Alignments are expensive.....

My buddy just got charged $150CAD for a 4wheel alignment plus front/rear camber (he has A-Sport arms + SRR setup)

Pretty much each time he messes with the ride height he should go back to ensure everything is straight and true.

$150 here...$150 there.... why not just buy our own setup?

I know a lot of you will respond with "you get what you pay for." But do we really need a $250gauge vs. the $70 one?

$250 = http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/art1.htm (thanks for the link Wai!)

$70 = http://www.longacreracing.com/...tid=5


Pros/Cons ...ease of use? Anybody have input?

In addition, what do you guys use for toe? I've seen some makeshift fishing line, jackstand types....anybody use any other methods/tools?

 

$70

 

look like they do the same thing? if thats the case, Id try the $70 gauge.

Ryan, who could really use one of these because his camber is FAWKED UP.

 

$40. Very consistent and repeatable results. Plenty accurate for what we do.

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/align.htm

Warren

 

and their toe gauge is only $39

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Warren &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">$40. Very consistent and repeatable results. Plenty accurate for what we do.

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/align.htm

Warren</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would trust this man

 

just go and buy a lifetime warrenty alignment plan. I got one at firestone for 120. Now I get mine aligned everyother month.

 

One good thing about the digital one ($250) is that you can zero the setting based on the slope of the surface where your car is parked. Not all floors are perfectly leveled so this feature would come in handy. My garage floor looks pretty leveled, but when I laid the gauge down, the left and right are off by +/- half degree.

But if you're sure that your garage floor is perfectly leveled, then the cheaper ones would work just as good.

 

Im not sure if anyone here has tried or is already using this method to measure/adjust toe. I saw this at the Kings booth at Mosport when they were preparing the Mugen RSX for the race:

this plate sits flat against the wheel on one side with 2 slots for the ends of 2 tape measures spaced wheel diameter apart:


same plate on the other side with same slots so that you can take the front and rear measurements from the tape measures where they pass the slots on the plate


Seems simple enough and fairly accurate so Im gonna go to home depot soon for some parts to make the two plates cause I wanna test out different toe settings...

PS: thanks for the camber gauge info, I think Im gonna get one too

edit - I just found those Toe Plates, but for $159??? I'll definitely make them myself
Toe Plate:
http://www.longacreracing.com/...id=24

edit 2 - found similar Toe Plates to the ones Kings' using (scroll down, 2nd last item):
http://www.soloperformance.com...t.htm


Modified by CH-02DC5 at 7:19 PM 5/29/2003

 

I have the $250 one it works fine for me, and as Wai said you can use it any where even the ground is not level.

 

Does anyone know of a how-to on how to adjust camber and toe? Is it in the Helms?

I get an alignmnet at a reputable shop here in the Chicagoland area that does a lot of work on heavily tracfked vehicles, but if I can do this myself, I could save a lot of $$

 

One problem with toe plates is that you have to MAKE SURE that you turn the same amount of threads on both left and right tie rods. Otherwise your car would pull to one side. Even if you set zero toe, you wouldn't know if the wheels are pointing straight forward. Both wheels pointing slightly to one side could also show zero toe.

Maybe some toe plates are more advanced and can take care of that kind of problem? I dunno....

 

do you need to realign the car after putting springs on it? say, a one inch drop maybe?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One problem with toe plates is that you have to MAKE SURE that you turn the same amount of threads on both left and right tie rods. Otherwise your car would pull to one side. Even if you set zero toe, you wouldn't know if the wheels are pointing straight forward. Both wheels pointing slightly to one side could also show zero toe.

Maybe some toe plates are more advanced and can take care of that kind of problem? I dunno....</TD></TR></TABLE>

yup, thats one of the issues for the Toe plates, I guess I'll have to do it by trial & error, first setting the steering wheel straight with the wheels also straight at maybe 0 toe and work from there by turning the threads the same amount on each side like you said, then take it out for a drive to see if its still straight...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by middleman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do you need to realign the car after putting springs on it? say, a one inch drop maybe?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Changing ride height would change all the camber and toe settings.
As you lower the car, you gain camber and toe out in front. In the rear, you gain camber and toe in &lt;--- *not sure*.
So it is necessary to realign the car everytime the ride height is changed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One problem with toe plates is that you have to MAKE SURE that you turn the same amount of threads on both left and right tie rods. Otherwise your car would pull to one side. Even if you set zero toe, you wouldn't know if the wheels are pointing straight forward. Both wheels pointing slightly to one side could also show zero toe.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is not an issue in the front. If you **** it up, all it means is that your steering wheel is a little crooked. If it bugs you, then it's easy to fix, but it won't affect performance.

It's setting the rear toe up that is tricky. If you point them the wrong way, well.. You'll be crabwalking down the straights.

Warren

 

ttt

i have helms and it explains hot to adjust, but how do you measure with $75 or $150 piece, not $250 piece with digital readouts.. i understand what camber/toe/caster is.. i'm just trying to get a basic idea on what is done when using these devices?

 

if the car is not level how do you expect the bubble gauges to read correctly?
do you even compensate the gauges for wheel runout?
rmc

 

I prefer the digital - I've used most of the ones in this thread.

For alignment I made my own strings for about $20.