Anyone use it, is it easy to use ?

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...45742

 

Its not really a think you can use singlehandedly to do an alignment.. They do make it a bit easier but by no means is it going to help massively!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Want2race &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its not really a think you can use singlehandedly to do an alignment.. They do make it a bit easier but by no means is it going to help massively!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well I am just looking to do alignments on the front end, mostly toe though. I should of stated that. Sorry

 

turn plates wont tell you your toe alignment. theyre good for reducing stiction caused by the tires gripping the road as you adjust. but youre supposed to roll the car back and forth to settle the suspension and tires after each adjustment anyway. secondly, used to measure caster as it sweeps from lock to lock. im actually a bit unsure of this measurement exactly, but thats how its done. lastly, it allows you to measure lock to lock, for whatever thats worth. i guess to see if the middle position is centered equally each side.

but it doesnt measure toe. it just allows you to move the steering without raising the wheels.

what you need is longacre toe plates. dont knock the tape measurement. its pretty damn accurate and repeatable measurement. the only problem is that you need two ppl.
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/long19.htm

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what you need is longacre toe plates. dont knock the tape measurement. its pretty damn accurate and repeatable measurement. the only problem is that you need two ppl.
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/long19.htm
</TD></TR></TABLE>

two people are not necessary. i use the longacre toe plates by myself with no problems.

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

two people are not necessary. i use the longacre toe plates by myself with no problems.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you need to use the whole string / triangle setup to use the toe plates? Can they be used just by themselves?

 

i use the toe plates by themselves. i set my thrust angle by taking a simple test drive to see which way it's pulling then make small adjustments until it is straight.

nate

 

JCwhitney has a great tool for camber, its about $60. As for toe, spray paint a white stripe on the tire, then spin it and scrib a mark with a pick or a sharpie all the way around the tire. Get a buddy or sharpen the end of a tape measure so you can stick it into the rubber a bit and set the toe with a tape measure. This is the most accurate way to do it...period. Alignment machines can sometime give inaccurate measurement if the rim is slightly bent, even if you go through the runout compensating procedure, and the "toe guages" from Harbor Freight and everywhere else generally use the outer sidewall of the tire as a reference, which is not a very good place to measure from.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LBHgti &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> As for toe, spray paint a white stripe on the tire, then spin it and scrib a mark with a pick or a sharpie all the way around the tire. Get a buddy or sharpen the end of a tape measure so you can stick it into the rubber a bit and set the toe with a tape measure. This is the most accurate way to do it...period. </TD></TR></TABLE>

problem with this method i have personally experienced is that theres not a lot of clearance under the car to get a straight distance between two tires. at the max height, you dont really reach high enough that the distance front and back side of the tire is not enough to get a more accurate number. i dunno, maybe youve had better experience or im not doing it properly. toe plates have been the best way for me.

using toe plates that index to the sidewalls of the tire is accurate enough and convenient. scott shares his experience of using toe plates with a laser alignment. i have similar experience as well, but it wasnt documented.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1180799