Is there any info out here on doing a 4 wheel alignment yourself...?
I remember seeing information on the forum from time to time, but after a search I came up with nothing.
Thanks

 

Some guys are comfortable with doing the alignment at home. I gave it a shot, trying to align the rear, after I put on new trailing arms. That lasted about 2 hours. I have AAA; I called and had a roll-off wrecker tow it to the shop.

 

I gave up on shops doing my alignment after a couple screwed it up, including a GM dealership.

I use a camber/caster gauge, toe measuring plates with 2 tape measures, 8 steel plates ground smooth to put under the wheels so they move easy, and some fine string mounted to some uprights (I've used jack stands before). Here's basically how I do mine.

1 - Put the car on the steel plates. Two per wheel with oil between them.
2 - Get the front toe-in close on the front (only after major mods)
3 - Set the front caster
4 - Set the front camber
5 - Set the front toe-in, centering the steering the best I can
6 - Set the rear toe-in. Here's where the string comes in. After I have the toe-in where I want it on the rear using the plates & tape measures, I place string along both sides the car. The string needs to be at a constant distance from the center of the car. Measure from the string to the front and back of the rear & front tires. Use these measurements to make sure the rear is tracking with the front. This is the most time consuming step, especially the first time. If you get this off, you can tell it when you drive. Even 1/32" can be noticable, IMO.
7 - Set the rear camber
8 - Take if for a test drive
9 - Recheck all dimensions and adjust as necessary

Hopes this helps. Usually takes me 2-4 hours start to finish depending on what I am changing on the alignment, and if I have done any major suspsension work.

 

I have a combo/caster gage and toe plates. I set up a spot on my garage floor that is level so all four tires are setting level. I don't use string for the rear toe/thrust angle, I use a laser pointer and point it at a ruler set up against the front axles. I don't use floor plates, which means after I make any adjsutment I have to roll the car back and forth...a pain but I usually don't have to change much since I check it often..

 

Jason above as it about correct, I have done the same thing and wound up with results of even tire wear, lasting years, with no pulling, no handling problems, and very GOOD very HIGH speed handling....

and my car is no where NEAR stock either, that suspension is about as far as one can go and claim it's 'stock'.....

springs, shocks, struts, supports, tires/rims, brakes, steering....ride height....and with home alignment, it's really easy and under controll....

doing a home alignment means you have to have REPEATABLE results...and so you have to go SLO, and careful....but dooable with a typical alignment shop....

typical of you want it right, you gotta either KNOW the actual craftsMEN on the job..., or DIY....

now that MEN is emphasized because your buddy with the alignment shop has only the rack to work with and if the calibration is out, he is too.....

BTDT, know too much....

CASE CLOSED......

 

http://www.fastcorvette.com/AlignmentSchool.htm
Here you go......I've been saving this one in my favorites for when I get my trailing arms back on......

 

Recheck the rear toe after setting the rear camber.
My toe changed.

 

I think what you need is to have the right person do the job. I talked to the local Corvette Clubs and NCRS guys. They all came back with one or two shops. A properly aligned C3 is pure pleasure to drive.
Good Luck,
Steve

 

If (yes, that's a big if) you do end up taking a referral and let someone else do the work, one of the questions I'd ask the actual tech who's going to touch your car is if he will strictly abide by your specs and allow you to verify them while the car is still on the rack. If not, absolutely keep on shopping... (this may be why you're asking about DIY alignment)

And, as obvious as it seems to us, make sure they know how to adjust rear camber before they take a page out of Bubba's shop manual and pull a FUBAR on your strut rods.

 

IMO, to do it right, you have to find the chassis centerline and base you alignment from there. I used laser level/pointer, turning plates and caster/camber gage. I got tired of paying for alignments with bad results. You can buy turning plates or make your own as others have mentioned.
To find the chassis centerline, I used a plumb bob and transferred the center of 4 of the chassis body mounting holes to the garage floor after leveling the car above floor. Find chassis diagram here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...hassis+diagram

Turning Plates:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45742

Laser Level/pointer:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/Produc...ProductID=7609

Caster/camber gage:
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p...Fastrax_Gauges

Toe Adapter for use on above tool:
http://www.spcperformance.com/PROD_D...OOLFASTSM.html

(I didn't buy the tools at these places, I just needed pictures of the products.)

