64drvr

Hi there,
I'm seriously interested in being able to do my own alignments, especially since our commuter car has burned through 2 sets of tires at lightning speed after an "in spec alignment" at a local reputable shop.
I saw a commercial for this:
http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/s...tercamber-kit/

http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/s...-wheels-wcase/


Another option, much cheaper:
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/c.../photo_22.html


3 diy alignments would pay itself off with this system.

What say ye opinions?

BEZ06

You don't even need to buy that camber gauge.

If you have a good level and a ruler, you can be in the alignment business!!

Takea look at forum member David Farmer's DIY alignment guide:

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1634366/align.pdf


I have a bubble level like in David's guide, but my digital level works great and is very accurate, and it also has the laser pointer to check thrust angle:




So.....you can DIY alignments with just basic tools!
Bob

larryfs

I did my toe with that quick trick tool. Mounting it to the tire requires some bungees. I used it on my SUV, and it was accurate enough to stop my front tires from feathering.

I haven't gotten into caster camber yet.

But it was worth it to stop my SUV tires from feathering.

Falcon

You can also check your camber with a smartphone by using a free "bubble" app.

JDIllon

That does look like a pretty nice setup? But like BEZ06 said you can do the same thing with a a sears digital level and 2 straight edges and follow Dave's directions. It works great for $50.00 to $60.00 You call contact if I can be of help. JD

McMung

Getting toe correct on all four corners really needs some time spent finding centerline of vehicle and using that as a reference.

I used one of these to find the center of vehicle, and then mark a perpendicular line at the mid point of the car, which I then use the same laser to reference, sitting on each side of the car and this produces a line next to the wheels/hubs that is parallel with the centerline of the car.

http://www.plslaser.com/line-lasers/pls-hvl100

EDIT: BTW for those of you with C6's, you will find two things that help tremendously in finding centerline: 1) The crank bolt is exactly on the centerline, 2) there is a mark on the front cradle that designates centerline. This can be confirmed by cross-measuring from symmetrical features at the control arm mount points and by sighting the line (very easy with a laser) down the center of the exhaust tunnel.


Works really well. Then really the only thing you absolutely need is a way to level the car accurately. Hey guess what... the same laser can be used for that task... shim up the tires with tiles or whatnot.

Go with trash bags and some grease for slip plates so you can properly measure camber.

I went further and picked up some hubstands, scales, and leveling pads, which is super nice to have unimpeded access to the tie rods and camber shims, and totally repeatable slip, but not mandatory if you have time to spend.

http://hubstands.com/
http://www.intercomp-racing.com/Prod...SYSTEM_905.cfm <-- cost effective if you are looking to buy scales and already have a laptop
http://www.intercomp-racing.com/Prod..._GAUGE_806.cfm <-- IMHO this is about a thousand times better than the "Smart Camber" gauge going around, for the same money. Made in the USA also.

I have found (hence my prior post) that my caster measured directly off the front calipers is within 0.1 degree of the caster I'm calculating by doing a 20 degree left/right turn measurement... so that's also an option if you aren't PARANOID about 0.1 or so degrees caster here and there (it's not THAT critical on late cars... I'm running 8.5 left and right.)

McMung

The budget approach always sounds great, but I'll wager ANYONE who successfully:

Corner weights
Corner balances
Sets Camber
Sets Caster
Sets Toe
Rechecks the aforementioned

Using nothing but a jack, a $50 level, strings, and a ruler, will at the end of a very long weekend be happy to spend $1-2k on the right tools to make the whole affair much much quicker and easier.

froggy47

I have a video on my YT channel on how to do it. See below in sig.

davidfarmer

the only tool that makes it all go better AND is worth the investment....is a 4-post lift!!!!!! Aligning/balancing on the ground is a PITA.

Glad my new shop will be up in a few weeks!!!!!!!

fatbillybob

I do this all the time as a racer. Once you have done it a few times it goes quicker but still take a long time. And to be fair I do have a twin post lift that makes the job bareable. The real problem with paying someone with the right tools is that they rarely do the job right. No floor is ever built to be flat for these jobs yet to this day I have never seen an alignment shop floor shimmed for scales. When was the last time the alignment computer was calibrated? I mount my own tires and before I balance a set I always calibrate my spin balance machine. Have any of you ever had your tires balanced and the tire monkey calibrated the machine first? I bet never. Strings and a laser level and a few rulers and a bucket of water are pretty hard to screw up. There are a lot of advantages to basic tools where there is no substitute for using one's brain.

JDIllon

OK!!! You keep spending the 1 or 2K on " the right tools" !! I'll keep doing it Dave's way. A little time and effort and it is dead nuts!! And I do all of those things on my 4 post lift. Also if you read Dave's instructions, you don't need to find the center line of the car to make sure that everything is square to the center line. By the way you don't need any strings!!! And I have had my seting checked several times and they are right on. JD

McMung

I think we're saying the same thing... I'd rather buy a few good tools that a) make the whole process a lot easier and -- more importantly -- repeatable, and b) allow me to do the whole thing myself and not depend upon uncontrollable variables.

We can all likely come to an agreement that a lift is the single most useful "tool" to help this work along (I can see how a 4 post would make toe changes trivial even with the tires on. I've been using a 2 post to unload the suspension for camber changes and obviously get the car up and down from pads+scales.)

64drvr

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'll give the long economical method a shot and report back, hopefully in the more distant future if the next set of tires lasts appropriately.