Alignment?

The printout doesn't say a whole lot, from those numbers, the alignment is probably fine, or at least in range, other than the slightly negative toe on the drivers side front for some reason.

One of the best indicators of how well a vehicle is aligned is the tires themselves. The wear pattern on the old tires before they are changed out can tell you if something needs to be adjusted to prevent the same wear pattern from developing on the new tires. Tire wear patterns can also indicate problems an alignment cannot, such as worn shocks or other suspension issues, or the need for higher/lower tire pressures.

You can get an alignment, but from the looks of that sheet, if they want money for the alignment (usually anywhere from $50-100+) they are just going to be charging you the full amount to possibly adjust the toe on the drivers front.

Why did they check the alignment with new tires but not do anything else? If they offer a free alignment check, you might be better off just getting under there with a wrench and adjusting the toe yourself, once you learn how to do it, and then going back to the shop for free alignment checks to see the results.

Also keep in mind that the loads a vehicle has, including the weight of the driver, any passengers, cargo, fuel, etc. causes the alignment to change, especially on a vehicle with 4-wheel independent suspension. It can often be best to leave a vehicle's alignment at factory-neutral settings, and simply try to keep the weight distribution in check, by putting heavy things on the passenger side to compensate for the weight when just the driver is in the vehicle, for instance.

Alignment places make a lot of money, and people spend a lot of money on new tires, when the only "issue" is that of constantly changing the alignment to "compensate" for the constantly changing alignment based on anything from how much fuel is in the vehicle to how it's loaded and how many passengers it has in it.

My view is it's best to either stick with factory-neutral settings if there are no alignment issues, or get a REAL alignment, which means getting the vehicle aligned with 1/2-3/4 tank of gas, with the normal cargo load it usually carries, and the driver in the vehicle. Most places won't do this, so it's often best to just leave the alignment settings alone unless there's a problem, or unless you find a place that's willing to do the minor adjustments for free or at a small fee, not paying them for a full alignment just to spend two minutes making the most minor of adjustments.

Really, it would have been worth their while to just tweak the toe settings for you without a charge, if they already had it on the alignment rack and were checking the alignment specs. That would have been some great customer service - "We did a free alignment check, and the aligment was off just a tiny bit so we put it back in spec for you - you won't need a full alignment."

Thank you for the info. I would have had them just do the alignment but I have a bad ball joint.

Get the ball joint and any other issues fixed first, then re-check the alignment before paying for one, as that may fix any amount the alignment is off, especially if the bad ball joint is on the front drivers side.

The busted ball joint is the upper passenger. I am also going to get 4 new strut assemblies.

Got my alignment done today at STS. Here is the post sheet.