I then measured between 4 points on floor to create a centerline of chassis. I then transferred the centerline reference back up to the frame (using laser) and permanently marked the frame, now I'll never have to find centerline again. Then I lowered car to the ground, drove it around the block to settle, and pulled into garage onto the turning plates & tiles. (The floor is checked for level using a long level sitting on top of turning plates and tiles where rear wheels will be) (Use tiles under rear wheels to get car level, car must be level) I used 1x4's to drive up onto tiles and turning plates, first 1 then 2 stacked to create transition. Remember, you're really sitting on 4 pads above concrete floor, 4 pads that are level. In my case, it took 14 tiles to equal turning plate thickness and be level with turning plate surface. The tiles are the hard fiber ones home depot sells like they used on school floors. I removed boards after car was sitting on turning plates and tiles to get them out of my way and put them back to drive off the 4 pads. Using plumb bob, I transferred the 2 frame centerline reference points (1 front/ 1 back) onto the floor. Using a chalk line connecting the points, I snapped a line. From there I measured out to create parallel offsets beyond the limits of the actual rear wheel tracking lines so that when using lasers, I could determine their relationship to the the chassis centerline. Using a laser on each rear wheel (mounted to a piece of flat stock attached to wheel) I set the rear tracking of each rear wheel to the reference line to set rear toe. I then set rear camber. I then moved to the front and set initial toe, centering steering wheel and then moving on to caster/camber. After those were set I came back and refined front toe and rechecked caster/camber. I spent the better part of the day but it was a learning curve and I could repeat this process much quicker now. I took my time and very careful measurements... down to 1/32" of an inch because I'm a perfectionist, I don't achieve perfection but I shoot for it. To keep this as short as possible, there are little details I've omitted like wrapping flat stock ends with electrical tape to avoid marring wheels and using Velcro strap to hold flat stock tightly against wheels.
The car has never driven better and the tires wear evenly for a change. No pulling/twitching in ruts and I run fairly wide front tires.
If I ever need to align car again, I'll use a plump bob and transfer the marked frame points back down to the garage floor and create the parallel offsets again and repeat above. Hope you find this useful.
Jim

 

Thanks for all the great feedback. I'm doing both the front and rear suspension new, so finding the centerline per Jim's expanation is great.
Thanks

 

I do mine.
I don't use turning plates, I just get close, drive it and try again.

I think it's important to drive it and try again.

Takes a few tries and it's dead on. It also tracks perfectly and has no throttle steer meaning if I light up the rear tires the car goes straight as an arrow. If the rear isn't good it will kick out to one side...

Keith

 

Turning plates are cheap and easy to make, just use your imagination. I cut 4 one foot square sections of whiteboard material, greased the shiny white sides and places them together, works great and cost nothing since I had leftover whiteboard.

 

I made a little fixture that sits in place of the body support bushing that has a hole in the center for the plumb bob string to pass through. This gives me the center of the body support mount hole which I used to measure from. The fixture can be anything as long as it locates center of hole. I forgot to mention this.
Jim

 

Using these methods, you can get a better alignment than a shop tech who doesn't know how to run the computerized equipment, doesn't understand a Corvette suspension, or just doesn't really care about getting things just right. A good tech with a modern digital aligner will be more accurate than any homebrew setup.

 

You have to ASSUME the machine has been set up and calibrated correctly to start with....and that can change with use/abuse/time....

and to calibrate the machine means you need the guys doing that to spend the time to get it correct....most shops don't want to spend the time.....

leading me to DIY.....

 

Gene, re-read what I said. If the tech knows and cares what he's doing, the computerized equipment will work better. Yes, it takes about two minutes to calibrate the machine each time you pull a car on the lift. A drunken and retarded squirrel could do it on the optical Hunter aligners. The optical machines don't require much in the way of maintenance, unlike some of the older units that used a rather complicated doohickey on each wheel that was easy to break/mess up if you dropped it.