DYI 4 Wheel Alignment Equipment

Who makes the best 4-wheel alignment setup for DYI'rs?

also curious about this...

Home depot,a roll of string and a digital level will get you very close.

I can do better with very simple tools than the local alignment shop will do simply because I care. They could do better, but as long as the screen is green they pop it off the rack and they're done. It takes a bit of talking to and bargaining with them to truly do a good job.

I'm looking for a better way to set the tracking. Everything else I can already go pretty well, but I'm not confident that I can get the rears to follow the fronts accurately using strings.

In reply to mazdeuce:

How do you know you do better? Have you done an alignment and then had it validated on an alignment rack? Just asking.

A laser pointer is probably a good upgrade from the string...

I'm buying this:

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71&products_id=192

I haven't tried strings, and I haven't really been able to measure the rear tracking. A couple of framing squares, a level floor, and a tape measure is enough to measure everything else. I replaced the rear trailing arm bushings on my E36 last year and had planned on having a shop do the rear tracking. I don't know that it is worth $85 (what I was quoted today) to have it done. It is certainly possible to measure with a little extra work.

In reply to bravenrace:

The other way around, I'd validated their alignment on my truck at home. I get the same numbers that they give me to within .2-.3 degrees. That's not a great margin of error, and I'm getting better at my consistency. However, without arguing with them it's damn hard to get them to not think that within half a degree is close enough to push it off the rack. Maybe it's just that the shop sucks (the probably do) but I'm within the error bars of every person that comes off that rack doing it in my driveway. I'm ok with that, it's free, and I learn more every time I do it.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Okay, so what tools and procedure do you do?

I have a SPC bubble level camber gauge with the two fold down feet and a four foot level. With that I can check and adjust camber and measure and adjust toe. I haven't had to match up the fronts with the rear because I just haven't had to. If I ever feel the need I'm confident enough now that I'll just head off to the internet and read up on setting up strings. I've read it before and the first time it sounded scary. Now its sounds like fun. You really do just have to do some reading, get some basic tools and dive in. Take your time. Measure more than once. Take it all apart and then set it up again and measure again to make sure that you measured right the first time. Get it adjusted, take it for a drive, see how it feels and measure it again. I swear, it's not rocket science and if you get in over your head you can always take it to a pro and they'll fix it for you. People do far more damage to their cars and their tires by performing modifications in the driveway and then driving on them for a month until they get around to getting an alignment than they ever do by doing slow careful alignments in their driveways.

I align my race car all the time by myself. I use string, two tape measures, homemade camber plates and a homemade camber/castor guage. I set the front to 0 toe and run a string line to the back on each side. String should touch all four sidewalls on each side of the car. Then I dial in my rear steer(circle track!) and reset my front toe and use the guage to set the camber on each end and to check castor hasn't moved from the last time I got T Boned. Can't imagine paying to have a shop do that every two weeks.

I had built myself a Smartstings setup like so -> https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=3004 out of a bunch of stuff from Home Depot and a welder. I haven't used it yet though. I've been out of autox for a couple of years as my excuse. My camber guage is a Canadian Tire digital level:

I've done string setups many times. I can never get the thrust angle/tracking/whatever correct. Close, but never close enough not to bother me. Front toe is a piece of cake with toe plates. Camber is a piece of cake with a digital level or a good square.

In reply to ProDarwin:

That's my issue also. I just don't think you can get it close enough with strings, unless maybe if you are going for zero toe. Everything else is no problem.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to ProDarwin: That's my issue also. I just don't think you can get it close enough with strings, unless maybe if you are going for zero toe. Everything else is no problem.

Can't you set the toe to zero like Mr bear and his race car above and work from there? Square the car first? After the car is square then you get to mucking about with toe on either end.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Say you want 1/8" toe in on the rear. So you set the toe to zero to get the thrust angle correct. Then you want to toe in each side 1/16". Do you think you can accurately measure that off a string? I've never been able to.

