I have found in my area that very few shops want to do an alignment on a car that is lowered or has any camber to it outside stock specifications. I have also found that the shops around me are terrible at performing alignments. I know the steps below look very long but once you have done this once or twice its very easy I can do an alignment in about 20 minutes from start to finish. For whatever reason there is a misconception that you need some fancy equipment to do an alignment. I developed this method after getting tired of paying for a shop to do an alignment and print me a piece of paper saying it was perfect only to have the car pull like crazy. I have also found my tires last much longer when I check alignment after any time I touch anything suspension related which I used to be too cheap to do at $75 a pop when I was paying a shop. I used to only do an alignment if I noticed an issue; now I just check every time. There is nothing complicated about this it’s pretty simple geometry, I have done countless alignments and can pretty easily get a car to run in a perfectly straight line without touching the wheel for 5-10 seconds on the highway at 70 mph which is my test after I align a car. The last set of tires on my car with a decent amount of camber wore evenly after 60k miles so I have pretty good faith in my system. The steps below are to align toe you really don’t need to pay too much attention to camber, adjust your camber so each side matches as close as you can get it using whatever method works for you even if its just a visual check I have found that is enough to get even tire wear and for the car to drive straight. I have found toe has a huge effect on tire wear much more than any reasonable camber. Once you have done this a few times you will pretty quickly be able to diagnose the issue from just driving a car. In general you will find if your car is pulling hard to one side it is usually because it is toe out. For example if it pulls to the right the passenger side wheel is probably toe out, both may be toe out but the passenger side wheel will be more. If it doesn’t pull hard to one side but doesn’t drive straight, is not very response, and the steering wheel is a little crooked let’s say turned to the left a little it is probably toe in and the driver side wheel is farther in then the passenger wheel. Below are the steps to fix these issues, next time I do this I will take photos and add them to this post.

Items needed: tape measure (needs 1/16” markings), (4) 5 gallon buckets, about 40 LF of string, whatever wrenches you need to adjust tie rod ends.

1. Make sure your tie rod lock bolts are loose and the tie rods move freely for adjustment. Once you get things setup you will not want to jack up the vehicle. You may need to get it up on jack stands so you have easy access to loosen the lock nut but throughout the rest of the process the car needs to be sitting on the ground the entire time to get the alignment right. It can be tricky to adjust the tie rods with the car sitting on the ground with a lower car as you may have very little room. So you will want to get the tie rod bolts spinning very freely. I recommend spinning them to their extents with never seize.

2. Pull vehicle into driveway or any flat surface making sure when you park the steering wheel is straight. Put the driver side window down, you may need to turn the steering wheel later and may not be able to open the door.

3. Fill buckets about 1/3 with water so they have enough weight you can get some good tension in the string. Setup buckets at 4 corners of car (a,b,c,d below), like the sketch below buckets need to be a little past the front and back of the car so you can run a tape between the 2 buckets at the front and also between the two buckets at the rear (dimensions X below) don’t worry about any measurements yet.

4. Tie string around the handle of one of the buckets on the driver side and run it back to the other bucket on the driver side and tie it to that handle. Give yourself an extra foot or two of string. Repeat for the passenger side.

5. Turn the buckets so the string is tight against the edge of the buckets as shown in the sketch below. Make sure the string is tight to the edge of the bucket not a fin or lip, also make sure the string is as close to possible to the center of your wheels (vertically).

6. Now measure from the center of your wheel to the string and make all the measurements match. Start with A and C, then move to B and D, then go back to A and C and double check, if B and D were far off you will need to adjust A and C a little. You want this measurement to be as close to the wheel as you can get it without it hitting the tire or rim or body.

7. Now hook your tape measure on the inside edge of bucket A and measure to the inside edge of bucket C. Record this measurement (dimension x in the sketch) and repeat for B and D, usually one measurement will be larger. For this example let’s say A and C were 73” inches apart and B and D were 74”. You need to move buckets A and C each a half inch farther so the measurement will then be 74”. Now check what the measurement is from the center of the wheels.

