Question about DIY alignment procedures

Hi Everyone,

I'm expecting to finish up putting together the front suspension on my 84 GTI tonight or tomorrow bearing some kind of unexpected setback and I have done the following:

New wheel bearings

New Inner and Outer Tie Rods both sides

New Struts

Added GC coilover Sleeves

New Rotors

New Pads

New Ball Joints

New Control Arms and bushings

In short, I stripped the whole damn front end down and replaced or rebuilt everything. Therefore there is no good reference for camber settings, and they will be different with the coilovers anyway. I did however make sure that I noted the original tie rod lengths and steering rack centering and confirmed that with the Bentley Manual measurements. I'm hoping that my toe is in the ballpark because of that.

I have read multiple threads on "The String Method" for DIY alignment and seen youtube videos, but I still have some questions.

1) If I am taking an angle measurement on the rotor face while the wheel is off and the car is off the ground (it's on jackstands on all 4 corners now) will it have ANY continuity with a camber angle measurement taken from the wheel face with the car on the ground?

2) If a rotor face angle measurement is consistent with a wheel face measurement on the ground how do I take it? With the suspension at "full droop" unsupported? With the control arm at 90 degrees supported by a jack and under load?

3) If the rotor face angle measurement and the wheel face on ground measurement are completely different am I going to need to repeatedly take the wheel off and torque the eccentric camber bolts and then mount the wheel and drop it back on the ground until I get the number I'm targeting?

4) If No. 3 is true is this a steady "wheel off, wheel on" adjustment and measurement process until I get everything right?

Honestly I'm not at all aiming for "perfect", I want it to be aligned well enough to drive the damn car about 7 miles down the road to an alignment shop without the alignment being so out of whack that I feel like I'm driving on ice. I fully intend to have a proper rack alignment done to it. I just want to get it "in the ballpark."

You have to measure camber (and any other alignment setting) with the car's weight on the wheels.

If you're just trying to get to the alignment shop, all you need to worry about is getting the toe in a reasonable place.

Keith Tanner wrote: You have to measure camber (and any other alignment setting) with the car's weight on the wheels. If you're just trying to get to the alignment shop, all you need to worry about is getting the toe in a reasonable place.

Werd

I've eyeballed it on the side of the road before, then driven to an alignment shop. For 7 miles, I'd use a tape measure and call it good. Although I have a toe gauge and a camber gauge and generally do all my own alignments.

Thanks guys. I'm going to check the toe to make sure it's not drastically off and leave it be then. I don't know enough about alignment to really go through this thoroughly.

Easiest way to do a quick toe in setting is to put the car on the ground and run a long straight edge down the side of the car. I have a 8' long piece of angle iron I use to start with. Hold it against the front wheel/tire and point it towards the back wheel. Reference the other side and then jack the car up and adjust the tie rods accordingly. Every time you jack the front end up and put the car back down, roll the car forward and then back again to take the flex out of the tires so that they sit flat on the ground again. Using this method, you can get the toe 99% accurate in a matter of minutes. This is where I always start. Then I roll the car up on the scales and really proceed to screw things up.

This should help:

http://youtu.be/wjZUu_d08t8

I use an app called Camber for my smart phone to get camber measurements and toe is as simple as using the string, Jack stands and a good ruler.

Never had an issue using this method has been used by racers for decades. The fancy lasers, etc just make the process faster and easier, not too mention the fancy print outs they provide.