was better than new, you would KNOW in your heart of hearts, that something is still wrong with your car... So you would constantly be taking your car back to the shop/shops. We put your name/number in our system with a note saying "NOT WORTH IT" so that when you called/came in for an appointment, we would say we couldn't fit you in for 2-3 weeks, so you would take your business elsewhere.
The damage done to your car, and how light a hit done to your car, and the angle in which your car was hit would do NO/NONE/ZERO damage to your suspension, or the structure of your car. Driving over a speed bump put more stress on your car/suspension than that light tap to your tire.
The reality of the situation is this... there might be something insignificantly off on your car... I am betting IF ANYTHING, it's that your tires are worn unevenly (EXTREMELY COMMON), and that it was there before. However you didn't notice it because the wear came on slowly, and your perception of "normal" changed with the wear. If it's not the tires, than you are noticing the pull of the suspension due to the crown of the road (with the evo's tight suspension, it pulls away from the high point of the road more than trucks or typical passenger vehicles). Then when you got into your extremely minor fender bender, you became hyper vigilant to your car, and feel every little twitch, or every little pull in the road.
RELAX.. I have seen like 50 people tell you that everything is fine. I have also seen like 20 people say (tongue in cheek) "dude your car will NEVER be the same, you need to sell it" because they realized the kind of person you are, and it's fun to screw with people like you.
When people tell you it's fine, you keep bumping the threads, because you are holding out for the glimmer of hope that someone is going to tell you something to justify your feelings that something is majorly wrong with your car... Well nothing is wrong with your car... It's been repaired, and if it's been aligned by a shop as good as you say, the alignment is good. Enjoy your car, stop being afraid to drive it. It's not a McLaren, it's not some collector car that needs to be perfect and kept in a glass garage. It's a performance car designed to be driven! Go out and beat on your car and enjoy it!
There are two types of alignments, a "In the green" alignment, and a numbers matching (aka, precision, aka race) alignment.
the "in the green" alignment is done by 95% of the alignment shops, and is good enough for 95% of the cars on the road as their suspension/tires are not as sensitive to alignment parameters. This means that if the car is supposed to have (made up numbers here) 1.0 degree toe in, that anywhere from .5 to 1.5 toe is allowable on each side. You will be close, but not EXACTLY THERE. The tech just makes adjustments till everything is "in the green" on their screen.
A numbers matching alignment takes far more time. because as you change one setting, others are affected, so they are constantly making adjustments on the car to make sure everything is as close to the proper settings as possible. some race shops even ask your weight so they can put the equivalent in sand bags in the driver's seat so that your caster/camber/ride height is set when the car is being operated
Now, if your car has a worn suspension, and there is compliance in your bushings and so forth, and your tires are old, or you have a higher sidewall (45 series and up), the less important a numbers matching alignment becomes, because all of that slop is going to negate the precision settings.
Speaking of which... When your tires are not rotated properly, and regularly, the wear of the tires from each corner will affect the way your car handles, so even if you have a proper alignment done, your car can track to the side and other issues...
Now the great thing about alignment shops these days is that nearly all of them will give you a print out (you may have to ask for it) showing what the before and after alignment specs were. This way you can see what was done to your car.
As for if there is unibody/suspension damage....
An alignment can show this... IF the body/suspension was damaged to a point where it cannot be aligned anymore... The whole point of an alignment is to allow for the variation in specs of suspension/body components, as even when brand new, nothing is perfect. If the car can be aligned, then there was not enough damage done to the car to affect suspension.
Now to the rest of the story... I followed your initial thread, and I know the type of person you are... and I HATED customers like you. You will NEVER be happy, you will NEVER be satisfied, and even if God himself came down from the heavens and blessed your car saying it was better than new, you would KNOW in your heart of hearts, that something is still wrong with your car... So you would constantly be taking your car back to the shop/shops. We put your name/number in our system with a note saying "NOT WORTH IT" so that when you called/came in for an appointment, we would say we couldn't fit you in for 2-3 weeks, so you would take your business elsewhere.
The damage done to your car, and how light a hit done to your car, and the angle in which your car was hit would do NO/NONE/ZERO damage to your suspension, or the structure of your car. Driving over a speed bump put more stress on your car/suspension than that light tap to your tire.
The reality of the situation is this... there might be something insignificantly off on your car... I am betting IF ANYTHING, it's that your tires are worn unevenly (EXTREMELY COMMON), and that it was there before. However you didn't notice it because the wear came on slowly, and your perception of "normal" changed with the wear. If it's not the tires, than you are noticing the pull of the suspension due to the crown of the road (with the evo's tight suspension, it pulls away from the high point of the road more than trucks or typical passenger vehicles). Then when you got into your extremely minor fender bender, you became hyper vigilant to your car, and feel every little twitch, or every little pull in the road.
