Anybody do their own alignment?
#6
Tour de Franzia
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I am borrowing the Iron Canyon string kit and going to give it a shot on a 4-post lift I can rent for $25/hr. If that works I'm buying the IC hubstands. I'm tired of paying for this ****. Sunny and Emilio motivated me to embrace my testosterone and align my own stuff.
#7
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My logic is that for a street car, tolerances from factory spec are within 6mm (3 +-3) and the cams are at least twice as accurate as that (for most adjustments) with a single graduation. One, Whole, Graduation. It's not rocket science, get it within two notches and you're good. Fancy laser machines will get you down to fractions of a mm but do I really need that to not get noticeable wear driving to my friendly neighborhood flophouse?
To the guys who do their own with strings, how do you do it differently?
#10
Tour de Franzia
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My logic is that for a street car, tolerances from factory spec are within 6mm (3 +-3) and the cams are at least twice as accurate as that (for most adjustments) with a single graduation. One, Whole, Graduation. It's not rocket science, get it within two notches and you're good. Fancy laser machines will get you down to fractions of a mm but do I really need that to not get noticeable wear driving to my friendly neighborhood flophouse?
To the guys who do their own with strings, how do you do it differently?
#11
Boost Czar
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My logic is that for a street car, tolerances from factory spec are within 6mm (3 +-3) and the cams are at least twice as accurate as that (for most adjustments) with a single graduation. One, Whole, Graduation. It's not rocket science, get it within two notches and you're good. Fancy laser machines will get you down to fractions of a mm but do I really need that to not get noticeable wear driving to my friendly neighborhood flophouse?
To the guys who do their own with strings, how do you do it differently?
#13
Its not worth it to me right now. I get the car corner weighted an aligned for 130 bucks. It takes just under 2 hours of my life including driving to the shop and sitting in the car while its weighted and aligned. I'm likely going to end up getting more this year than the two times I had it done last year only because of more mid season parts changes. I get everything set within =/-0.05* which is the limit of this particular machines ability to measure. And my man always hits spot on to the number. So to me, its not really worth it to spend the time, unless I could get the same accuracy, do it under 3 hours, and require 5+ alignments/year.
#14
It's not about saving money or making tires last longer. It's about experimenting, learning, and dialing in the handling.
Changing toe has a huge impact and can be done without any equipment other than a couple of wrenches. Make small adjustments to both sides and drive. Keep track of where the eccentrics were, go back if you want. If things get a little effed up THEN you take it to the shop and have them straghten it out.
But if you're careful nothing will go wrong. You'll have a car that handles the way you always wanted it to, and you'll be a hero in your own mind just like me.
Note that I'm talking about adjusting toe. Camber is harder to change without changing toe at the same time, but adjusting toe is free and easy. Destroying tires is an honor.
Changing toe has a huge impact and can be done without any equipment other than a couple of wrenches. Make small adjustments to both sides and drive. Keep track of where the eccentrics were, go back if you want. If things get a little effed up THEN you take it to the shop and have them straghten it out.
But if you're careful nothing will go wrong. You'll have a car that handles the way you always wanted it to, and you'll be a hero in your own mind just like me.
Note that I'm talking about adjusting toe. Camber is harder to change without changing toe at the same time, but adjusting toe is free and easy. Destroying tires is an honor.
#15
My logic is that for a street car, tolerances from factory spec are within 6mm (3 +-3) and the cams are at least twice as accurate as that (for most adjustments) with a single graduation. One, Whole, Graduation. It's not rocket science, get it within two notches and you're good. Fancy laser machines will get you down to fractions of a mm but do I really need that to not get noticeable wear driving to my friendly neighborhood flophouse?
To the guys who do their own with strings, how do you do it differently?
#16
Junior Member
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My logic is that for a street car, tolerances from factory spec are within 6mm (3 +-3) and the cams are at least twice as accurate as that (for most adjustments) with a single graduation. One, Whole, Graduation. It's not rocket science, get it within two notches and you're good. Fancy laser machines will get you down to fractions of a mm but do I really need that to not get noticeable wear driving to my friendly neighborhood flophouse?
To the guys who do their own with strings, how do you do it differently?
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