In reply to Basil Exposition:
My plates are about 50# each. Shipping is going to be high.
jrubins
New Reader
6/22/16 4:27 p.m.
I use a couple of cheap (dollar store) aluminum pizza plates on top of each other. If they bind, add a little salt between the two plates. Works pretty well for $4. :)
z31maniac wrote:
Tulsa meet! Shoot me a PM. I'm usually available when I'm at work or helping a buddy of mine wrench on his car.
I'm down for that! I guess I'm too new to the forum to send a PM though. As I said earlier, I have a set of Longacre turn plates, digital camber/caster gauge, scales and levelers.
OT again.
Tulsa folks. For my email, take my screenname on this forum @gmail.com
Gotcha. Email coming your way.
Hey Tulsa folks, make sure you send your emails to z31maniac!
Sorry to revive an old thread, but I had a question on the home alignment methods.
I get that camber can be measured pretty easily, but I can't figure out the string method for getting toe aligned perfectly. Obv if the toe is out by some crazy amount it's visible, but if we're talking about a small amount like 1/16th, how does one find where true 0 toe is? If I just set the strings parallel to the face of the wheel, how will I know how much to adjust (meaning, if the toe is off by 1/16, then the string will also be off by the same amount)? Alternatively, how does one find the line for zero toe?
Toe plates
two same lot tape measure if you want 1/8 toe out the front tape should read 1/8 more then the rear.
In reply to 44Dwarf :
I've seen those, but the two problems that immediately come to mind are:
1) how to ensure it's pointed straight (at least without someone holding the wheel to make sure adjusting the plates do not change the steering angle)?
2) It's a total adjustment, vs. a wheel specific adjustment. E.g., If you want a total front toe out of 1/8 an inch, you can get there by having 1/8 toe out on right, left, or 1/16th toe out on both, or any combination in between. So the solution is to do one side at a time to get to 1/16th, but are the plates repeatable enough to ensure 1/16th can be achieved?
Am I overthinking this? Just seems like 1/16th is just a small amount that any disturbance could impact the final alignment.
44Dwarf
UberDork
4/19/19 12:43 p.m.
Well for a street car you'd want equal on both sides for circle track car you often only set the LF this increases the dynamic ackerman in the turn.
Center the rack at the inner tie rod ends if possible. hang two plumb bobs off inner ball joints measure to the inner tie rods and center then use the plates. If the plate go high enough up the side wall they will be accurate but wheels can be bent as well so that needs to be check aswell. So racers scrib a line on the tire (jack up and spin) then measure from there but that take two people...
I used to just use a couple steel plates with some grease in between them. Worked great, but got messy to store lol. Now I just adjust, roll, adjust, roll,. And so on.