8. A and C should now match and B and D should also match. Record the measurement off the wheel to the string for A/C, B/D, and also record the dimension X. In the future once you have these three measurements you can just setup everything to these dimensions and you are good to go skipping steps 5-6.

9. At this point you have 2 lines on either side of the car that are perfectly parallel to your car and each other. Now measure off the front and back edge of each front rim. This measurement should be the exact same for each wheel. If it is not your out of alignment. If the front measurement is larger than the back measurement it means you are toe in. You need to bring the back of the wheel in so turn the bolt in the tie rod to the right to reduce the length of the tie rod. If this front measurement is smaller you are toe out, turn the tie rod bolt out to increase the length of the tie rod.

10. It is very important as you make adjustments that you keep an eye on the steering wheel making sure it is not moving, if you are adjusting the tie rod and the wheel is not moving it probably means the steering wheel is moving. Usually it will not move but on some cars it will. This is why I said to put the window down in the first step, if it does move a little just move it back to center and you should be fine.

11. Once you get the measurement on each wheel as close to perfect as you can measure with the tape measure, tighten the lock bolts and go for a test drive. The car should be good now but it is not uncommon that I have to set it up again and make a minor adjustment after the test drive. After the second test drive if it is still having issues in my experience the problem is probably the result of a loose suspension component or inconsistencies with the tires neither of which an alignment will fix.

 

That's a very good post.
I don't even go that far - I do it by eye, sighting down the sidewalls of the tyres at one end of the car to the tyres at the other.

Your steps 6 to 8 I replace by measuring the difference between front and rear track. I don't even use a tape, because it is only the difference between the two measurements that matters.
I have a length of straightened steel fuel pipe with some 1/8" rod inserted into it. Neither is perfectly straight so there is good friction to stop the two sliding against each other when you are comparing the distance between the inner sidewalls.

Once the track difference is recorded for a particular car type you don’t need to re-measure unless a car turns up with a mixture of tyre or wheel widths, or offsets.
Some people find it hard to focus and get a consistent result for lining up a tyre close to their eye against one a couple of metres away. If you try several times each side but can’t get a reliable consistent measurement, the bucket-and-string method is better for you!

I do take issue with statements like: “if it pulls to the right the passenger side wheel is probably toe out, both may be toe out but the passenger side wheel will be more.”
The car neither knows nor cares whether the steering wheel is straight. On a flat surface, it will drive in a straight line when the slip angles of the two tyres on each axle are equal and opposite.
There are several reasons why the wheel should not be straight when driving straight. And there are also several reasons why the car will pull to one side when your hands are off the wheel.

Tyre wear, damage, or unequal pressure is easily tested. Swap the two front wheels and see what happens. Then swap the two rears. If everything stays the same each time, there is no difference between the tyres.

Ideally as part of the alignment process you should count the turns left and right that the steering wheel can be turned. Set the wheel in the middle of this. If it’s not pointing straight, then one of the steering shaft couplings, or the wheel, must be loosened and adjusted.
(Warning: airbag and other wires are coiled up behind the wheel and MUST NOT be moved too far in either direction. The flat cable, like a clockwork spring if you can remember what that used to look like, can only accommodate a certain amount of rotation!)
Once the wheel is centred, the tie-rods should be lengthened and tightened on opposite sides so the front wheels are pointed straight. Similarly, the rear wheels, if adjustable, should be pointed straight or have equal amounts of toe-in or toe-out.

But this isn’t really critical to handling or tyre wear - don’t go overboard with this. If the rear wheels are slightly offset in direction to one side, the car will travel slightly crab-wise, but if this is small it really doesn’t matter. Similarly, a slight amount of steering lock difference each side merely results in a slightly better turning circle one way. And the steering wheel a little off-centre isn’t the end of the world.
It’s more important to get both wheels at each end of the car pointing parallel, or with the necessary slight amount of toe-in or –out that is required to produce even tyre wear.

