great alignment tools?

[jayjay9002]

so at my shop we do a lot of alignments (huge corporation) so they really push these. A lot of the younger guys including me who are tool limited have a lot of problems sometimes with either tie rods or some of them rear toe adjusting bolts that seize up yea we cheat with the heat wrench on the tie rods but sometimes it doesn't matter how much you heat them up you just can't get the damn lock nut loose from the inner threads. yea I've cheated and used one of my adjustable wrenches before to get more leverage but I really don't like using them because I've slipped and smooth out area of the inners. I've got mostly craftsman stuff and have broken several wrenches from the rear toe bolts from 3/8" to 1/2" ones. I guess I'm looking to my elders for some ideas on better tools that will give me more leverage and will hold up to getting some serious torque on them to make my job a little easier. I know the truck's have great quality but you actually have to see the guys in order to buy from them..and I really don't make enough money to buy their stuff. I've seen ratchets that will take half my paycheck to get. any ideas for a broke guy starting out.


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[e-tek]

Interested in this too, but a cheater bar over a 6 point box-end wrench would be my choice.

 

[bentwrench54]

i've used a small pipe wrench before, with a cheater bar on it.

 

[shockwave]

Try a hazet 756-22 they are great for loosening Tie rods

 

[jayjay9002]

that looks like it works pretty well I think I'll have to order that bad boy and see how it works


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[jayjay9002]

allright just looked them up but for 122 USD plus overseas shipping I don't think I can do that....


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[murphaayyy]

for rear toe bolts i like my gear wrenches:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...wrench+gearbox&rh=i:aps,k:gear+wrench+gearbox

they are pretty long and i have never had to add a bar on the end for more leverage. maybe apply heat but very, very rarely. you could order just a 17, 19, 21, 22 (or what ever sizes you find our using the most). i got the master set and have used them a lot, would recommend them to anyone. not a super fine tooth gearing, but they have never failed me.

edit: for supper stubborn inner tie rods bolts are you spraying pb blaster before heating? the heat will help push the pb into the threads.

 

[jayjay9002]

I love that idea 300 is high for me but that is a great idea a guy work with has 4 wrenches similar to this and he spent 300 on just them 4 I think they were from matco.


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[srmofo]

Real pair of vise grips on the inner (keep them off the inner threads) and a 14" pipe wrench (sometimes a pipe is necessary).

Its the nature of the beast. Those parts are exposed to all of the weather and sometimes you just dont have a choice. Either A) Pay to remove the outer, place vise grips on the inner and break the nut loose with an impact and socket or B) live with a few teeth marks on the jamb nut. 10 times out of 10 the customer will live with teeth marks just as long as they dont have to pay extra.

Another trick is to heat, quench,heat,quench.

and my last advise is to get some canning wax (parafin) or candles. Once heated, lightly quench, then melt some wax onto it. The threads will wick the wax into them and make it much easier to turn once it starts moving. Either way, you almost always need vise grips on the inner and at least a long pattern wrench.

If you are looking for long wrenches, gearwrench makes a nice long pattern that is affordable on almost any budget. Tooltopia frequently has BOGO sets . Right now it looks like its buy the long, get the stubbies, but they do change the deal
http://www.tooltopia.com/gearwrench-81916p.aspx

 

[Guns R Tools]

I have seen a alignment tech uses this
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...roup_ID=681237&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
on stubborn parts. I don't know exactly what size it was though.
Great leverage and bite.

 

[humpdawg]

Knipex pliers, cobras and plier wrenches were very useful to me back when I was doing alignments regularly. Snap on flank drive plus wrenches are awesome and their 1/2" drive dual 80 ratchets are better than anything else

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...roup_ID=681237&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

Buying tools that are not rebranded can save you some pennies. The problem is they cannot be warrantied as easily as their truck branded counterparts
Buy used whenever you can.

 

[NiteWolf]

i may be going out on a limb but what about a crows foot with a breaker bar or long ratchet.

 

[xstubsx]

channellock nutbuster for toe ajustment. and heat lots of heat sometimes. up here in canada unless the car is recent, your gonna have to get torches out to do an alignment.

 

[ex-x-fire]

These work good too.

 

[shockwave]

Also look at the snap on oh24 3/4 and oh28 7/8 flex head wrenches some of the best wrenches for alignments shame they don't make them anymore but on eBay all the time

 

[CHADD]

I use an adjustable crescent wrench on the tie rod jam nut. Then a pipe wrench on inner tie rod to break them free. I have an assortment of cheater bars ive collected over the years.

