Do-it-Yourself Alignment

[parsonsj]

If HF doesn't have it, check out your local Sears. My Craftsman digital level wasn't more than $50.

[DAK]

Most lifetime warranties are voided by any steering and suspension work not performed by the shop or chain issuing the certificate.

It wasn't a problem when I replaced the outer tierods for a customer that had lifetime align at a major chain. But I did make sure I used plenty of locktight before I gave it a quick eagle eye align.

I'm a diy aligner. With the hunter 4wheel that we have at work.

[David Pozzi]

I use a "Decco" brand circle track magnetic bubble gage from Speedway Motors. It's around $100. Harbor Freight has turntables. Turntables are really nice for setting caster, you need to be pretty precise on turn angle when setting caster. If you have aluminum hubs, you can stick the gage on the brake rotor if you have spoke type wheels. or buy the spindle nut adapter.
David

[DarkoNova]

Definitely do it yourself. I spent the $150 at Firestone to get the Nova aligned. Took em two tries to get it aligned to factory specs, even though I gave em my own specs to use. T_T

Matt

[MarkM66]

How does something like this work for setting caster?




It sticks to the hub? How do you get the car at ride height with no wheel on it?

[Tony_SS]

Mark, my thoughts exactly. I'd like to know as well..

[Tony_SS]

These are the arms I have. (Pass side shown) Is one tierod sleeve used to set camber while the other does caster? It seems that once camber is set, any adjustment made to adjust caster will effect the camber that was already set.

[stewy]

I have a guage exactly like the Deco pictured through Circle Track. I picked up the model with the 3/4" spindle nut adapter since most of the cars I work on are GM anyways. You just reomve the dust cap and thread it on. It works great!

[megaladon6]

you have to adjust both sleeves at the same time. it's a little annoying but not difficult. the camber won't change TOO much when you do the caster.

[David Pozzi]

How does something like this work for setting caster?




It sticks to the hub? How do you get the car at ride height with no wheel on it?

The advantage of this unit is it reads high amounts of camber and caster which some basic units don't do. Race alignment is beyond what some standard equipment can read.
I have the Decco unit above.
With it on the hub, turn the wheel out 20 degrees, the bevel on the ends is at 20 deg so make that parallel to the side of the car, the little bubble at the end is to keep the unit level in rotation. With wheel turned out, set the middle scale at zero degrees using the small allen screw, - it functions as a thumb screw, no allen wrench needed.

Then turn the wheels out past zero to 20 deg and read caster, (a 40 deg change) again the end of the unit has a second 20 deg bevel you make parallel to the side of the car. A slight variation of turn angle will screw up your measurement, so being accurate in turn angle is critical to getting a good caster reading. If you don't have turntables, placing a string line or straight piece of metal along the side of the car on the floor under the gage will assist you in turning the wheel the correct amount. Placing a straight edge against the angled end of the gage also helps by extending your visual line and shows up angle differences much better.

Camber is read on the outer bubble scales, one for negative caster, one for positive caster. Circle track guys run a lot of positive caster on the LF wheel so this is needed.

On cars with wheels that cover the hub, I place it on the brake rotor, it works just fine this way. On some wheels I've made adapters to place the gage on. Other wheels can be put on the car if the regular wheel is preventing gage use. Hub access is probably this gage's short coming, but the magnet has a threaded bolt on it's end, and various adapers can be swapped on.

I thought about getting a digital unit but this is accurate enough for me, and it does not need to be calibrated like a digital one, plus it uses no batteries. Digital is accurate to .1 deg, this is probably accurate to 1/8 degree (it's marked at 1/4 degree increments) depending on how good your eyesight is, and how much time you take reading it.

I have a pair of aluminum "Toe Plates" I use to set toe-in. You can get by with a pair of straight pieces of steel bar stock elevated above the tire bulge. Use two tape measures, one in front, one in back of the tire. Tapes should be spread apart the same distance as the tire diameter.

