I've done alignments on my own cars for a lot of years now. In general, they're not so much fun to do the caster due to in the past, I just didn't have a decent tool for it.

So, a while back I bought a digital angle finder, but found it wasn't really ideal for super close angles, yes, it's supposed to do resolution of .05deg, but the truth is they lie when it's near 0 in order for it to really 0 well. It doesn't read from 0 to about .2*. Unfortunately for alignments, that +/- .15* of error, or I should say lack of resolution near 0, was problematic.

I got around that by making a little angle piece that I could force it to be off 0 by a consistent amount. Now, angles are as close as the device will resolve. Just zero it when off 0 and now it resolves very small angles correctly.

So, tonight I'm doing an alignment on my C5 and I always hate doing caster because of all the iterations you need to go through when getting it right. I never know how much to add/subtract with the bolts in order to get it right. It's a process of trial and error. I took my measurements on the caster to start. Now the fun begins.

So I figured, why not try to use that angle gizmo on the yoke itself and just measure change. Great idea on other cars, not so much on a Vette that is basically devoid of ferrous metal. So I finally found that the top of the ball joint stud was flat enough where I could put the thing on there and the magnet would stick. I then zeroed it out. Then make my adjustment of precisely the angle I wanted to add/subtract, when it says there's been that much change, tighten the bolt back up.

What'da'ya know, it worked to the .05* first try! That's the first time I EVER got caster right in one shot.

I know, some are probably saying, well duh, why didn't you do that 20 years ago... they didn't have these gizmos that many years back, least not that I knew of. Not with enough resolution to do an alignment anyway.

This thing for 20 bucks truly IS the tool you need for doing alignments on the cheap.

 

Back in my old days, shims were the popular adjustment tool, and after doing enough of them you learned whether to add to front or back,or both and I got good enough to be able to set caster and camber in one shot. (GM)The hard part back then was getting the steering wheel straight where the modern machines tell you everything !!!

 

Has anyone told you that you are an amazing person ?! (doing your own alignments, wow)

 

There's really nothing to it. Actually, for the 4 wheel alignments on these I use a pdf that I got from another forum member. Tools consist of wrenches obviously, a laser level, a couple straight edges, 2 measuring tapes, a quality 18-24" level and that angle finder. So other than regular stuff in your tool box, I have I think $12 in the laser level and $20 in the angle cube. Get things level to begin with and you're on your way.

For the turntables, I simply put a 2x12 section under the tires and put a layer of OSB on top of that with the shiny smooth side toward the board. The wheels slide around like they're greased then. The rest of it is in the service manual and there's really nothing to it with the angle cube.

I did another trick afterward with that same angle cube. I put it against the back side of the wheel bearing (metal cover that's more or less flat). Zero'ed it again. Then adjusted both of the caster bolts (lower C.A) the same amount to set the camber. That way I never had to take the wheels off. Did the same thing on the camber, zero that gizmo, then get 1/2 of the angle using each bolt and you keep your caster the same while adjusting camber.

Car drove perfect coming home. I'm a happy camper.

 

way to do an alignment - glad it worked well for you.

 

no no no....screw that.....this is the kind of thing that nobody does who doesnt just flat love to work on cars. Ya......its hard core....kudos buddy

 

I actually have a decent alignment shop around here but they put 8 miles on my buddies 2010GS so no more going there. They did my alignment back when I was going in for back surgery and had to have tie-rod ends put on. Other than being disabled, I generally try to do my own work. I just did a bushing kit in the suspension and then put the car back the way it was, but it wasn't close enough to suit me by any means.

Honestly though, there's a good bit of satisfaction in doing your own alignment work. It's really nice if you did one, then took it to have it checked and found they can't get it with a machine as close as you can with a ruler. And when you see how easy it is, I think you'd say 'yea, I was just intimidated by it because I didn't know'.

If you asked me if I'd rather do a 4 wheel alignment or a water pump, I'll take the alignment any day. I had to move 6 bolts and two tie-rod ends to get this car very close to perfect,. I would have only done a minuscule adjustment to one more tie-rod end to get it perfect. I just wasn't in the mood last night, and I'm probably pulling the cradle back out anyway so no sense wasting time spitting hairs. It is WELL within the factory specs. Probably only 10% off the mean. No alignment shop on the planet would crack the locknuts to try to get what I ignored.

The hardest part was getting my floor level, so yesterday I finally painted squares on the floor to mark where the concrete is very close to perfect. In the past I didn't want those marks there but leveling every time finding just where I was before is a pita. One wheel needs a thin sheet of plywood under it and it's level on 4 corners to about .050" (checked with a water level). After that it's just a matter of blocking the car up and supporting it on the tires with the ability for the front wheels to turn, which as I say is just a small piece of OSB (slippery stuff).

Doing a proper sequence is important so you're not going back and re-doing anything. There are a few measurements you need before you begin, then you can fly right along. You start in the rear which is super easy. There you only have one adjusting bolt (cam) and a tie-rod one each side. Set the bolt first, then adjust with the laser pointing to the front wheel card you make. Done. Camber is right, toe is right and thrust angle is right. Probably doesn't take 20 min even if you have to move everything.

From there, go to the front, measure the caster, set up the angle finder and zero it, move the thing till the angle finder says the number you were off, tighten the bolt back up. Check the camber, if that's off, set up the angle finder, loosen both bolts and adjust one at a time taking 1/2 the amount you want to adjust with each bolt. Tighten them back up. Done. Double check that the caster is right, camber should be perfect. Setting toe is a slam dunk, and setting the wheel straight is done with the lasers just like you did with the thrust angle.

If I do it again maybe I'll do a couple vids and pictures and make a writeup for it. Once a guy has his ducks in a row, honestly, maybe an hour and you're taking it down off the stands. If someone has race-ramps, then it's really simple cause that initial pita step of getting the car in the air is a non-issue. Drive on, drive off. If I had a place to put em, I'd own a set. And if I had a 4 post lift, I'd do these for hire. Especially on Vettes, they're clean underneath.

I did omit in the tools, you really should use a torque wrench.