Hope I don't get flamed on this, searched and searched but couldn't find any good reference for doing your own alignment.

I would like to be able to dial in my raceday alignment and street alignment without using a ton of very expensive equipment or having to go to a shop all the time. I want the grip and response on course but also need my tires to last more than 5K-10K miles.
I am an experienced autocrosser and know what settings that I would want either way, but I don't know how to measure my adjustments and make them anything more than bad guesswork. I have heard of using "string boxes" at least for camber, but would really appreciate the input of anyone who does this regularly.

Camber
Caster
Toe F&R

I have had the thought of marking the threads with paint or whatever would last to mark the settings once I get them so I don't have to go through all the measuring every time. (IE, match the blue side of the nut to the blue mark on the thread for street, red for race, etc)

Thanks!

 

I've read that toe is fairly easy. You rotate the tire in place while shooting a line of white spray paint on the middle of the tread. Then you rotate again and hold a nail steady against the tread to scribe a very thin line in the paint. Those are your reference marks. All you need then is to measure the distance between those marks at the front of the tire vs. the back.

I imagine this could be used for camber as well, but you'll need to do some math

 

I agree...a DIY should have been made...would help lots of people...

 

i've been meaning to attempt it one day when i lower my car a lil more. but that won't be for a while. someone else do it. haha

 

Nubo...

I can see how that would work, but I would have to know where each wheel was starting from to do it that way. Without a baseline, I would only know how much of a change I was making and not what it was actually set at.

 

I've done this recently (tired to), and here's what I did.

Toe: The hardest part for me is I can never get the damn nut loose on the steering rod, so i can never the toe adjusted. I'd like to figure out a way to use sting box for toe, but I think toe plate or marking the floor like mentioned above should work well. may take a couple tries to make sure the steering is straight though. I measured the distance between tire grooves, since I was shooting for 0 zero, I just need them to be equal and the fact the I had to measure at the lower half of the tire shouldn't matter much.
Camber: I've borrowed my friend's digital level to measure camber, but while I can get repeatable reading, it's very sensitive at times. I'm considering building something that measures the top and bottom of the rim and do some math to calculate the angle (as soon as I get break loose those nuts.)
Caster: I don't know a good way to measure caster without spending money on a tool, but since I need to take the caster to minimum on the LF to get any meaningful camber, I simply take both of them to minimum and not worry about it.

And you probably have to settle the suspension some how so you get an accurate measurement.

Having said that, because of my inability to get the nut loose to adjust front toe, I ccouldn't get mine done, although I was 99% there. I may have to take it to a shop soon so I don't destroy my tires. Unless I can break them loose in the next few days.

 

laser toe plates, the best car tool I ever bought, you can get toe plates for use with a tape measure if you can't stomach the cost for laser

http://www.advancedracing.com/toe_plates.php


SmartCamber gauge, can also measure caster if you have a way to determine a 20 degree steering angle

http://www.advancedracing.com/smart_camber_gauge.php


another option for toe is the SmartStrings tool, it came along a few years after I bought the laser plates. The problem with the laser/tape plates is that they only measure total toe. You need a square toe setting to start and adjust each side equally to keep the steering wheel centered and the rear from crabbing

http://www.smartracingproducts.com/alignment.htm

 

Or get a buddy that owns an alignment shop Jay rocks

 

Check these auctions: 300112357145, 300112357192

The cost of two good alignments (or 3/7 of one good one if you're my friend with a Boxster going to the dealer!)

 

OK, now that we have some good ideas for measuring the alignment (did my toe), how about some DIY tips on doing the work? Things like...

1. How do you do the adjustment, mechanically?
2. Order of adjustment. AKA, caster, then camber, then toe?
3. Tips to make all this easier at all.

Thanks!

 

Seriously... Nobody has done their own alignment or knows how to?

 

the best way to learn is to get in there and get your hands dirty, it does take some basic equipment; a camber gauge, some string and stands, and a tape measure at a minimum

the factory service manual will detail the steps and adjustment methods, caster is the most difficult to DIY, but also the most overrated.

otherwise Google is your friend, there are plenty of home alignment DIYs on teh intrawebs

 

anybody have a copy of the diagram for the front and rear wheels?
Which bolt is for Toe adjustment?

 

Don't have a pic available right now because I'm posting from my phone but for the fronts you have to adjust the tie-rod ends and the rear is one of the lower control arms, if you're looking underneath the car from the rear you should be able to see the two adjustments, the one closer to the front of the car is the toe adjustment and the one closer to the rear is the camber adjustment. If you still need pics just post here and I'll get them for you tomorrow. Another thing is if you have access to a factory service manual it shows the process for aligning the car properly.

 

i really should just get that service manual already. if you could post or PM scans for the front and rear that would be good. appreciate it.

 

PM Sent

 

I just set up my car today. If I have time tomorrow I'll stop by work and take pics for ya

 

Thanks

 

all the hassle you are going to go through to maybe get the alignment close you could just pay and get it done right. Don't forget if you don't have plates that turn with the front wheels while you are adjusting toe plus a steering wheel lock, you most likely are going to have your steering wheel come out crooked and/ or pull. I do alignments all the time at work and i have had steering wheels come out crooked if one of the moving plates stick when adjusting toe. Like someone mentioned above, the suspension needs to be able to settle/adjust while you are moving toe around. Good luck.

And you adjust camber first, then toe. I would not touch your caster at all.

 

This is ALL assuming the chassis is straight.

If you pull onto an alignment rack a little crooked /| then the reference is going to be off unless it's a laser system with the packs on every corner to adjust.

If you do a string alignment, you'll quickly see that things are off on the body by a mm or so after adjusting the steering.
'
If you are doing a home setup, do me a favor. Come into a LEVEL garage with no adjustment to the steering wheel... wait, did I say LEVEL garage? Well close enough, lol.

Ahhh, I'm about to stop here, but morale of the story, you can't align if you don't have level and good references. *I've done plenty of string alignments and they are good, but the ultimate question is.... how do you verify your settings

 

Laser alignments work just fine. Then you can fine tune your alignment to actual specs. We have heads that go on each wheel so it doesn't matter how you pull on the rack for ours atleast. Also with the laser heads, you can align the front wheels to the back ones.