Have a look at my post on tyre wear at the bottom of:
https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspen...3307704/page2/
And remember that no two car, driver or tyre combinations will need exactly the same alignment. The “ideal” setting will be different for city and highway use, for cruising and racing, and especially for asymmetric as opposed to symmetrical tread patterns.

 

The wheelbase of cars is typically about 7 times the rim diameter, so a change of toe of 1/16" will move the visual alignment against the rear tyre by about 7/16"; 3 mm toe is about 20mm.

Whichever method you use, it's a very good idea to roll the car forwards and back about three feet between adjusting and checking. And it pays to jack up the car and check that the wheels run true before you start. Bent alloy wheels are less common than bent steel ones.

 

You may get it close but really an alignment is one thing you should pay a shop with the right equipment to do.

You are not going to see the difference in 0.8 degrees and 0.06 degrees even with your tape measure.

And I don't see how the string method is going to tell you anything about caster, only toe and possibly camber if you got even double lines.

For a hundred bucks, I honestly don't see any advantage to DIY this task.

 

It's not just the $100. There's your time getting it there and back, and the convenience of doing it at home as often and at whatever time you want.
Your fancy print-out from an alignment computer is only ever as good as the operator. Most don't check for wheels that are not true, often they don't let the suspension settle properly (a short road test after changing settings or even after just letting the car down off the jacks can change the numbers, and will give an experienced operator vital clues about tyre wear). They don't usually understand how and why tyres wear, or know how to compensate for uneven wear.
Camber can be measured - and more importantly compared side-to-side - simply by placing a square piece of ply (or even stiff cardboard) against the tyre. (The floor needs to be really flat.)
1/16" toe or camber at a 14" rim is 1/4°. You can certainly see that. But whether you do it by eye, with string, or a multi-thousand dollar machine, it takes a similar amount of time, care and some intelligence to get a reliable result.
Caster can be estimated from the relative positions of top and bottom ball joints, comparing them side-for-side, and carefully checking for any bent components. I'll agree that the machine does it well, but again it's far from infallible with a careless operator. It is very common for the numbers to differ from one day to the next when, for example, you've replaced components on one side to find that the other has somehow "miraculously" also changed...
Actually, I should sit down and work out a string-based caster method. It's only geometry, and comparing camber angles at specified steering angles.

 

It's funny you mention 1/16" is .25 degree.

The sheet for my 2007 civic had a spec at .08 degree... Not sure if you are going to see that.

Also, most people will pull out the measuring tape and think that is accurate even though the end is loose and set for a saw blade width. Which if I recall is about 1/16".

And lastly, how are you making sure the string is tought and not moving .08 degree worth when you are placing the measuring device on/around it.

In todays modern equipment shops it's laser equipment that will get you within .001 Degree if you like.

And you talk about the time to take the car in and let them do it yet ignore all the time you take setting up your DIY and the time crawling under the car to make adjustments, which need to be done with the car suspension loaded.

Or is the routine, jack up the corner of the car, make an adjustment, lower it down, reset your string setups on that side and measure again. Wash rinse repeat indefinitely until done.

Even with the 4 post lift and the laser equipment it's typically a 1-3 hour process for the techs to do it on a daily basis. I'm sure you are faster with your DIY.

Personally, I would rather spend the 100 bucks and let a competent shop do it.

The key like you pointed out though is competent. The shop I go to for alignments are competent.

Then again, for something like this, my time is worth more than 25, 50 or even 100 dollars an hour to me. Not worth the headache or hassle for a hundred dollar bill.

