Driving with Bad Alignment
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,583
Likes: 5
From: Richardson Tx.
Driving with Bad Alignment
I know that it will ruin the tires fast but will it ruin any other parts in a hurry?
I need to take the car to the paint shop only so its not like I will be doing a lot of driving. I plan on getting new tires soon as well
I need to take the car to the paint shop only so its not like I will be doing a lot of driving. I plan on getting new tires soon as well
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 14,379
Likes: 6,390
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
You can set the toe and the camber yourself right on the money. Caster does not wear tires, so there is no need to have alignment off far enough to cause any wear or other problems - just set your front and rear toe and camber with a tape measure and bubble level.
Lars
Lars
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 19,610
Likes: 778
From: Forked River NJ
I have probably put 1200 miles on mine with a home alignment of string and a level. No noticeable tire wear at all. Of course some burnouts and autoX will definitly take a toll on the tires. Not worried about tire wear. They will expire long before they wear out from bad alignment. The car drives straight and stops straight to and from triple digit speeds. 
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,664
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From: columbia city in
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
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From: Orange Park Florida
and I do not find them to be a vendor here.....
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 10,362
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From: San Diego - Deep Within The State of CONFUSION!
Exactly right. But to directly answer the question, no it wouldn't hurt the front end at all. The biggest problem is tires. Once a wear pattern is set into a radial tire, it will be there for the life of the tire. So if you don't follow Lars' suggestion above be sure to get her aligned as soon as possible. Don't drive it unless you ~intend~ to buy tires for it.
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Verdad Gallardo
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 491
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From: Tampa Bay Area, U.S.A. (Zombie Nation)
Not to argue with lars or the often-cited method he has mentioned but personally I've never been able to get a tape measure between the L/R tire fronts and back. Near the bottom of the front tires yes but not at the forward/aft portion. I've always found a lot of plastic and metal in between where I need to measure. So, the last time I set my own front wheel toe I bought and used a couple cheap carpenter's laser levels. With a couple pieces of 1" aluminum angle stock set on the wheel rim it'll give the levels a precise resting place so that the red spots can project on whatever you choose to use as a receiving point. Double stick foam will hold the laser mounts. I used a handy piece of 2X2 wood raised to the height of the levels. After marking the distance between the spots then you can use a tape measure across the 2x2. While relatively time consuming this method is the only way I've found to set toe reasonably accurate at home. Tires are too expensive to not set as accurately as possible.
