At home car toe alignment

[noid]

Toe Bar, that's the answer.

I've been looking for at at home solution for toe alignment; strings, plates, and tape measures have been a finicky pain.

Each mark is 1/16".

 

[lilredex]

Old school version uses a pipe and sliding rod, inside. Measured at 9 and 3 O'clock with 1/8" wider in the rear works on all my old RWD trucks.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Super cheap methods.

• Jack up the front so that the tires spin.
• Hold a screwdriver or some other somewhat sharp object against the tread of the tire and spin it making a mark around the circumference !
• You need an assistant to hold the end of the tape measure.

• Two pieces of 1/8" steel about 6" tall and long enough so that it goes past each end of the tire
• Two pieces 3/8" or thicker steel about 2" x 4"
• Two combination squares
• Eight or more magnets
• Use the the thicker bar as a base and use magnets to hold the 1/8" piece of steel to combination square to the base
• Place it up against the side of the tire

 

[pi_guy]

Toe needs to be done off the rim not the tire
What you need to do is create mounting points so you are working off the cars center line.
We use two bars one mounted in front other in rear and run string between them this way you can do toe on four wheels.

 

[mille755]

If you aren't changing it all the time ala racing. Or doing it professionally, I don't think you can beat the string mounted to jackstands, method. The first time I did it, it turned out perfect, took less than an hour, and my cars track width varies significantly front to rear so it took extra time. I have waited for several hours for an alignment, that is the only reason I do it myself.

 

[noid]

Toe needs to be done off the rim not the tire
What you need to do is create mounting points so you are working off the cars center line.
We use two bars one mounted in front other in rear and run string between them this way you can do toe on four wheels.

You can certainly do it off the tire; just make sure not to hit lettering. Traditional alignment machines need to reference off the rim because there is no percise way for the reference plates to clamp and move with the tire.

If paranoid you can measure the tire runout before proceeding.


Re: center line

Its a waste of time trying to find center. Its best to turn wheels lock to lock (turn plates make this easiest) to confirm the same amount of degrees are achieved on both locks. From there both sides should be adjusted in equal amounts for desired toe in/out.

Even easier, many cars have a center indicator at the steering rack knuckle. Although I only trust it if the rack is original.

 

[az45]

I use heads of of old alignment machines with a piece of aluminum angle bolted to them. If you don't want to make your own, Longacre Racing makes lots of portable equipment for us at the track or in the garage.

 

[wafrederick]

Tape measure,stay in one spot on the tire tread front and back

 

[zmotorsports]

Very nice job noid.

I have one similar but nowhere near as nice as yours.

 

[e36jon]

I have one of these from Longacre that I got a good deal on:

http://www.longacreracing.com/products.aspx?itemid=2445&prodid=7267&pagetitle=QuickToe%e2%84%a2-Setting-Tool

The one I have also accepts their camber/caster gauge so I feel like I can dial everything in that I need to. I made a few mods to mine, like rigging some bungee cords to hold it to the wheel, and dipping the tips that touch the rim in some of that vinyl dip stuff so that they won't mar the finish (That's what curbs are for!).

All I need now is an alignment lift so that I am not crawling around the ground to reach the tie-rods for adjustments.

 

[msbytes]

Tape measure,stay in one spot on the tire tread front and back

 

[noid]

Very nice job noid.

I have one similar but nowhere near as nice as yours.

Thanks but I didn't make it, its by longacre. ~$200.

 

[FTG-05]

Take tires off the vehicle
Clamp 3'' angle iron to each brake rotor.
Measure front to back easily and quickly - and most importantly, accurately.

 

[noid]

Take tires off the vehicle
Clamp 3'' angle iron to each brake rotor.
Measure front to back easily and quickly - and most importantly, accurately.

You do your alignments with the suspension unloaded?

 

[Ilikeike]

String off the back tires work in a pinch.

 

[pi_guy]

You can certainly do it off the tire; just make sure not to hit lettering. Traditional alignment machines need to reference off the rim because there is no percise way for the reference plates to clamp and move with the tire.

If paranoid you can measure the tire runout before proceeding.


Re: center line

Its a waste of time trying to find center. Its best to turn wheels lock to lock (turn plates make this easiest) to confirm the same amount of degrees are achieved on both locks. From there both sides should be adjusted in equal amounts for desired toe in/out.

Even easier, many cars have a center indicator at the steering rack knuckle. Although I only trust it if the rack is original.

I was taught over 40 years ago and you will find major disagreements in your method. Some of the people I have worked with and been taught by have published books that are very well accepted in the industry. carry on

 

[noid]

I was taught over 40 years ago and you will find major disagreements in your method. Some of the people I have worked with and been taught by have published books that are very well accepted in the industry. carry on

'Taught', 'books' and 'accepted' bear little weight when mathematics are involved. Certainly those teachers and authors didn't write books devoid of detail (I hope)

Lets talk runout, degrees, inches or similar. Whats your concern?