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Brakes & Suspension Forum sponsored by The Tire Rack |
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09-19-2003, 09:21 AM | #1 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 3102
Join Date: Nov 2000
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NESIC
Location: Northern, CT
Vehicle:2018 Mazda CX-5 Storm Trooper White |
How can you do a front end alignment yourself?
I've been switching out my suspension alot lately and I've thrown off my alignment. Is there any way to do a decent job on a front end alignment yourself?
Thanx! Bry.
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09-19-2003, 10:01 AM | #2 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 22135
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: NY
Vehicle:17 WRX World Ralley Road Rash |
Buy an alignment machine.
Seriously though... You wont be able to do a good job without one. |
09-19-2003, 10:59 AM | #3 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 7492
Join Date: Jun 2001
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South East
Location: Hotlanta, GA
Vehicle:No race cars www.tomhoppe.com |
Quote:
You can do a great front end alignment, but you do need *some* tools. I use a SmartCamber gauge http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/art1.htm and a tape measure for the toe. You could use one of these $39 gauges as well http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/align.htm I used one of these with good results until I bought the SmartCamber. -Tom |
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11-01-2003, 03:12 PM | #4 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 19210
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Durango, Colorado
Vehicle:2002 WRX Wagon Silver |
Thought I'd revive this one.
Now that I have adjustments for height, camber, caster and toe I figure I need to come up with a do-it-yourself alignment. I don't want to have to go to Buba the alignment guy every time I adjust my coilover height. (anyway Buba only does it to factory specs and looks real confused when I open my hood to show him my Noltec camber/caster plates) I bought a $10 doohicky from home depot for measuring angles to build roofing trusses. I can measure my camber to better than 0.5 degrees - not quite enough I know but I figure if I can at least get it consistent on either side I'll be fine (I think I can!). I suppose the most important thing would be to find an extremely level area to do it. I have a couple of questions: To measure caster do I just crank the steering wheel all the way to one side and then measure camber at that point? When measuring Toe, is the measurement the difference between the rear of the tire and the front of the tire? Any suggestions for how best to do that. |
11-01-2003, 07:57 PM | #5 | |||
Scooby Guru
Member#: 120
Join Date: Jul 1999
Chapter/Region:
AKIC
Location: Where the Navy sends me...
Vehicle:1997 Legacy 2.5GT 1996 Impreza coupe |
Quote:
Now that I think about it, as I recall you want at least two tiles at each corner, so that as you turn the front wheels or adjust toe in the rear, the tiles can slide freely against each other. Quote:
Quote:
The other technique I've heard is to just eyeball measure to the center fronts and center rears of the tires. If your tires have a nice center groove or center tread block it might be pretty easy to do it that way. If not, I've heard of scribing a line with chalk, but I don't remember how you're supposed to do that such that it would be even around the circumference of the tire. Pat Olsen '97 Legacy 2.5GT sedan |
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11-01-2003, 09:46 PM | #6 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 15001
Join Date: Feb 2002
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Manchester CT or at any track
Vehicle:STi V8 Spec C Power NESIC TrackH0z # 10 |
Quote:
Much more difficult to do on a treaded tire, but the concept should still work. -Keith- |
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11-01-2003, 09:52 PM | #7 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 24035
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region:
BAIC
Location: San Francisco
Vehicle:2002 GGA 5MT Seal Gray |
tom, when you use the tape measure to measure toe, what points are you measuring, and how close can you expect to get the measurements?
did you have a hard time breaking the bolts on the tie rods loose the first time you did it? mine are TORQUED on there. since you can't get a torque wrench on there, how hard do tighten those bolts back down (seeing as how it's one of those things you REALLY wouldn't want to come loose). thanks for the help. one last question, do you have a set of scales? and if so, have you considered moving to los altos? |
11-03-2003, 09:34 AM | #8 | |||
Scooby Guru
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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South East
Location: Hotlanta, GA
Vehicle:No race cars www.tomhoppe.com |
Quote:
I just pick a groove in the tread and measure to that same groove on the front of the tire and the back of the tire. I have been pretty dead on. I would say +- 1/16 or so. Quote:
Quote:
-Tom |
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11-04-2003, 12:58 AM | #9 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 19210
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Durango, Colorado
Vehicle:2002 WRX Wagon Silver |
Just an FYI:
I found that one full turn of the tie rod on each side results in a toe change of exactly 1 inch. So each "flat" is 1/6" - kinda good to know if you want to make a quick adjustment at the track. With my Home Depot doohickey I set camber on each side to -2.5 degrees (I'm guessing that could be anywhere from 2.25 to 2.75 but I think it's consistent from side to side). The car tracks straight and has amazing grip so I'm happy so far with my low tech alignment. One note on the doohickey - I have rota wheels which have a nice flat center cap that the doohickey can rest against - don't think it would work as well on my stock rims - might have to rig something up to span from the top edge of the rim to the bottom edge of the rim that the doohicky could rest against. I'm pretty unhappy with the word doohickey at this point - anyone know what the thing is called. It's like a protractor with a little pendulum on the inside with a pointer that always points downward (courtesy of gravity). You read the angle off the protractor. |
11-04-2003, 01:01 AM | #10 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 19210
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Durango, Colorado
Vehicle:2002 WRX Wagon Silver |
Still looking for an answer on how to measure caster????
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11-04-2003, 07:06 AM | #11 | |
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Location: Tampa, FL
Vehicle:. Paradise is like Disney with hookers |
Quote:
it is an angle guage i know that, a above, you need to turn the wheel x degrees to teh right, measure camber, then turn it x degrees to the left, and do some simple math on the difference to calculate caster - but i do not know what they are, as I have access to a hunter alignment machine and just do my alignment on that most of the time |
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11-04-2003, 10:48 AM | #12 |
Add Lightness
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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NESIC
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I have a camber/caster gauge. You can do caster measurement with just a camber gauge and a way to manually zero it, or read +/- degrees.
Turn the wheel to the left 15 degrees. Zero (or read) the camber gauge. Turn right 15 degrees. Read the new reading. Caster is the difference between the 2 readings. For toe in, if you run zero toe (I do) then use something to get a consistant "wheel based" measuring point. On my Cobra, I have access to the flat lip, so use a 1" box aluminum rod. I then measure up with a carpenter's square at the front and rear of the wheel and mark the floor with a pencil. Do the same for the other side. Since I'm aiming for zero toe, I just adjust till the 2 are equal. Hint....since you'll likely have to do this several times to get it perfect, circle your marks with different shapes so as not to confuse yourself. First one a circle, second a triangle etc. jack |
11-04-2003, 08:23 PM | #13 | |
Scooby Specialist
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: keeping santa cruz weird
Vehicle:2003 Lancer Evo 8 It's Blue, ok? |
Quote:
Here is how others have adjusted camber, including myself. I can get within 1/10 a degree accuracy using this method as measured on a hunter alignment rack. DIY alignment |
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