kmagvette

I finally am tired of dumping cash into alignments, not knowing if they were done right, and wasting time waiting. I was looking at various tools to do able to do things accurately.

I stumbled upon "joesracing" products (has a website with www and com surrounding it). They offer billet toe plates as well as a tool for measuring caster and camber. Are these tools (or similar) accurate assuming they are used properly?

Given the funds I part with having the work done elsewhere, I don't mind spending some cash for decent tools as long as they work. In your experience, what tools work well? Any opinions on JoesRacing stuff?

Also, does the car have to be on a dead level surface or is you average garage floor good enough?

Thanks

gkmccready

I love my SmartCamber gauge. Super easy to use. I've been using the HardbarUSA toe-plates. I level the car with thin floor tiles from Home Depot on my driveway. There're a tonne of ways to skin this cat, though...

BrianCunningham

Gary (Hardbar) sells the JoesRacing stuff.

burners

All you need is a caster/camber gauge, a tape measure, 4 jack stands and some string. I use a gauge from Speedway but Longacre makes a nice one that measures caster easier (it wasn't available when I bought mine).

Longacre racing http://www.longacreracing.com/catalo...d=1221&catid=5


Turn plates a nice to have but not necessary. I don't think toe plates are really needed.
It's all pretty straight forward. I haven't paid for an alignment in 10 years.

Bill Dearborn

You don't need to be on a level surface from a fore aft stand point but you should be on one from side to side. It is easy to set up 4 points on your floor where the car will be level from side to side. Get yourself a 6 ft level or equivalent leveling device and a couple of small blocks to sit it on (1in x1in x1in). Then place the blocks on the floor where you want the front wheels located and set the level on them. To get the spot level use sheets of masonite cut up into one ft squares to fit under the block/blocks. The masonite is about an 1/8 in thick so just add as many as you need to get a level spot. Do the same for the rear and then spray paint around the masonite sheets to outline their location on the floor. Then all you have to do is put the number of sheets you need in each square on the floor and drive the car straight onto them and you are ready to do an alignment. Just remember every time you make an adjustment you will have to jack up the car and that means you need to drive the car around the block to settle the suspension before making anymore measurements. When I used to do this with my 97 it would take about 3 hours to do the car due to all the moving and resetting of equipment.

You can get a cheap camber/caster gauge (simpler than the ones shown on Joe's site) from a circle track supply shop for less than $100. Mine cost me about $40 10 years ago. Toe plates can be put together from stuff you have around the house or you can buy some. You will need to have some way to turn the front wheels easily so you can check caster. I made turn plates by using two pieces of masonite with some lubricant between them as part of my front end leveling setup. That way the tires don't restrict the motion of the wheels as you turn them from side to side. If you plan on setting the rear alignment you will have to string the car so you can make sure the rear toe is equal from side to side or the car will dog walk.

Bill

drivinhard

I use Gary's (Hardbar) hub mount toe plates. A $50 Craftsman digital level (for camber, and the laser for thrust). I have a set of regular "tire" toe plates from Longacre (good for a final check after you drive/settle the car), I use the tapes included with the Longacre plates on the hardbar plates. 4 jackstands. Works well and you can be really accurate. Helps to have a 2nd pair of hands.



I would like to try that longacre camber/caster bubble gauge sometime.

gkmccready

burners, can you point to a description of how to setup the strings?

burners

This guy spent a lot of time typing all this out and it is a very good description.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1093484

BrianCunningham

For C4's
http://www.vettenet.org/align.html

davidfarmer

I prefer to have the wheels on the ground, so that I can roll it to settle everything. A drive-on lift is best of course.

http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/align.pdf

davidfarmer

btw, education and practice are much more important than the tools....you can do a good alignment with nothing more than a tape measure, a straight edge, and a level!

drivinhard

I mentioned about getting a drive on 4 post next to the 2 post, wife was not as excited about it as I was

davidfarmer

a real enthusiast REALLY DOES need 2 lifts! 1 for engine/drivetrain work, and one for suspension setup!

kmagvette

Great responses, thanks. I looked into getting a lift as well. Apparently a basic 4 post lift will set me back about $45K according to my wife. According to her, the only reason we need a lift is if we have to stack toy cars. Since I have one, the next is hers.

Yep, the Z is up on jack stands again.