I have aligned a car with no wheels on it. The car has to be blocked up with the suspension in the same position as if the weight was on it. We did this by removing the coil over shocks and placing turnbuckles in their place. The steering was centered and locked by machined setup blocks on the steering rack. You need to remember to remove them when done or the car will not turn at all! Another method of setting ride height is to remove the springs and just place blocks or adjustable height stands under the chassis and block the A arms into normal ride height position.
David

[DarkoNova]

So where do you buy these alignment tools? The only place I know of is SC&C, but I don't remember exactly what they have.

Matt

[Rubes]

So where do you buy these alignment tools? The only place I know of is SC&C, but I don't remember exactly what they have.

Matt

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/m/234_Chassis-Set-Up.html

...turn the wheel out 20 degrees, the bevel on the ends is at 20 deg so make that parallel to the side of the car, the little bubble at the end is to keep the unit level in rotation. When turned out, set the middle scale at zero degrees using the small allen screw, - it functions as a thumb screw, no allen wrench needed.

Turn the wheels in 20 deg and read caster...

Ah Ha...thats how you do it. I was always confused about which way to turn which way to do the math. So, on the left side you turn left-zero-turn right-read caster. on the Right, you turn right-zero-turn left-read caster. Did I get that right?

[Rick Dorion]

You got it! I bought turntables to ensure I get the 20 degree more precise.

[David Pozzi]

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/m/234_Chassis-Set-Up.html


Ah Ha...thats how you do it. I was always confused about which way to turn which way to do the math. So, on the left side you turn left-zero-turn right-read caster. on the Right, you turn right-zero-turn left-read caster. Did I get that right?

Yes, that's it. The gage will show if you have positive or negative caster, - as long as it's first zeroed with the wheel turned out. You are measuring the difference in angle between a 20˚ turn out and 20˚ turn in, a 40˚ sweep.

Turn angle accuracy is cricitcal for a good reading.
David

[Rubes]

There ya go confusing me again
Your original post said turn IN and zero the gauge. Now you edited it all to turn OUT and zero. Editing my posts is not fair!!!

You then go on to answer my question as yes, when it should have been no, based on the edits . I guess in reality, it don't matter if you zero turned out or turned in, as long as you can determine the relationship of those readings to true verticle and do the math. But zero in the wrong direction using that gauge, and it will give you opposite results of what you think (negative caster instead of positive).

[David Pozzi]

I went out to the shop and read the instructions and found I had it wrong, I should have remembered since I used it last week.

Rather than explain all that, I corrected my post to match what you said, "turn left and set zero", but quotes don't automatically update, so I changed your quote of my message to match my edited post. I was in a bit of a hurry and should have explained what I did.

It all reads correctly now but it IS different than yesterday.

Sorry for the confusion. Should we start over?
David

[DarkoNova]

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/m/234_Chassis-Set-Up.html


Ah Ha...thats how you do it. I was always confused about which way to turn which way to do the math. So, on the left side you turn left-zero-turn right-read caster. on the Right, you turn right-zero-turn left-read caster. Did I get that right?

Thanks, but holy crap that's some expensive stuff! I don't like that the purple camber/caster gauge only goes to +8 degrees of caster. My BMW has something like +9 or more stock, so I guess I'd need the digital gauge.

Still, $600 for the turntables. Wow.

Also, how do the caster/camber gauges attach to the wheels? I know it was mentioned that the dust cover comes off and it screws onto the spindle, but does it come with different adapters for different size threads? I see there's an adapter for "wide 5" wheels, but what the hell are those?

Matt

[neki67]

Turntables don't have to be expensive, you can actually make them yourself. Although I didn't make them myself, I have a set of turntables that will clarify they idea I have. Since a picture says more than a 1000 words, I would like to show you a picture but that won't be before this wednesday since I'm away from home till then. Let me know if you're interested and I'll make those pics and show 'm here.

[Blown353]

Harbor Freight has a set of turntables for $150 or so. I haven't tried them myself, but for a occasional home user they'll probably work OK.

I have 1 friend with a set of Hunter turnplates, and another friend with Longacre turnplates, so I usually borrow them. Eventually I'd like to get my own set, I keep an eye on craiglist and ebay for a good deal on a set of the Hunters. They're built like the proverbial fired-clay waste receptacle and should last 4.5 lifetimes minimum.

[Rick Dorion]

I paid about $100 on ebay for turntables. The shipping was a kileer though. They're great for my home use.