rdisney

Hi all,

I have my 80 US Auto back on the road again after replacing timing belt, cam tower gasket and front right tie rod. (WooHOOooo!) Now it is time for a wheel alignment. I eye balled the front wheels good enough to drive around a few days to let the suspension settle. I have tried searching for a post or link for the do it yourself alignment project that Bill Ball and Dr. Bob have talked about but I cant find it.

Can someone please direct me to the DIY Wheel alignment information?

Thanks,
Ron Disney.
80 US Auto
80 US 5-Speed (engine out)

Bill Ball

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ight=alignment

Search --> Advanced Search --> Seach Titles Only, 928 Forum, "Alignment"

dr bob

Ron--

Take a look at https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...=DIY+alignment

Search is your friend on this forum. It's hard to keep track of where everything is with all the stuff going on!


Plan for next weekend is a little alignment work on Erik Mickelson's car on Friday in Glendale, on his way to karting. I'll have the lasers out for a toe check. You can do yours pretty easily with the lasres and a tape measure, but.... You have to be on a flat/level floor. We've proved that it isn't accurate in parking lots, generally, because they are sloped for drainage.

Take a look at the thread and the link to Earl Gilstrom's website. Earl has some pretty good DIY instructions for doing the car yourself at home. It takes a while to get everything set up, but once you figure out how to do it you'll have a great alignment.

The alternative of course is to print out all the directions about how raising the cat totally trashes any settings for 50-100 miles following, and take them and the car to a commercial place that has a Hunter DSP-4000 (or greater) machine that doesn't require lifting the car.

rdisney

Thanks guys, I needed that. A search of Alignment came back with over 300 results from hoods to seats
Now to the garage for some fun

Thanks,
Ron.

mark kibort

I think besides the hunter machine and the lazers requiring flat surfaces, one way you can do camber and toe is with the simple LEVEL, pressed to the sides of the tires or wheels, at the front or rear of the tire/wheel. make a mark where it touches the ground, then measure the distance between the front marks and the rear marks. pretty hard to be off there if you are consistant on how the marks are measured. camber can be done the same way, and just see the distance from the wheel or tire the top part has to level on the bubble indicator. on a 19" rim diameter, 15mm for example is around 1.7degrees camber. 20mm is near 2 degrees. take that distance/wheel diameter and hit INV TAN on the calculator and you got a very accurate camber reading.

I took these measurements to the hunter machine test on my first alignment, and my readings were near the same as the hunter machine. the only thing you cant do is caster, and anything related to toe in the rear. i can get a toe read from the rear, but i have no idea of the parallel factors. (you dont want your car "Crabbing" down the road.

mk

mark kibort

I just had an idea. what if i cut holes in my flat bed trailer just so i could access the camber and toe adjustments? then, i could drive the car up on the trailer , use those openings to put a wench on the tow settings or camber. maybe a couple of trap door , hinged plates.
Has anyone done this. I guess the next thing would be to get the alignment pads so the wheels could toe in without resistance. camber might not be as critical for having the pads.
mk

Bill Ball

I would put a lot of access holes in the trailer floor - oil change, etc.

Camber would need that slip pads even more than toe.

dr bob

Mark, Ill try to be as gentle as possible. PLEASE don't tell folks to adjust toe using your levels-and-marks on the parking lot method. It may "get you through a race", but it's not close enough or repeatable enough to recommend to others. At 18" spread between marks, even on a level surface, the width of your pen mark is enough to introduce significant error. Marks on an uneven surface like asphalt are even worse. It's probably OK to use to get an initial setting you can use to drive to the alignment shop.


To determine camber accurately, the car MUST be on a surface that's level side-to-side. Any side-to-side slope translates to opposite errors in camber readings.

To determine and set toe-in accurately, the car MUST be on a surface that's level side-to-side, and the camber must be set properly before the toe is adjusted. Any side-to-side slope translates to errors in toe settings since the weight moves and changes the suspension. The problems are worse on cars that are not at correct ride height.


Doing adjustments with the car on the trailer might be a good solution for you, provided you can have the car at normal ride height and you can get the trailer perfectly level. Strap the tires not the suspension when you travel? Got corner jacks? It could work. Plus all the stuff that Bill mentions about slide plates and stuff.