No, once the car is square you use toe plates to set the toe, and I do think you can do 1/8 accurately with two tape measures and a set of toe plates. Lots of guys do it. Maybe I'm not understanding the toe adjustment procedure you have to use. Can't you make small equal changes to each side to keep it square with the car?

In reply to mazdeuce:

I wasn't referring to using tow plates. You said you did alignments with just simple tools. I understood that to mean tools like string, tape measure, etc.. , not purchased alignment tools. If what you are referring to are specialty tools, then I revert back to my original question - Who makes/sells the best setup?

I am now planning to try the string method this weekend. A rubber bushed stock suspension really limits how much accuracy is achievable, and handling certainly doesn't require much precision anyway.

mazdeuce wrote: No, once the car is square you use toe plates to set the toe, and I do think you can do 1/8 accurately with two tape measures and a set of toe plates. Lots of guys do it. Maybe I'm not understanding the toe adjustment procedure you have to use. Can't you make small equal changes to each side to keep it square with the car?

Yes, you can do 1/8" accurately with toe plates. Easily. The problem is that once you start using them, you have no verification that the car is square. You need to measure off the "squared" string or center-line.

Equal changes are not always easy. On the rear of the Saturn, toe is controlled by adjusting the inboard connection of the rear lateral link. Its a slotted hole similar to camber in a strut. On cars where rear toe is adjusted with tie rods it would be much easier.

HStockSolo wrote: I am now planning to try the string method this weekend. A rubber bushed stock suspension really limits how much accuracy is achievable, and handling certainly doesn't require much precision anyway.

Maybe when you're running in the snow it doesn't, but on pavement it does require a lot of precision.

ProDarwin wrote: Equal changes are not always easy. On the rear of the Saturn, toe is controlled by adjusting the inboard connection of the rear lateral link. Its a slotted hole similar to camber in a strut. On cars where rear toe is adjusted with tie rods it would be much easier.

Ok, I was starting to suspect that there was something mechanically that I wasn't getting in regards to certain cars. These would certainly be harder.

To bravenrace, when I say toe plates, I mean that as a general term, not a purchased item. It's quite easy to either make something that works or just improvise. I use an aluminum level bungee corded to the front wheel on one side, and the legs of the camber gauge on the other. I could easily use levels on both sides or just aluminum bar. I'm using what I have around. The big advantage to real camber plates is the slots in them to hold the tape measures and get a nice reliable reading. I just get my level set up and tape the ends of the tape measures to it to hold them in place. You don't need a commercial toe plate, you just need something flat to sit against each wheel that you can measure off of, then you call it a toe plate. Having a friend to help you hold things still helps a lot by the way. I bought my camber gauge because I was a bit nervous about the whole home alignment thing. I wanted to reduce the variables in what I could do wrong. Now that I'm comfortable with it I'd have no problem using a digital level.

Camber: I use a string and a plumb bob. Measure top of wheel to string and bottom of wheel to string. I run the string around a 2x4 to hold the string away from the fender for clearance (wheels sit beyond fender) I use a steel rule in millimeters, Made a trignometry cheat sheet based on rim diameter in Excel. Cheap and easy.

Tracking: I use a conduit pipe across two jack stands in the front and in the rear. I place hose clamps at the same distance apart on both pipes (distance must be wider than the cars track). You can also hold the pipes together and cut slots with a hacksaw. The string can sit in the slot and they will be the same distance apart on both. Place string against hose clamps and run them front to rear on each side of the car. Add tension to string. Then measure string to hubs. Must be same in rear and same in front. Then your reference string is square. Using steel rule, measure each wheel at front and rear of rim. Reference the trig cheat sheet. Simple and cheap.

The biggest challenge is to get the steering wheel centered. Another disadvantage is setting up the reference strings again after a toe change. But you can do this in your garage for little $$$.

A road racer friend taught me this. He has made mounts on the car to set his pipes to he can make toe changes quickly between qualifying and the race.