sidsport

The local Porsche mechanic/track junkie has a laser alignment kit that won't shoot under the oil pan of my S2. I wasn't too pleased with the shop he sent me to (especially after $300). Knowing that I have future upgrades requiring new alignment, and wanting to play with different settings, I'm thinking of buying a DIY alignment tool(s). Any thoughts? Am I nuts? Can it be done affordably? As always, Rennlist help is greatly appreciated....

kurt M

Scales and ramps for them $3000. you can do this for $1000 to $1200 if you get the smaller pad setup and build your own ramps or scale tables. Smart strings $350. Good rulers. $20 Good 6 foot level $70 Camber tool $150 or so. Self leveling protractor for caster $15. Hand tools for you car to make adjustments.

IMO You can forgo the scales and just do ride hight measurements for street driving and cut the cost dramatically but the scales are required for end result testing, tuning and bench marking for track work.

sidsport

I can do without scales as my local mechanic has 'em and doesn't charge me much to corner balance. More wondering about stuff like smart strings, digital levels, toe in plates, etc.

trackjunky

You can string a car with jack stands. That'll save $350+.

I used 2 x 12's screwed together and stacked 2 high. Then I took heavy duty trash bags and sprayed Windex inside of them. When I lowered the tires onto this, I didn't have any problem moving camber or toe. Windex and plastic is slippery stuff!

You really need a good helper to do it this way. Now, I just rent time from a guy with an alignment machine. He hates to do 944's, so it works out ok.

amondc

Smart strings work well. Just remember to take the time and set everything up right. You may be able to borrow scales from your region. Thats what we have been doing for the past 2 years and even had the alignment check on a real machine and it was dead on.

gbaker

http://www.truelasertrack.com/

924RACR

Dang, you Porsch guys are spendy!

I like the idea with the plastic bags and windex! I use linoleum floor tiles, which coincidentally level my floor for alignments. I use the $40 Longacre toe tapes and the $40 or so bubble-level camber gauge. But I'm a cheap Audi racer... The only downside to this is I can't set individual toe, would have to properly string the car. However, I can drive it and quickly tell if the wheel's straight, then adjust till it's centered.

FWIW, I have access for free to a pro alignment rack at work (not to mention scales). I do use the scales, but never the rack - it's not worth the trouble of towing the car in, filling out paperwork, and besides I find I have better (quicker) success setting the rear alignment at home.

kurt M

how do you set thrust angle?

924RACR

Can't. Of course, my rear suspension is tweaked enough, doesn't matter. Still, a baseline on a pro rack, then only tweaking at home after that will do the job...