RELAX.. I have seen like 50 people tell you that everything is fine. I have also seen like 20 people say (tongue in cheek) "dude your car will NEVER be the same, you need to sell it" because they realized the kind of person you are, and it's fun to screw with people like you.
When people tell you it's fine, you keep bumping the threads, because you are holding out for the glimmer of hope that someone is going to tell you something to justify your feelings that something is majorly wrong with your car... Well nothing is wrong with your car... It's been repaired, and if it's been aligned by a shop as good as you say, the alignment is good. Enjoy your car, stop being afraid to drive it. It's not a McLaren, it's not some collector car that needs to be perfect and kept in a glass garage. It's a performance car designed to be driven! Go out and beat on your car and enjoy it!
Last edited by hatesposers; Nov 26, 2012 at 08:06 AM.
Nov 26, 2012, 08:38 AM
#5
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
The hunter 600dsp is one of the industry standards. The heads do not need to be calibrated, and the machine itself doesn't need to be calibrated often because there is nothing moving in the system. Due to this, it's considered one of the most accurate production alignment machines there is.
There are two types of alignments, a "In the green" alignment, and a numbers matching (aka, precision, aka race) alignment.
the "in the green" alignment is done by 95% of the alignment shops, and is good enough for 95% of the cars on the road as their suspension/tires are not as sensitive to alignment parameters. This means that if the car is supposed to have (made up numbers here) 1.0 degree toe in, that anywhere from .5 to 1.5 toe is allowable on each side. You will be close, but not EXACTLY THERE. The tech just makes adjustments till everything is "in the green" on their screen.
A numbers matching alignment takes far more time. because as you change one setting, others are affected, so they are constantly making adjustments on the car to make sure everything is as close to the proper settings as possible. some race shops even ask your weight so they can put the equivalent in sand bags in the driver's seat so that your caster/camber/ride height is set when the car is being operated
Now, if your car has a worn suspension, and there is compliance in your bushings and so forth, and your tires are old, or you have a higher sidewall (45 series and up), the less important a numbers matching alignment becomes, because all of that slop is going to negate the precision settings.
Speaking of which... When your tires are not rotated properly, and regularly, the wear of the tires from each corner will affect the way your car handles, so even if you have a proper alignment done, your car can track to the side and other issues...
Now the great thing about alignment shops these days is that nearly all of them will give you a print out (you may have to ask for it) showing what the before and after alignment specs were. This way you can see what was done to your car.
As for if there is unibody/suspension damage....
An alignment can show this... IF the body/suspension was damaged to a point where it cannot be aligned anymore... The whole point of an alignment is to allow for the variation in specs of suspension/body components, as even when brand new, nothing is perfect. If the car can be aligned, then there was not enough damage done to the car to affect suspension.
Now to the rest of the story... I followed your initial thread, and I know the type of person you are... and I HATED customers like you. You will NEVER be happy, you will NEVER be satisfied, and even if God himself came down from the heavens and blessed your car saying it was better than new, you would KNOW in your heart of hearts, that something is still wrong with your car... So you would constantly be taking your car back to the shop/shops. We put your name/number in our system with a note saying "NOT WORTH IT" so that when you called/came in for an appointment, we would say we couldn't fit you in for 2-3 weeks, so you would take your business elsewhere.
The damage done to your car, and how light a hit done to your car, and the angle in which your car was hit would do NO/NONE/ZERO damage to your suspension, or the structure of your car. Driving over a speed bump put more stress on your car/suspension than that light tap to your tire.
The reality of the situation is this... there might be something insignificantly off on your car... I am betting IF ANYTHING, it's that your tires are worn unevenly (EXTREMELY COMMON), and that it was there before. However you didn't notice it because the wear came on slowly, and your perception of "normal" changed with the wear. If it's not the tires, than you are noticing the pull of the suspension due to the crown of the road (with the evo's tight suspension, it pulls away from the high point of the road more than trucks or typical passenger vehicles). Then when you got into your extremely minor fender bender, you became hyper vigilant to your car, and feel every little twitch, or every little pull in the road.
RELAX.. I have seen like 50 people tell you that everything is fine. I have also seen like 20 people say (tongue in cheek) "dude your car will NEVER be the same, you need to sell it" because they realized the kind of person you are, and it's fun to screw with people like you.
