to start off my car is lowered and i am beginning to see toe wear on my tires. so naturally i want an alignment. i actually have access to one at work, but my car cant make it up the rack =( then it hit me, how about i raise the car to get it on the rack, then lower it to the height i want on the rack, adjust the toe, camber, then raise it to get down off the rack again. once im on the ground, lower it to the height i had it at when i did the alignment? seems to me this would work theoretically? i mean as long as i get the height where it was when i did the alignment right? i can use white out etc to mark my height and the toe should be adjusted to the car at THAT height am i correct? input please.

 

Take the front bumper cover off. That should allow it to get up on the rack.

If that's still not enough, use 2 jacks to get it up over the ramp.

What you propose could work, if perfectly done, but I wouldn't trust the toe to be accurate enough afterwards. Close, isn't close enough for toe.

 

the front bumpers not the problem. its the middle of the car...

 

Wow, how low is the car?

One of my cars measures 3.25" from the ground to the bottom of the cat (hangs below the frame), and it makes it up on an alignment rack just fine. The frame is 4" off the ground for the entire length between the wheels. I get stuck on large speed bumps, literally, as the frame drags until the back wheels don't have enough weight to move the car forward and just spin.

 

i dont know how low my car is(not THAT low) but at work, a hybrid civic sedan barely made it....and a celica too....so i mean i put one and one together, i was also thinking about using 2x4's or something like that to make the ramp not so steep.

just went out to measure, im around 3" from my bent *** jacking point, not mabe a 1/4 inch more for the frame? or something, and the middle of the rack is emty, so im not worried about my cat, its the actually area between my wheels that im worried about, ill be stuck once my front wheel gest up on the rack... and i have a DB so the wheelbase is longer? i think not sure what car you have looks like a DC in your advatar.

 

My DC2 is 6.25" from the ground to the front side jack point, and I'm lowered to a "1 finger gap" up front. You must be seriously dumped.

My Triumph Spitfire is 4" off the ground, and that's stock height.

I have no advice left for you, sorry. Try asking in the slammed thread how they get their cars aligned, because you're low to the point of "undrivable" by most people's definition.

 

You need to run long boards of wood, works all the time for slammed car. It gradually brings you up the ramp with no problem!

 

im HONESTLY not that low. i consider my self "moderately lowered" i still have my fenderwells. i take turns hella hard, u-turn with no problems, full left to right lock, etc NO RUBBING. this is my DD haha i cant sacrafice any drivablity and many people go ALOT lower lol.

heres a picture...



barely tucking tire... iono my toe wear makes me sad =((

in need of this kind of rack

http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showt...689508&page=10

crazy TL btw.



all this talk inspired me to take a break from my midterm studying FTL!!! and take some quick pictures.





those bad boys are why im getting more concerned about alignment haha gonna go lower + want to get all my alignment specs RIGHT! want to figure out all the details before they go on.

 

damn man, pics of that alignment rack were on page 16 for me. Next time link the actual post. http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showp...&postcount=592

 

damn man, what are you measuring to? My stock front springs lowered on the Koni perches (about 1.5" drop at the wheels) puts my front jack points at 4.5" from the ground.

 

Heard you got those GC+Koni's for crack prices fuccer =P

 

lol my bad, im using a 1920x1080 resolution, throws things off...

might npt be keeping them =(((( priorities.....

 

Not the very front jack point, the front most side jack points. Right under the front of the door. 6.25" to ground. Its not low at all. My issues all stem from epically crappy LA roads, soft spring rates, and running a camber kit, not being overly low.

 

dude your slammed.

 

my dad had a spit fire theyre the sheet!put a s2k motor in it

 

Yep, I measured from my front side jack points, 4.5" clearance with a 1.5" drop... unless my springs have sagged. Either that or you're riding higher than stock

 

what do you guys think about some DIY action ! i was thinking about busting out the tape measure, and doing it at home...

 

There are a few methods for doing a DIY alignment, most of which involve string. However it should not be a replacement for a good 4-wheel alignment performed on a machine at a shop.

Your best bet is to just chalk up the money to have it done at a shop first, get a printout of the final settings, and then go home and set up some sort of string assembly to see how your measurements compare to what's on the printout. That way you have a baseline to go by if you want to make future DIY adjustments.

 

I once read that the stock height is 7"

 

I can't be higher than stock. I parked next to a stock 94-97 today at work (mine's a 2000), and I have half the front fender gap. Its tight, but I can get 2 fingers (that's what she said) between the tire and fender. 205/45-16 Toyo Proxes 4 tires.

That sounds about right, based on what I measured on mine knowing it has a slight lowering.

But then again, check out the pics i2ice posted, showing 3" from ground to jack point and tucked tire. If he raised it 1.5", and measured 4.5" like PatrickGSR94 claims, he'd have 2" of fender gap, which would be higher than pics of PatrickGSR94's car he's posted.

Hey i2ice, what size tires are you running? Only thing I can think of to explain this is that you are running incorrectly sized tires, such as 205/40-16s. When I bolt on 205/40-16s for auto-x, my fender gap looks huge compared to the correct 205/45-16s...

 

who knows man... stock GS-R springs, Koni perch moved down 1 inch, which should translate to 1.5" at the tire. Bushings all preloaded properly and everything. Must be the springs sagging

*edit* my stock wheels with stock-size 195/55-15 tires rubbed like mad when turning into uneven driveways, before I banged the center seam under the fenderwell flat.

 

And yet, you have the same fender gap as i2ice. He must be running smaller diameter tires.

Maybe we should ignore my measurements, my suspension is probably a bit messed up at this point in time (considering I probably have bent knuckles and all)...

 

im on some 195/50/15 =p which is considerbly less tire than the stock 195/55.

i think i have less fender gap...


anyways, i think i should do the alignment first then redo,, i have acesss to the machine at work so its free. im just worried about accuracy. better than doing nothing i guess.

 

Yes it is.

You are seriously, seriously dumped.

The smaller tire increases the fender gap, so you lowered even further to get it flush.

Stop being an idiot, run the correct sized tires, and put the car back up to a reasonable ride height. Then you can get alignments (and drive) like a normal car.

 

Seriously dumped.