Olitho

To All You Track Addicts for Whom this May Concern:

This weekend I had my first chance to use the new Hardbar alignment tool for adjusting "toe" and "thrust angle." For those of you not familiar with what I am talking about, you can go to this link to get the full update:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1459397

I was running at Willow Springs International Raceway this weekend. It was very hot as to be expected. During the first three sessions of the day I was not real happy with my lap times. The car seemed to be working OK, but not great.

I got all of my stuff set-up before the third session to check my alignment. I ran my third session and came in and parked next to my trailer. I had a quick lunch and then threw the car up on four stands mounted underneath the ball joints per Hardbar's Gary Hoffman's recomendations.

I yanked off all four wheels with my cordless impact driver from Harbor Freight. Ten minutes into the task I am snugging down the Hardbar alignment tool onto the front hubs and sliding my tape measures from Home Depot underneath the car. I got the Workforce branded "Color Rules" model tape measure because it has very clearly delineated 1/16" tick marks. A quick and completely unambiguous check of my front toe shows me that instead of having a 1/16" toe out like I want, it was at a 1/8" toe in. Not a big deal, but being that I adjusted it myself a month ago with strings (which always seems to take a vast amount of time and ticks me off in the frustrating process), I obviously screwed up. Like I said, doing it with strings in my opinion is error prone when I am in a hurry let alone being methodical. Everything must be lined up perfectly when using strings, jackstands, rulers, etc.

I learned a while back not to trust the laser alignment services. Those alignments are only as good as the technician doing the job and highly dependent upon how well and how long ago the machine was last calibrated. My experience has been you can go to three different laser aligners and get three vastly different measurements.

I then went to check the toe in setting on the rear. Instead of being set at a 1/4" toe in it was just over a 1/2" toe in. Maybe that would not have been so bad for a slower autocross session, but for a 100 MPH average track like WSIR, that was an awful lot. That probably would also explain why one of my rear tires was showing a temperature reading of over 208 degrees even after a cool down lap.

A quick fix of the adjustment there and my car is coming back down off of the jacks. Even though I was using the alignment tool for the first time, I bet I had the whole job done in about 30 minutes which left me plenty of time to sit back and relax for 30 minutes and load up on liquids before my next session. This alignment tool is fast and very intuitive to use even for an impatient and phobic user like me.

I went back out on the track the next session and even in the heat of the afternoon I bettered my previous lap times for the day by 1.5 seconds. I did not set a new personal best as it was very very hot at 108 degrees. I bet if I had done this alignment earlier in the day I probably would have set a new personal best.

I could not find my laser level tool so I did not check the thrust angle on the car. So when I got home from the track I threw the car back up on the jacks and got a plumb bob out (from you guessed it, Home Depot) and made the chock marks on the driveway right below each hub. I then put the laser leveler onto the alignment tool and shot the beam from the rear of the car down next to the chock marks below the front hubs. There was a 1.5" variance between the chock marks. No problem, just a few minor twists of the wrench and a quick check to make sure I am still at 1/4" toe in and she is good to go.

I was a bit shocked by my front thrust angle. I shot the beam to the chock marks below the hubs at the back of the car and I had almost a 2 1/4" variance. I few turns there, double check to see that the steering wheel is centered, check the toe out again and now the front is good to go. I am not sure how much being off on thrust angle will affect my lap times and handling, but it feels good to have it all squared away.

I am recording a couple of numbers that should tell me quickly if my car is all set-up the way I like. With the front set at 1/16" toe-out, the laser beam is 1 1/8" outside of each chock mark on the rear of the car. For the rear setting at 1/4" toe-in, the beam hits at 5/8" outside the chock marks on the front.

I am back out at Streets of Willow Springs next Friday. I am trying to set a new personal best out on that track. I hope to do so. I will keep you all posted.

I hope you find this write-up helpful. Let me know what you think.


Fastest regards,

Olitho

ghoffman

I am happy it worked so well for you. Please make sure you put a tire/wheel under the car on each side for safety just in case (whenever you lift the car)!