 

[mjl44]

I'm a DIYer, but when ever I need to break tie rod jam nuts free, I use a combination of PB Blaster, vise grips, a pipe wrench, and a couple 12" adjustable wrenches. Sometimes heat if needed. I have the Knipex adjustable pliers too which make quick work of turning the inner for a toe adjustment.

That Snapon long locking plier looks pretty sweet.

 

[Jagmandave]

I use an adjustable crescent wrench on the tie rod jam nut. Then a pipe wrench on inner tie rod to break them free. I have an assortment of cheater bars ive collected over the years.

This is exactly what I do too, I use my biggest crescent, a 14" and a pipe wrench about the same size, they will come loose.

However, I had some on the rear of a 90's era Concord that would not budge, I wound up taking them off and heating them with the torch and still they would hardly turn. Sometimes the best thing to do is replace them....

I reccomend NOT using vice grips, all they do is screw it up worse in my experience.

 

[MG44]

My alignment rack has bridge jacks. On cars that look to be troublesome, before even starting the alignment, we jack them up, remove the wheels, heat the jam nuts, and loosen with a long pattern wrench & hammer. Enough heat and it will eventually pop. I usually just use MAPP gas torch for portability. If it is stuck enough I will pull the torch set over, but that rarely happens.

Once you get it free, vice grips and penetrating oil (PB Blaster, Kroil) and have fun.

In my opinion the market price for alignments is way too low ($60 in my area) for all the work required to properly do one, especially if it the suspension has been hacked by somebody replacing parts and not even getting them remotely close.

Tons of tools required for alignments, we pretty much just covered toe in this thread, but start messing with control arms etc... and you need another bag of tools and tricks to loosen up large bolts and nuts sometimes with very limited space.

 

[Toolhorder]

I have seen a alignment tech uses this
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...roup_ID=681237&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog
on stubborn parts. I don't know exactly what size it was though.
Great leverage and bite.

Exactly what I use, knipex can't touch the amount of leverage they give.

 

[03protege]

Help a noob understand.. please

Do you have to have leverage on both the jam nut and the tie rod in order to break it free (2 wrenches/pliers turning in opposite directions)?

 

[Toolhorder]

Help a noob understand.. please

Do you have to have leverage on both the jam nut and the tie rod in order to break it free (2 wrenches/pliers turning in opposite directions)?

Technically yes. I usually put a wrench on the locknut and then bang it with my palm until it breaks free. If it doesn't want to play nice I use two wrenches. If that doesn't work I hold a wrench on one side and that Snappy plier setup on the locknut. That breaks it usually.

 

[gsmornot]

Glad I don't live up north when it comes to this kind of thing. Even on cars 20+ years of age I just use a couple of wrenches and spin the nut loose. Rare that I have run into a nut on a tie rod that has been too difficult to remove around here. Lucky for us.

 

[03protege]

Technically yes. I usually put a wrench on the locknut and then bang it with my palm until it breaks free. If it doesn't want to play nice I use two wrenches. If that doesn't work I hold a wrench on one side and that Snappy plier setup on the locknut. That breaks it usually.

Thanks, I will have to give that a go. Also those Snap On piers looks sweet.

 

[srmofo]

Technically yes. I usually put a wrench on the locknut and then bang it with my palm until it breaks free. If it doesn't want to play nice I use two wrenches. If that doesn't work I hold a wrench on one side and that Snappy plier setup on the locknut. That breaks it usually.

The problem he is running into is that the jamb nut will not break free from the inner. What happens is the inner tie rod will spin but the nut is still frozen to the inner.

Just wait till he gets one where the nut comes loose and the inner wont budge from the outer. I had one last saturday that took me the better part of half an hour to get moving. I was about do for one that bad, its been a while.

Oops wrong quote, I meant to grab the guy above you

 

[xurusaibobx]

great alignment tools? just upsell installing new tie rods ....

 

[ex-x-fire]

Did anyone mention one of these Tomcats yet? They let you adjust camber easily.

 

[oldstuff]

I recently bought one of those tomcats and they are really nice. Being a one man shop it has cut my camber adjustments significantly.

 

[Jagmandave]

How does that work? it just looks like an airhose.....

