Alignment...just DIY it.

[toedrag]

What started out as a simple desire to get my alignment checked has turned into a fun little game, and it has once again, confirmed for me why I am such an avvid DIYer. Read on...The lesson: Be careful what shop you use for alignments, and don't be afraid to try it yourself.

There are 3 shops in my area that will give you a free alignment check, i.e. just hooking your car up to the machine and getting its measurements read back. Note: for the free check at Firestone, you apparently have to print out an online quote for alignment services, even if you have no plans to actually buy that service; this was a topic of debate between Firestone & I. I started at Firestone, then NTB (same day), and lastly Sears on the following day. Here is the interesting part...the results are VASTLY DIFFERENT across all 3 shops. See the results below. I had to approximate the values from Sears b/c they didn't include actual numbers for whatever reason (maybe that costs extra ).

Firestone:

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NTB:

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Sears:

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Questions:

• If I were to have one of these shops actually adjust my alignment, who would I use if all their results are different?
• Are their results different b/c of operator error, eqp't miscalibration, other?
• Is my alignment actually changing this much as I'm driving down the road? (I say this jokingly...it's not this)

I had one more experiment to do, which is the good-ol DIY alignment measurement. I've done this before on prior vehicles, and I trust it over any shop's measurements. The downside is that it's time consuming. I went to the local HW store and picked up $12 worth of materials to make a new jig to measure toe & $8 for aluminum angle to measure camber:

• qty 2, 10' pieces of 1" metal conduit pipe (electrical isle), and yes, they fit in the G8 for transport back home - bring a couple of hand towels or socks to prevent interior scratches. Cut to 82" long with 1/8" diameter holes drilled exactly 2" from each end. The important part is that the distance between the holes is the same between the two pipes. If the span of the holes on one pipe is 78", so should the other. The closer the spans are to being perfectly matched, the more accurate your results will be.
• qty 2, 1 7/8" foam pipe insulation (plumbing isle). Wraps over the conduit pipe to protect the car.
• qty 1, 4' aluminum angle (usually near the fasteners). Cut to 20.5". This is what I use to measure camber, along with a digital level.

And, btw, I don't claim to have created any of the DIY techniques I'm using. I've picked them up from the interwebs over the last few years. My favorite sources are:

• For Toe, http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f91/...ignment-45655/
• For Camber, http://www.britishspeed.com/forum/sh...er-Measurement and for you folks with Smartphones that have clinometer apps (not sure about accuracy), http://www.britishspeed.com/forum/sh...er)-using-iPad

I have to say that camber is sooooo easy to measure. You can get pretty decent results with even just basic hand tools, such as a Framing Square & Angle Finder/Clinometer from a HW store. The trick to getting accurate results is making sure you reference the surface on which each tire sits since a floor or lift may not be perfectly level where that particular tire is. And, depending on your wheel design, if the spokes interfere with your measurement, add some standoffs to your straightedge. It only takes me about 2-3 mts per wheel to measure camber.

My manually measured results were, unsurprisingly, also vastly different than each of the shops' results mentioned above. Let's start with camber. I measured camber 3 different times, in different spots in the garage, backing the car in once, and once using plastic bags filled with coolant under the tires another time. All my results were within 0.1 degrees of each other.

Camber summary:

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Toe summary:
Toe takes considerably longer; it takes me 20-30 mts just to get the car strung, and then another 20-30 mts to measure. I usually make multiple measurements per wheel. Because adjusting camber will affect toe, if you measure your toe before making any camber adjustments, you'll need to remeasure toe after completing the camber changes. Point being, save yourself some time and only measure toe after making camber changes.







The eccentric bolts used for adjustment on the G8 were new to me, but they're easy to work with. As you turn the bolt, it moves the suspension arm/rod in and out. The fronts are also very easy to adjust using the camber bolt. I've measured camber multiple times after my adjustments, and the results have been consistent. If anyone is curious about the operation of an eccentric bolt, I made a quick video where I turned the eccentric bolt one complete revolution, and if you look closely, you can see the arm move out then back in:

[wreckwriter]

Wow, nice post!

[SpeedRacerX]

Great post. I guess if the Egyptians could build pyramids 3000-4000 years ago, I guess I could probably do my own alignment.

Cool!

[toedrag]

Great post. I guess if the Egyptians could build pyramids 3000-4000 years ago, I guess I could probably do my own alignment.

Cool!

ROFL...I said the exact same thing!

[g8gxp]

Needs a sticky for sure.

[Kermit]

^^^^^ I second that! Make this a sticky so I know where to go when it's time for me to do another alignment.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

The places that you went can you tell me if the alignment machines had sensors or targets on them?
Sensors are larger and use lasers to send beams between the other sensors on the wheels.
Targets are basically just reflectors that are seen by cameras in a large overhead boom. these typically flash red lights when they are working.

[Got 8?]

The places that you went can you tell me if the alignment machines had sensors or targets on them?
Sensors are larger and use lasers to send beams between the other sensors on the wheels.
Targets are basically just reflectors that are seen by cameras in a large overhead boom. these typically flash red lights when they are working.

Whats best ??? I'm getting a Street 1 installed on the 27th and will need an alignment done after that and some other bits are put on...

[Rob@WretchedMS]

they are both good, but the one with the sensors are typically older, and if one of the heads is dropped it can throw out the calibration.
The Targets don't have the issue since the sensitive parts are all up in the boom that is not really every touched,

but if the calibrations are good, both will do just as good of a job as the other.

if a shop give you a print out, but then writes the numbers on it by hand, that's not a good sign.

[WiscoG8]

Awesome post I might give this a try..

as for this comment

Great post. I guess if the Egyptians could build pyramids 3000-4000 years ago, I guess I could probably do my own alignment. Cool!

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