hi guys.

i have afew question regarding my diy alignment. im triying to iron out my process to get as accurate as i can.. i dont feel like paying $60 to get my toe adjusted.


i am doing the alignment on my 1990 acura integra.

i use:
2 jackstands
fishing line, its a replacement for string. works jus as good.
4 wood blocks
ruler
adjustable wrench
level
strip of ply-wood with two screws drilled through.



i begin by driving the car up on the 4 blocks of wood. one for each wheel.

i then set the strip of ply-wood on the steering wheel and set the level on top. then i tape them together and use this contraption to make sure the steering wheel remains straight.

then i set up the fishing like on the jack stands (i would like to have 4 jack stands, but im workin with what i got)

then i use the ruler and measure the same length away from the hub in the front and in the rear to make sure the string, or fishing line is straight and true.

this is the part where im not too sure, i have read on team integra,or club integra that the front and rear track width was different so im not sure if the line i use for reference is straight and true.

after i set up what i belive is a true line i then measure the front and rear of the tire in comparison to the line and i adjust the tie rod as necessary until the tirere is zeroed out. in other words, the gap between the tire and the string is equal at the front and rear of the tire.


my main question is.. what is the front and rear track width on da9 integras. also. is my procedure correct. doing my alignment this way. will it work like i plan for it to? or do you guys see any flaws?

 

Nobody has thoughts on this? Come on H-T! Haha

 

Yes.. Seeing as there's guesswork and uncertainty on your part...
Work with what financials you can, and take it in.

 

Well. Help me make it more accurate. If i have to i will take it in. But i wanna try my hardest to do it myself.

I think of i can get the specs of the front and rear track on my teggy then i can make sure that the reference line is true and straight so my measurements wont be off

 

And the fact that i just have 2 jackstands dosent make it any less accurate. Lolz. But i really would appreciate front and rear track widts

 

Search on HT under string alignment. I believe 4 thread and well over 100 posts. It's a start. There are many self alignment articles in Google.

 

Find a local shop or dealership that does free alignment checks and abuse it lol. That's what I've been doing for quite some time. My local Honda dealership has alignment plates in their service area that you just drive over and it'll read and print your toe settings. Then work off of that..

 

Is that right? I might have to try my local dealership

 

i searched string alignment and only 4 threads showed up.

 

4 threads, many posts. No info there?

 

not really. they dont go into detail about the percedure..
and the two threads that actually talk about alignments all link to the cspeed racing site.

 

Your process seems pretty good. The track width front to rear is the same, so make certain that string is the exact distance from the hub in front as it is in the rear. Also, heres another string method where he used suction cups. It's quite easy to bump into a jackstand and have to redo it. It's also on a itr where I suppose the track width is 10mm wider in front than rear and so the string is 5mm farther from the rear hub than it is in the front.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-type-r-8/diy-r-alignment-quick-method-2631081/

 

you need 2 parallel lines of string in order to do the alignment. so you need 4 jackstands. measure the distance at each end, make sure thats equal. then measure the distance from the hubs, or center of the wheel, to the string at each corner. make sure those are equal. if the front and rear have different track widths, youd know this then, but its not a big deal, just make it equal on each side by readjusting the lines of string, make sure they stay parallel.

then you measure the distance at the 3 and 9 o clock positions of the wheel to the string and subtract the difference. thats your toe.

its a pain to do, there are other ways to DIY alignment. this is just one.

 

alright guys thanks guys!
im gonna go out and do this now.

 

Did my alignment and i zeroed it out on both sides. I took it for a ride and it feel okay. It kinda wants to drift to the left a little so the steering wheel is crooked to the right just a tad. I got back home and i measured it again.. Now i didnt have the level on the steering wheel but it was prettt close. I remeasured and now i measure positive toe on both tires. About 3 mm deviation from front of tire to rear. That is: the front of the tire is 3 mm further away from the reference line than the back. Should i redo it?

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes-54/toe-out-2873126/

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=19

 

I appreciate it bro.. I gotta redo it and get consistant

 

I just measure right off the rims and I get mine closer than the machines, I have taken it in. if you measure down to less than 1mm, and everything it straight you will be fine. Look up the accuracy of the machines, and then also who is doing the alignment. Tons of people just set it in the range and if three wheel are out to one side on the range it will pull. There is a guy here in town that gets them dead on but to me not worth it when I have fun doing it my self.

 

^ agreed.

i feel better doin it myself.

and i measured off the tire and rim. just to see that i have similar measurements from both.

 

maybe some pictures can help...

 

shouldn't you use some type of plate to go against the tire? you can buy aluminum plates with slots in them and then just use a tape measure. longacre sells them.

i have toe gauge which is basically a long adjustable metal rod that goes across and under the car. you then adjust it to zero it out at the rear of the tires. then pull it out and measure the front of the tires and the gauge tells the toe. literally takes about 3 minutes.

and of course you're not going to be as accurate as an $80k machine but you can definitely do it yourself and get great results. it ain't rocket science. and in my experience, alignment shops are good at taking your money and really bad about doing the full alignment correctly. they always seem to come up with some reason why they didn't adjust something.

 

guess i should have read the links first. i was thinking you measured from one tire to the other instead of against the string. in that case, i like the suction cup method in the link.