Any of you guys doing this? What equipment are you using? What are the results compared to a commercial alignment job?

Not quite ready to pull the trigger on it yet, but I've been browsing equipment a little.

I have 4 post, drive on, lift that looks like it would help a lot. The problem is I've never done it, so I don't know what I don't know?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If you are a track guy that is constantly changing components or settings in an effort to cut faster lap times, then it makes sense to do the home alignment. But, for everyone else that just wants the car to drive right and not wear tires prematurely, then just pay someone who has the best equipment.

 

Hunter laser machine. I watched mine being done and very very small changes show big on the computer screen. Dan

 

I agree with take it in. I had my car on a rack for 2 hours getting my car in line after doing Poly bushings, new steering rack and new ball joints upper and lower up front. They lined it up to the specs I found online, cost was 105 bucks. They had the car up and down on the lift like 8 times, started the car 4 times to do full sweep of the steering up front. They did pretty well for the cost IMO. Provided a nice spec sheet stating where everything was at the end too

 

Hi i use a caster camber gauge, has a magnet you can clamp on the disc great if you have ZR1 A mold wheels like i do.
Otherwise you need to be able to clamp onto the wheel or hub, for doing it yourself.
I have 2x lengths of 1'' square steel, i attach them to the wheel with straps and support in front of car with axle stand.
Then measure the distance closest to front and furthest away, been doing this for years.
She drives straight and has even wear on the tires, all good.

IF i could find an alignment shop with a knowledgeable mechanic that knows his stuff, that i could trust to do it properly i would pay for them to do it.... However i have been disappointed and needed to fix it myself too many times .

 

I have been looking at some caster camber gauges also. Some are relatively inexpensive and I have heard many have good results.

If you are changing components or settings it could make it worthwhile.

I have done toe alignments many times. Frequently just because of a worn out tie rod end. To adjust toe only, it takes no special equipment. I use the "string box" method in which I use four two liter bottles and some fishing line and a machinist scale. In essence you set up the strings to make them the same distance apart at the front and rear so you have them square, then measure the distance from the string to the same point on the front and back of the wheels. Look at the difference from the left measurement to the right measurement to see if the wheels are toed in or out. It makes it easier if the strings at the rear are set to the same distance from the wheels, then you just need to make sure the distance between the strings is the same at the front and rear. After each measurement/adjustment I drive the car and reset the string box to recheck and sometimes need to readjust. When the readings repeat the same amount of inward or outward at the right value, I consider it done.

Doing toe adjustments with this method has worked for me quite well on a number of cars. An example was my Charger R/T where it seemed to wear out tie rod ends quickly. I replace and did this process 3 or 4 times on that car. The front tires lasted over 70k miles, so the alignment must have been pretty close.

It really depends on what you are doing to the car. If it is a one time thing either to check out a new car, or to do a suspension rebuild, etc I would just let a shop do it.(If you know of a good shop. I have had problems with most shops I have tried) If you are doing frequent repairs/modifications or like to test different settings etc and will be changing it often then I think getting some equipment is worthwhile.

Good luck.

 

Big bits:

1) Good luck finding a shop that can do a GOOD alignment on a C4. Just hard to find these days. Me, I got zapped an extra $200 buck because it took so long to get an alignment not in the computer. And it went off, see #2.

2) After changes, the car MUST be driven around a block or two to get the suspension to "settle". Otherwise, after a block or two, your alignment isn't the same as the shop paper given to you.