vkwagon

1. Problem first started on 3/12/24 when rear tires were completely bald after approx.. 3,000 miles. Only noticed after returning from south Florida at 70mph in the rain (God was my co-pilot).
2. 3/12/24 Tires were replaced and alignment done by Hughes Honda. Had 2 independent alignment checks on 3/20/24 and both showed vehicle was not aligned. Returned to Hughes Honda for yet another alignment.
3. 3/21/24 had alignment performed at Raffield Tire, alignment showed it was not aligned form previous day alignment at Hughes Honda.

1. Jason Foster (hunter Eng. Rep.) was at Hughes Honda on 3/21/24 and I showed him all my documentation and he proceed to try and align the vehicle. After nearly 3 hours and numerous alignment adjustments he said he thinks he has it (didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling). Jason then said that the Hunter alignment equipment is not compatible with the wheel due to protrusions on the spokes of the wheel and this was a Honda problem. Jason then said the resolution may be spacers or alignment equipment which attaches to wheel and not the tire.
2. On 4/17/24 I took the car to Walsh Honda and Mr. William Sawyer (Service Manager) was good enough to put my vehicle on alignment rack. He said he could not do an alignment with the present day Hunter alignment equipment because read-outs were jumping all over the place.. He used the older equipment which attaches to the wheel and was able to align the vehicle. He was grateful I had brought this problem to his attention.

I’m just hoping that someone comes up with a solution before someone is seriously injured or killed. My wife is afraid to drive the vehicle on the expressway.

This is our 2nd CRV and have been very happy with the vehicles except for above listed problems.

Copy of alignments attached

ThisIsMatt

Interesting fact: The wheels on a vehicle make no difference as far as the alignment goes. This may seem counter-intuitive at first given that the wheels are the devices that connect the tires to the vehicle, and also the point where you take your measurement, but if you align a vehicle and then swap wheels, the alignment doesn't change. I used to wrench at a Buick/GMC dealership back in the 2005 timeframe, and people loved putting big, stupid, expensive wheels on their Yukons. To keep from potentially marring a very expensive wheel during an alignment, we'd throw a set of stock wheels and tires on prior to the alignment, line up the vehicle, and then throw the goofy hoops back on when it was done. The vehicle didn't know the difference. You had to make sure the tire pressures were accurate for the particular vehicle you were aligning, but that's a step you'd take at the beginning of any alignment.

I mention this because you state the Hunter tech said the alignment heads aren't compatible with the factory rims on your CR-V. While I find this a little hard to believe, I suppose it's possible. It doesn't preclude the Honda dealership from grabbing a set of steelies or something off another vehicle in the shop and completing the alignment though. Hell, given that the vehicle is so new that it's currently for sale, they could pull a CR-V in off the lot with a different wheel package and make the swap. Based on the alignment result you attached it looks like things are in good shape now, but bank on getting an alignment with each complete tire replacement in the future.

vkwagon

The wheels on this vehicle do make a difference because they are not compatible with the alignment equipment which has been proven by 2 Honda dealers, 3 independent alignment shops and Hunter Rep.
the rest of you're comments I agree with and I have mentioned using other wheels to do the alignment. After they stopped laughing they said it was to much work and do I expect them to do that with every crv sport hybrid.
I gave them a simple solution. Provide a disc with large enough diameter to cover and sit on the protrutions on the wheel spokes. Then attach alignment machine and the head of the machine would have a flat surface to sit on - seems foolproof.
​​​​​​​Does this sound feasible?

ThisIsMatt

Ok, I suppose I should've clarified that I mean the wheels don't make a difference in the measurement/adjustment process. Obviously, if there is a spatial conflict with the alignment heads, then they make a difference in the grand scheme.

I see what you mean about affixing a disc to the wheel face, onto which you'd mount the alignment heads. I'd be curious to see if mounting the heads away from the wheel face by the thickness of the disk would make a difference during the caster sweep. This would be kind of like moving the rim offset outwards (lower back spacing), which would change the scrub radius. It would still measure toe and camber correctly.

Quite honestly, once you go through the trouble of creating and attaching these offset disks, it probably would've been easier to just swap on a different set of wheels. Regardless, this is something that Honda dealers everywhere will need to address because they don't have the luxury of turning away Honda customers for any type of service. There's a general understanding with the consumer that the dealer represents the manufacturer, and the manufacturer is required to support the dealer in all fixes and repairs for the vehicles that they design.

chidog

Tires and wheels don't matter?
I would say true if.
The radial planar distance on the axle is known, some wheels that stick out so far they are going to offset the inclination angle.
I suppose to arrive at the measurements it doesn't matter but the sticky outty rims will not be using a correct alignment, if the dimensions aren't tailored to them.