When people tell you it's fine, you keep bumping the threads, because you are holding out for the glimmer of hope that someone is going to tell you something to justify your feelings that something is majorly wrong with your car... Well nothing is wrong with your car... It's been repaired, and if it's been aligned by a shop as good as you say, the alignment is good. Enjoy your car, stop being afraid to drive it. It's not a McLaren, it's not some collector car that needs to be perfect and kept in a glass garage. It's a performance car designed to be driven! Go out and beat on your car and enjoy it!
There are two types of alignments, a "In the green" alignment, and a numbers matching (aka, precision, aka race) alignment.
the "in the green" alignment is done by 95% of the alignment shops, and is good enough for 95% of the cars on the road as their suspension/tires are not as sensitive to alignment parameters. This means that if the car is supposed to have (made up numbers here) 1.0 degree toe in, that anywhere from .5 to 1.5 toe is allowable on each side. You will be close, but not EXACTLY THERE. The tech just makes adjustments till everything is "in the green" on their screen.
A numbers matching alignment takes far more time. because as you change one setting, others are affected, so they are constantly making adjustments on the car to make sure everything is as close to the proper settings as possible. some race shops even ask your weight so they can put the equivalent in sand bags in the driver's seat so that your caster/camber/ride height is set when the car is being operated
Now, if your car has a worn suspension, and there is compliance in your bushings and so forth, and your tires are old, or you have a higher sidewall (45 series and up), the less important a numbers matching alignment becomes, because all of that slop is going to negate the precision settings.
Speaking of which... When your tires are not rotated properly, and regularly, the wear of the tires from each corner will affect the way your car handles, so even if you have a proper alignment done, your car can track to the side and other issues...
Now the great thing about alignment shops these days is that nearly all of them will give you a print out (you may have to ask for it) showing what the before and after alignment specs were. This way you can see what was done to your car.
As for if there is unibody/suspension damage....
An alignment can show this... IF the body/suspension was damaged to a point where it cannot be aligned anymore... The whole point of an alignment is to allow for the variation in specs of suspension/body components, as even when brand new, nothing is perfect. If the car can be aligned, then there was not enough damage done to the car to affect suspension.
Now to the rest of the story... I followed your initial thread, and I know the type of person you are... and I HATED customers like you. You will NEVER be happy, you will NEVER be satisfied, and even if God himself came down from the heavens and blessed your car saying it was better than new, you would KNOW in your heart of hearts, that something is still wrong with your car... So you would constantly be taking your car back to the shop/shops. We put your name/number in our system with a note saying "NOT WORTH IT" so that when you called/came in for an appointment, we would say we couldn't fit you in for 2-3 weeks, so you would take your business elsewhere.
The damage done to your car, and how light a hit done to your car, and the angle in which your car was hit would do NO/NONE/ZERO damage to your suspension, or the structure of your car. Driving over a speed bump put more stress on your car/suspension than that light tap to your tire.
The reality of the situation is this... there might be something insignificantly off on your car... I am betting IF ANYTHING, it's that your tires are worn unevenly (EXTREMELY COMMON), and that it was there before. However you didn't notice it because the wear came on slowly, and your perception of "normal" changed with the wear. If it's not the tires, than you are noticing the pull of the suspension due to the crown of the road (with the evo's tight suspension, it pulls away from the high point of the road more than trucks or typical passenger vehicles). Then when you got into your extremely minor fender bender, you became hyper vigilant to your car, and feel every little twitch, or every little pull in the road.
RELAX.. I have seen like 50 people tell you that everything is fine. I have also seen like 20 people say (tongue in cheek) "dude your car will NEVER be the same, you need to sell it" because they realized the kind of person you are, and it's fun to screw with people like you.
When people tell you it's fine, you keep bumping the threads, because you are holding out for the glimmer of hope that someone is going to tell you something to justify your feelings that something is majorly wrong with your car... Well nothing is wrong with your car... It's been repaired, and if it's been aligned by a shop as good as you say, the alignment is good. Enjoy your car, stop being afraid to drive it. It's not a McLaren, it's not some collector car that needs to be perfect and kept in a glass garage. It's a performance car designed to be driven! Go out and beat on your car and enjoy it!
Last edited by deadstockkpomp; Nov 26, 2012 at 08:46 AM.
Nov 27, 2012, 04:34 PM
#7
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
So the alignment guy would obviously tell me if he couldent get into the green, and if its in the green the cars in spec all around?.... So im good?!?! Lmao
Last edited by deadstockkpomp; Nov 27, 2012 at 07:16 PM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
FS[West]: 2004 Evo Track Car #FakeRaceCar Caged
GTABurnout
For Sale - Cars For Sale
4
May 2, 2017 09:04 AM
OX
Evo Tires / Wheels / Brakes / Suspension
3
Feb 28, 2017 06:32 AM
elim0
Evo General
16
Oct 21, 2015 04:25 AM