Eh, ya gotta do what ya gotta do

 

Fortunately most modern alignment equipment is self calibrating and will not function if the settings are off. Our contract with Hunter requires they field check it once a month also.

 

Kind of curious, what do those racks cost? About 1/2 billion dollars...

 

LOL more like 50 grand, including a four post lift and sliding chassis jacks.

 

Ah sweet, a little cheaper than I thought Probably takes quite a few tire alignments till it's paid off though?

I'm actually looking to start a shop myself... I've been writing these manuals and making a couple bucks here and there to supplement my no-existent income. I also parted out a car on ebay (looking for more cars now). Been doing everything humanly possible to make a living since getting laid off

I am enjoying the car work though and it seems to actually net some positive cash flow It's just chump change right now though (working out of my two stall garage) but I think with a shop I could change that all.

You guys are welcome to check out my latest rough cuts for my tire manual. I've just got one of the sensors rebuilt so far. There will be a bunch more tutorial videos on there related to tire maintenance, care, and proper jacking procedures including how to make heavy duty jack pucks when I'm done

2001-2005 Sensor Rebuild Intro
Sensor Disassembly
Sensor Assembly

Thanks again for all the advices...

 

Sorry to hear about your layoff.

With respect to the alignment equipment, you generally can purchase a used "commercial grade" 4 post lift for $3-4000 from a garage equipment company, or try the auctions of dealerships that have closed. Same thing with alignment rigs. For limited use, you don't need a full tilt, 2011, Hunter Hawk-Eye unit. A good, used 4-5 year old Hunter can be gotten again, for $3-4000.

Good luck on the income search!

 

You have hit the nail right there.

Many times I take it to a shop and rolled it onto their Hunter. and they Ask WHY I came?

a 1/10 of a degree is meaning less if the tire air pressure is off by 2 psi, or the frame is not square or car is not balanced.

So one does not need to be that actuate for a good alignment.

The Hunter or any other laser for most ppl is perfect.

and my string is a laser.

 

When I get my car aligned I put 175lbs in the driver's seat, a pair of 36 C's in the passenger seat and dead hooker in the trunk...

 

 

Hey thanks! I really appreciate it. I love making the videos / manuals and I seem to sell a few a month. Now I'm just trying to make more of them But I'm sure if I had a shop I'd immediately be rolling some serious dough.

I was kind of, of the same impression with hand alignment versus rack alignment. I think they'd be pretty equal because you can only get so accurate. I believe the limiting factor would not be the measuring equipment but the vehicle itself such as tire pressures, chassis alignment etc.

Only thing is a rack is so EASY I've done manual alignment on a hand built racecar...

I was on this team... This was the car for the year after I graduated Not the best video but that thing is SCREAMING fast and corners over 2 G! The one I drove had a huge sprocket (cannot remember how big for the drive-shaft), and 120 HP in around a 400 lb racecar that red lined at 14,000 RPM and had the grip to lay the power down. The CG is only a few inches off the ground too. It was INSANELY fast. I used to work with the team to hand build them from the ground up, chassis, suspension, everything. About the only components we didn't make were the short block, tranny, and wheels lol It was COMPLETELY AWESOME. Ferrari and Jaguar engineers came to ask us questions about their designs and some of the things we had incorporated in our racecars It was incredible... Anyways, I'm rambling on...

It's a PITA to do hand alignment lol Takes FOREVER completely impractical for a shop. It's just no rack would take our dinky little racecar.

 

I too have aligned my car by hand with simple tools. Took me all day and night but I had it near perfect when done and WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MADE! I took it to an alignment shop to verify and everything was pretty much spot-on except cross caster, it was off by less than 1/2 degree side to side.

A lightweight car with huge low profile tires like the Corvette responds A LOT to changes in alignment. I'm convinced it is alignment changes that are responsible for so many polar-opposite Corvette reviews... one guy says "predictable, confidence inspiring and well balanced" and the next guy will say "scary at the limit, snap oversteer keeps you from fully exploring" etc. Sometimes those comments are from the same person after driving two of the exact same model.

If BG assembles Corvette suspension the same way Oshawa does (an assembly plant I spent a lot of time in), all of the parts come pre assembled set to "spec", are thrown together and never verified. I bet the initial glowing reports of a new Corvette model are a direct result of the car being set up properly before being given to the media. Years later when the same model is featured in a comparisson test the car is just pulled from a press fleet with nothing more than a check of the fluid levels. BS on Gm's part.

I also corner weighted the car, but this was a bit less accurate. I found a two lane road with nice clean pavement and little camber (slope towards the ditch on each side). I straddled the yellow line evenly, revved it up nice and high and dumped the clutch. I adjusted my corner weights until the car was sitting level side to side with a slight rake front to back, and would travel perfectly straight with the rear tires lit up and spinning. This is not an exact science but it made a great difference in off the line traction.