Home alignment

Good Day!

I have been trying to figure out the best most economical way to align my LeMons car.

I recently saw the new wheel stands from FM and they got me thinking about this.

How do you guys align your cars? I have a camber gauge, a large level, some string, several jack stands, some plates I can put grease between, etc.

Any help is appreciated!

Rob R.

Good series of videos on the subject here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZoL1gaWedA

I use jack stands and string but the FM stands are very nice.

I've usually used a straight edge, a level, and a protractor for rough camber measurements (enough to get within a manufacturer's spec, not for a precision alignment) for cars that have adjustable caster/camber.

For toe adjustment, I have a set of two flat curtain rods. Pick a tread line on each tire, and prop a curtain rod against the front and back of the tires, and extend them to the said tread line. Clamp them with a vise grip so they don't slide, pull them both out from under the car, and measure the difference. Adjust accordingly, and recheck.

Thats my super budget, el cheapo alignment method. I should consider getting some proper tools for the job, but this works, just tends to take a few iterations.

good idea about the curtain rods.

how do you guys deal with a lowered car? Stick it up on some big wood blocks to get clearance to work underneath?

Even then I don't much like the idea of spinning wrenches under my car while it sits on some greased up surfaces. Of course I've never done my own alignment before so am I overestimating the degree of wrenching required?

In reply to failboat:

I tend to prefer not to work under the car to do alignment work. All my measuring is done wheels on the car, on the ground. Jack up the car and put jackstands under it to make adjustments, drop the car back down, and roll it forward and back several times, then recheck my measurements. Its slow, but again, I'm a bit of a cheapskate, and paranoid about safety.

Without a proper lift (which I've never had) you get to raise and lower the car each time you want to make an adjustment. It sucks and you get damned tired of crawling on the ground.

I find that putting only 2 or 3 lugnuts/bolts on snugly will ease the pain of removing and installing the wheels if you don't have stands.

My Dad built wooden stands for under the wheels to raise the car slightly so that we don't have to jack the car very high, just enough to pull the wheels off. The rears don't move thanks to stops he put into either side of the contact patch (like on mechanics ramps), which provides the needed stability to work under the car (mostly for adjusting toe) while the fronts are on similar blocks that are allowed to "float" since they are shimmed with polished particle board placed face to face (instant bearing surface).

We also built some alignment string rods that bolt to the bumper bolts of the cars and stick out a foot on either side of the car. The square steel is notched slightly to hold the string and since the bars are attached to the car, adjustments and bouncing/rolling the car afterward don't require re-measuring the jack stands usually used to hold the strings.

If you have a set of steel wheels, some scrap steel and welder, you could probably build a set of wheel stands using the centers of the steel wheel welded to a sturdy base which can then be placed on some polished wood to provide a bearing surface.

Either way, you need to take weight off the struts if you want to adjust camber, but toe you can do with the car on the ground, but it is easier to do in the air. Also, with strut equipped cars, adjusting the camber will alter the toe, so do the camber first, then the toe, rinse, repeat.

Hope this helps and keep in mind that most cars won't be perfect as they have manufacturing tolerances and bushings, etc. The goal is to get it even on both sides and that it is repeatable (meaning if you move the car around on level ground, it should measure the same.)

I use a camber gauge, but for toe- I made some toe plates out of some 16 gauge metal I have laying around. I also built my own 'lazy susan' wheel stands out of a couple scrap thrust bearings from work for quick adjustment. It's a bear to reach the tie rods to adjust, but it's a lot faster than jacking the car up every time an adjustment is made.

Camber gauge for camber and a level, a square steel bar, some bungee cords and a tape measure for toe. Go slowly, rock the car a lot to get the bind out, and measure until it's repeatable. The more you do it the easier it is.

After trying to do my own alignment once, I decided this was one of those crap jobs that I would happily pay someone who has all the proper equipment to do for me.

Remember, you need to get it on flat, level ground. Even the nice hangar floor I had access too had too much variation in the surface to adjust camber to tenths of a degree.

Beer Baron wrote: After trying to do my own alignment once, I decided this was one of those crap jobs that I would happily pay someone who has all the proper equipment to do for me. Remember, you need to get it on flat, level ground. Even the nice hangar floor I had access too had too much variation in the surface to adjust camber to tenths of a degree.

Used thin pieces of wood to level the car with a large level. Marked the location of the pieces on the floor. Done.

I do strings and jack stands for alignments. For a quick toe check, I have something similar to east side's curtin rods. I made a device out of threaded pipe- like you'd use for gas line. Long bottom section with 90s on each end, then short uprights to get to mid wheel, then "T" fittings on top of those. On one side there's a short return.

Sling it under the car and push the bottom pipe against the back of the tires. Then rotate it up until you can push the short return against the rim. Go to the other side and measure the distance from the end of the "T" to the wheel. Then move it to the front of the tire and repeat. Works great and it's really fast.

You can measure camber pretty precisely using a bubble level, dial caliper, and some basic trig.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

I use a straight-edge and an Android (DroidX). It is accurate to a 10th.

I use two 24" level attached to the wheels with short bungee cords. I cut a slot in the ends and put my tape measure in the slot. That way I can check toe by myself. For camber I happen to have a gauge left over from my racing days.

I also use a level app on my iPhone. Even used it at work to machine an 8 degree angle on a part. Checked it with a precision protractor and it was dead on.