Edit: Nevermind, I looked it up....Google IS my friend!

 

[srmofo]

Did anyone mention one of these Tomcats yet? They let you adjust camber easily.

I have a tom cat and it honestly doesn't get pulled out that often anymore. Not many cars come with slotted struts. I'm pretty damngood at eye balling when new struts are installed with slots.

 

[brtsvg]

Glad I don't live up north when it comes to this kind of thing. Even on cars 20+ years of age I just use a couple of wrenches and spin the nut loose. Rare that I have run into a nut on a tie rod that has been too difficult to remove around here. Lucky for us.

Give thanks that you must not have the road salt that they go overboard on around here inthe MidWest. Makes all your underneath bolts problematic.

 

[joecon]

I have a set of wrenches from matco that are hinged so you can loop them over
the nut and work as a 6 point box wrench I also would beat on the nut before
I tried to turn it.Back up the nut with one hammer and hit the other side with
an other hammer it will help to loosen the nut.

 

[DoubleA]

These work good too.

The Pwz1 wrench is sweet. Map gas torch,pb blaster,vice grip. for the rear camber/toe bolts I use either long zero offset wrenches or 24" breaker bar and snapons longest 1/2 flex head ratchet which is longer than there breaker bar

And a good long adjustable wrench that has a rubber handle.

 

[silVINNYa]

This came in handy last semester.
http://www.frankstools.com/ktctierodwrm.html
It is pretty short but the handle is nice and wide and really thick, so i use to whack the wrench with a dead blow hammer.

 

[jredmond1107]

I'm about to get transferred to our busiest store to fill an empty front end/ alignment tech slot... I've been doing it here where I work now but not enough alignment volume to justify a dedicated position for me...I want to step on the truck w a list... the tech where i'm at now has pwz2 in my eyes that's unwieldy/overkill i MAY get the PWZ0-1 if y'all feel they're useful...
Right now I pretty much just Use my 3-piece Knipex pliers wrench set, a craftsman 15in adjustable, a Carlyle (horrible, just horrible) 1/2 long ratchet, Sunex long pattern metric wrench set, HF 1/2 impact socket set, sometimes use channellocks or cheap generic slip-joints (knurled inner applications), hand-me-down MAC prybar (also worthless), I bought a pair of knipex raptors off the cornwell guy but still havent used them, suggestions on usage for them? I am getting a substantial raise and not afraid to drop cash for tools that'll equal real productivity on the alignment rack.
zero degree wrenches: are the matco's just the gearwrench gearbox ones? I work with a Lincoln tech trainee who gets Snap-On at 50 percent off, better to get the Snappy double box zero degree wrench set (you know, the one with like 19 on one side 18 on the other) or the gearbox set at full price? Usually I use a long 1/2 ratchet for rear toe/camber accentrics, sometimes though there isn't enough room...
I saw another thread where the OP asked about an easy access camber tool for full-size trucks, any leads on that? I would really like to know what you pros are using for this specifically.
Also,any advice on how to upsell aftermarket adjustment parts(cams/shims/control arms/etc /labor to install? The location I'm at, ******* mgr is too scared to upsell, but the guy who I'm replacing at the other shop sold the **** out of them.

Is the tomcat thing just for "bump to adjust/" slotted struts?

 

[jredmond1107]

why use a MAPP torch when you have an oxy-acetylene setup? just wondering

 

[jredmond1107]

I forgot to mention my pipe wrenches 2x 24 inch cheapos for jeeps... i need toe hooks too... any experience with the HF cheapos? do I NEED tool truck quality when it comes to toe hooks

 

[ex-x-fire]

Yeah, the tomcat goes between the strut & the tire, lets you adjust the camber easily.

 

[foreverfalcon40]

eBay those snap on pliers. I bought 3 of them brand new with owner engravings for 177 shipped. That was 2 months ago . Shame I haven't used them yet...diesel tech

And no I am not selling lol

 

[Nitroinsane]

These work good too.

One of the best tools I have for alignments. I would also suggest a long handle pipe wrench and these http://www.mactools.com/shoponline/...451-tie-rodpitman-arm-adjusting-tool-set.aspx. As far as rear cam bolts. Long wrenches and long ratchets help. I live in Buffalo ny. Nothing moves easily here. I however only use a torch on alignment as a last resort. You have to cool the metal before you finish the adjustment. Or you will be off .02-.05