 

.08° is half a millimetre at the wheel rim. 20 thousandths of an inch. No alignment needs to be that accurate! It will either be a mistake in the data or it will be some uncorrected vestige of converting millimetres to fractions of an inch.
Actually, no alignment can be that accurate. Simple flexibility in joints, rubber mounts and bushings will mean that it varies all the time far more than that depending on engine torque, braking forces, steering load and traction.
And individual vehicles with individual drivers, tyres, road surfaces, driving routes and driving styles will all require slightly different (and sometimes quite different) settings to achieve even tyre wear.
I will often reset the toe on a customer's car much more than 1/16" when their driving habits start to show themselves by wearing the tyres unevenly. And 1/16" will often not be enough difference in toe to compensate for the different wear characteristics of asymmetric tyres compared to a symmetrical tread pattern.

 

8th gen civic with 17" wheels, Toe Left Front, Sepcified -0.08* Range 0.08* Right front is the same spec, Rear Left Toe Specified 0.04* Range 0.16* (Specified is desired spec, range is the amount of acceptable deviation from desired spec).

So yes, with the laser equipment they are getting the toe in under a quarter of a degree.

And you skipped right over how this write up indicated to use your good old tape measure which has a variance of up to 1/8th of an inch and everything in between with the end, let alone any variance caused by the string moving.

Simply put, this DIY is good to get you within maybe 1/8th of an inch of spec and will likely take you half a day of fiddling to do.

If anything I would say change the tape measure to a depth digital caliper and change the flexible string to a laser line that won't move and expect to spend most of a day getting it dialed in to save yourself 100 dollars to be within 1/16th of an inch of spec.

I also would not trust my alignment being adjusted outside of spec due to observed tire were by a technician. My drive is dominated by left turns and almost no right turns due to one way streets, both coming and going. The right side always wears a bit more, you adjust toe for that and now my car doesn't handle as cleanly in a straight line for my spirited weekend drive.

Tire rotation is the solution for that with non directional tires.

And if you are a track person, then you already have the money and have bought alignment gear to do it on the fly at the track without the use for string, buckets and a whole lot of time for nothin'.

 

I'm not really sure I need to reply to that. Many people can read a tape accurately, and if you don't feel happy doing it, doing your own alignment is not compulsory.

The word is full of people who don't understand practical engineering, measurement, mathematics, statistics, chemistry etc who might, for example, end up worried about minuscule but detectable levels of chemicals that firstly they don't understand, and secondly are only recently measurable and have always been present at very low levels in the environment.

They convert measurements from one unit to another but don't convert the precision. I don't know who generated those alignment figures you quote but that sort of pedantic precision is meaningless because it's the alignment while the car is being driven that is important, and you have just highlighted that in your post. Toe and camber changes much more than that in a dynamic situation like acceleration, cruise, braking or cornering, so how you drive makes a big difference. Unless you wish to re-align the suspension twice a week, your setting must be a compromise between weekend and weekday use.

And I’ll guarantee that if you took it right now to several different alignment shops, for various reasons, lasers or not, they’ll all get slightly different figures.

Over time, the various components are not going to stay as new, your driving habits won’t always be the same, and the best guide to fine-tuning alignment is a regular, careful visual inspection of the tyres.

 

Oh I get your point but you fail to understand mine.

You can read a tape measure but you ignore the inherent inaccuracy of it. It's a carpenters tool and has a purpose built inaccuracy to it. As well, the string is flexible and will vary at the slightest pressure. So you are building in up to 1/8th inch variance that will fluctuate.

What point is there in "fine-tuning" if you are always plus or minus up to 1/8 of an inch and everything in between?

And lastly, there is more than alignment that affects tire wear. It's pointless to keep fiddling with your alignment monthly based on what you see unless you are driving the exact same paths the exact same way without any deviation and the paths do not change in any way the whole duration.

I personally want my road car as close to factory spec on alignment and I'm not bothering with trying to redial it in based on tire wear on a monthly basis.

And I'm not willing to spend the over a grand on the tools to do it properly instead of the horse shoes and hand grenade method aka close but still off.