DIY Wheel Alignment

[[Jacek]]

I want to learn how to do my own wheel alignments. It's something that I've always been interested in and I know that it's easily possible with the use of string lines, measuring tape etc etc. Unfortunately that's the limit of my knowledge.

I would appreciate if some of you could provide some guidance as to where to start, good sources of information, good tools to have, etc.

Car is an R31 Skyline with a live axle rear end, so the only adjustments really available are to the front. Camber, Caster, Toe are my only real variables at this stage. No access to a hoist or anything, so everything will be done in my own garage on the floor.


Cheers
Jacek.

[Kaido]

buy one of these or similar:
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/wheel-alignment-products/intercomp-caster-camber-gauge-wheel-adaptor

start turning bolts and see what happens :P

[[Jacek]]

Yeah I'm all over demontweeks but there seem to be so many options.

[Dalspec]

When I started doing alignments at home I read a LOT of online DIY guides similar to these:

http://home.comcast.net/~jkrane/susp401.html

http://mercedes-190.co.uk/topic/6538754/1/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/chassis/hrdp_0411_wheel_alignment_guide/viewall.html

http://www.modified.com/tech/modp-1010-diy-wheel-alignment/viewall.html

I settled on using axle stands and aluminium extrusions to hold the string. The extrusions were ali U-section from Capral or Bunnings with notches cut between 1.7 and 2.0 meters to suit different width cars.

The string was fluoro yellow fishing line. One end was looped around notches in the front extrusion. At the rear the line was draped over the corresponding notch and weighted with large fishing weights. Weight had to be sufficient to hold the line taught without pulling it off the stands or pulling the stands over.
I used to cable tie the extrusions to the stands. Tight enough so they didn’t move easily. Not so tight that you can’t move them left or right to square to the car.

Toe was measured with an ART Dreamstick.

For slip plates I initially used lino tiles and grease before buying some secondhand turntables.
The turntables made determining the angle of turn required for measuring caster much easier.

My first camber/caster gauge was a FastTrax.
The FastTrax was beautifully made though caster resolution from the bubble gauge is limited to approximately 0.25 of a degree.

I used the above setup for years. On two cars sent off to laser alignment after I had measured them, my figures were within 0.10mm on toe, 0.25 degrees caster and 0.20 degrees camber. Reasonably impressive I thought given the gear used.

Problems with the above setup?

Getting the car level and the strings square to start with. I haven’t see a home garage without a fall off one way or another. I’ve used this method for determining level in the past

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZoL1gaWedA

…. but it’s seriously time consuming.

Another problem was the string lines would require resetting if bumped or moved. This always takes longer to do properly than people realise.

These days I use Smart Strings for toe
http://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartstrings.html

and the Smart Camber Caster gauge
http://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartcamber.html

Smart Strings is a significant improvement as the strings are suspended off the car. This means jacking or moving the car will not upset your datem line.

The digital camber caster gauge is also a big improvement removing the bubble gauge fudge factor.

Any questions, fire away!

Cheers,
Greg

[[Jacek]]

You're the bloke that was selling a bunch of this gear a couple of months ago, right? I was hoping you'd respond!

Mate, thanks - that's exactly what I was looking for. I will probably take a couple of weeks to process my thoughts and do some research but I'll definitely come back to ask if I need assistance.

Might start with some of the cheap options and work my way up like you have.