Wheel alignment is a dying art. One of the most fundamental aspects of tuning, it is also one of the most overlooked. It's a little ironic, considering the mountains of cash many of us are willing to fork over for the best suspension components we can get our hands on. But all those fancy dampers, springs, anti-roll bars and so on, are worthless unless they're pointed in the correct direction. At best, a bad alignment will cause premature wear on your tires; and at worst, it will put you into a wall or a telephone poll when you least expect it.
So what are your options when it comes time to get your wheels pointed in the right direction? The most obvious answer is to take it to the local tire/alignment shop. Expect to pay around $70 for a four-wheel alignment at the local chain stores. While this type of alignment is probably OK for a car that is destined solely to shuttle Poodles to and from the doggie groomer; a car with any suspension mods (or even a stocker that is occasionally driven in anger) has no place on top of that slut of an alignment rack.
There are two major problems with most chain-store alignments. The first is that their racks are notoriously inaccurate. The inaccuracy is the result of one-part overly loose tolerances in order to perform the alignment as quickly as possible and maximize profits, combined with one-part low-paid-employee apathy. Mix in a dash of wonky equipment, and you've got a recipe for wildly varying workmanship. Another problem is that because such loose specs are programmed into the alignment rack's computer, most of the time you cannot get custom specs. But hey, what'd you expect for 70 bucks?
A much better option is to take your car to a race shop that specializes in alignments. These shops will be able to not only align your car, but also do it to the specs that best suit your car and driving style. There are a couple of downsides though. The first is the cost. Expect to pay around $250 for these pros to align and bless your suspension's geometry. The other problem is access. If you're lucky enough to find a reputable shop, you might have to wait over a month for them to pencil you in. Hey, like we said, it's a dying art.