It would be interesting to hear what you are using for equipment. we are on a limited budget here---

thanks for your reply

 

I am.

With the help of others on this forum, I'm doing my own using fishing line, jackstands, and a camber guage (smart camber-$200!).

My Pilots are wearing very nicely with 17,000 miles and some track miles.

Best thing is I don't sweat some greasy mechanic (like me) messing my car up:) (no offense to mechanics in the house...if you are reading this forum you aren't the ones I'm referring to...:))

 

I've done toe successfully on several of my cars (not Corvettes) and got good long wear on the tires. I made sure I drove into my garage straight, had even tire inflation and measured using a tape measure to selected point on tread very carefully doing this several times (moving car) before and after adjusting toe. I've kept records of car when new vs with XX, XXX miles to know consistency of measuring technique and how toe was changing. And as stated above no one else can possibly mess up your car. FrankLT4CE

 

I am also. Never will I let a shop do my alignment on a Corvette.

Do a search on the web as there are a number of very good sights providing instructions on how to do it.

I use the jackstand and fishing line method and find it is accurate to less than 1/32 inch (well within tolorances) for toe and a level for camber. I have instructions I will email to those who want them.

The key is to make small adjustments, drive the car, then check again. I have found just a small change makes a big difference in the way the car feels. I currently am very happy with 1/16" toe for the front and rear. The car feels tight, nimble, and does not follow the ruts much. I have Goodyear EMTs and with 5000 miles and they are wearing very well.

 

I will dissagree with the statement of never letting a shop do an alignment on a corvette. I take my vette to a mechanic that has three corvettes of his own. He is the most patient mechanic I have ever seen. He does it once and he does it right. He uses one of the laser alignment computers (I can't remember the name).

The secret is to find a mechainc that you trust and that knows what he is doing.

 

Its a free country, so if you feel your mechanic will do a better job, then go ahead. No offense intended.

I was not trying to say I can do a better job than every mechanic. For me, that is what I wish to do. I like tweaking my car and not spending a lot of money in the process. Its a hobby.

In my opinion, a laser alignment system will yield no better (or worse) than a home-made system such as my fishing line and jackstands. This is assuming, both are properly set up. I believe shops use laser systems not because they are more accurate, but because they are fast. The fishing line system requires accurate setup and that takes a lot more time. I can get accuracy in the 1/64" range which is much, much better than .5 degrees.

Good luck.


[Modified by Mez, 8:25 PM 5/20/2002]

 

I would appreciate it very much if you would email me the instructions.

Dcarson@elp.rr.com

Thanks.

 

I would like them as well.

bill@px.com

Thanks
:cheers:

BTW, do you know anything about bump steer? I have a heim kit, need to make a tool to measure it.

 

I've done my own alignments for 10 years now. I built my own "toe board". It's just a 2x2 piece of wood with a pointer on one end, and a ruler on the other. The pointer and ruler are 90 degrees to the board, and are about 20" high.

Jack up one wheel, spin it and make a chalk mark while spinning. Let the tire down on a couple of magazine that have grease between them. Do the other tire. Then just measure the difference between the chalk lines on the front and rear of the tire.

I also have a camber/caster gauge that works very nicely.

Finally I check tire temps with an infrared temp gauge.
I set bump steer on my race car. Not easy or fun, but worth it for racing. You have to remove the spring to do this. I used a dial indicator, a stop, and a piece of wood bolted on in place of the wheel. Let the suspension go to full droop. Touch the front of the board to the stop and set the dial indicator to 0 on the rear. Jack up the suspenson 1", touch the front of the board to the stop and see what the dial says. Repeat until the suspension is in full compression. Bump steer can be adjusted with castor adjustment, with raising or lower the steering rack, with raising or lowering the steering knuckle, or with lengthening or shortening the pittman arm.

 

I'd like those instuctions as well please :yesnod:

spw@trcr.com

Thanks! The last alignment I had done (last week) was at a shop and they did a fine job. Gran Turismo here in Atlanta. They even asked if I wanted any special camber or toe. I chose stock for now... but I'd love to be able to set my own confidently. :smash:

 

After replacing the differential and taking into account that my garage floor isn't the most level piece of concrete, I took it to the local dealer for the laser alignment. I know what you're thinking - I would never take it to the local dealer. I have to admit that they didn't screw anything up! I wrote down mileage and documented everything. They charged me $69.95 for a full four wheel alignment. It's probably the first time since I've owned any car that I don't feel like I got raped by having the local Chevy dealer do the work... :)

 

I would also appreciate a set of instructions.

gwjones@tuband.com

 

I do it similar to that except I don't use the 'magazine' setup. Instead,
I set front and back to zero toe by marking the rear of each tire with chaulk; mesuring across to the other tire and recording the result. Next, I move the car forward until the chaulk mark rotates to the front of the tire and then I measure across to the other tire and record the results. Tires are then all set at zero toe. Next, adjust the rear toe-out according to specs+plus a "bit" for the larger wheels and added power the engine makes. The front toe-in is then set to factory specs but I usually compensate for the larger wheels/brakes. Next, is the funky part: to adjust the rear track approximately to the forward track: I place a long STRAIGHT piece of steel on the outside of the wheel, mid-hemispherical, and orient it so the steel extend up front to the front wheel and compare left and right sides. The C4 has a wider wheelbase at the rear. I then adjust the rear toe to make true-er the front-rear track. Lastly I re-adjust the rear toe as described earlier, just to make sure. For the street, this is more than adequate. For the track, it may just be enough._____For camber, I've meticulously welded up a "bracket" with level gauge to verify the positive or negative angle of the wheel. The gauge measures off the wheel not the tire. A level garage floor is essential, and if you have a CAD program just layout the setup to scale on the computer and you can accurately plug in the values you measured and compute accurately the toe angles on each wheel; fun!.

Because of the wider zr1 wheels I tend set more of a zero camber angle, especially on the rear wheels.


[Modified by GRX, 10:08 AM 5/18/2002]

 

I would like to have the instructions also thanks daves1@kiski.net

Dave

:flag

 

I think I emailed the instructions to everyone. If I missed someone, let me know.

I have done a lot of research on this subject and know there is no magic to doing it yourself. Certainly, much easier and faster than engine work.....

Someone mention that their garage cement is not level. That's not a problem. Make yourself a level guage using a bottle, 15 ft of clear vinyl tube and colored water. They sell this set up at Lowe's.

Fill a quart bottle with water with a little food coloring. Run one end of the flexable vinyl tube into the bottle and tape the other end to a ruler. You will be using the principle of water will seak its own level. Get the water into the tube without any air bubble and firmlyplace the bottle near the highest point on your garage floor where your car will sit. Mark the 4 points where your tires will be while you are doing the aligment. Using the end of the tube with the ruler, you can "shim" the floor with ordinary floor tiles until all spots measure the same on the ruler.

 

Got 'em. Thanks a million... :cheers:

 

Ditto here-using the smart camber also-a great tool!
Maybe I just can't leave anything alone; I'm always changing alignment, injectors or something!
You can't beat the convenience of tweaking your alignment at home, don't like it-just change it again!
Also I've found that most shops won't drive the car around the block after changing camber and then recheck it-does make a diff!

 

I would appreciate ti very much if you would e-mail me the instructions.
Thanks, scvettedriver [IMG][/IMG] :cheers:

 

Thanks in advance!
vetluvr@briggsnetwork.net

 

I would also like the instructions if you don't mind. mike.tate@qwest.com

Thanks