I'm leaving right now to make a new DIY alignment rack for setting toe. I'll be back tonight with pictures. Some people were asking so I thought I would post it up!

Ausmith - who is trying to get his alignment right after changing steering wheels in the ED Civic.

 

post it up...i need to make some adjustments and am curious with what you come up with.

 

The hardest part is making sure that zero toe is pointing straight forward, and not off towards lala land.

Warren

 

oh we've all been there!

 

why can't you just use the standard toe plate/two measuring tapes method?

 

Setting rear toe using plates and tapes doesn't ensure that they're not toed perfectly with respect to something other than the centerline of the car. Not such a big deal at the front since you can turn those wheels.

Scott, who is expecting to see something like that new Smart Camber string kit......I'm going to make something like that up for myself....

 

What I would like to know is where can I find a level surface to actually use these type of tools? I recently bouht a SmartCamber gauge but could not find any surface remotely level enough to use it. Surfaces that looked completely flat varied in slope by 1.5 degrees every meter.

 

Okay - it actually cost me $17.94 becuase I already had the jack stands, tape measure, and one set of clamps.

What you need:
1) 2 pieces of 10' (that's feet) of 3/4" or 1" metal or PVC conduit
2) Nylon string - at least 50 feet
3) 4 medium size spring clamps
4) 4 jack stands
5) A drill and a selection of bits
6) Tape measure
7) A small metal ruler that goes down to at least 1/16th" and that is at least 6" long
8) Pipe cutter or hack saw

The concept - you are going to make a perfect box around the car using the conduit (up on jack stands) and the string.

Cut each of the conduit to a length of 100" (that's inches). You need to be acurate here. I used a hack saw but I think I pipe cutter would be a better tool.

Measure 12" from each end of the conduit and mark it with a small dot.

Drill a small hole where you made the marks and let the hole continue to through the opposite side of the conduit so you end up with 2 holes - or a total of 8 holes (2 pieces of conduit with 2 holes on each side).

Place the jack stands near all four corners of the car. Put the conduit across the jack stands. At this point you should have a piece of conduit resting on top of the jack stands spanning the width of the car both front and rear. Use the clamps to secure the conduit to the jack stands.

Take the string and feed it through both holes on either side of the front conduit. Tie it in a knot - make sure the string has some abiltity to move around the conduit. take the other end of the stringand pull it down towards the rear piece of conduit. Feed it through both holes, pull it tight, and tie it into a knot. Repeat for the other side.

You should now have a "box" aorund the car... Should look something like this:


Now you need to "square the box" and make sure that the box is even on each wheel. Basically you use a tape measure, or a ruler as described above, and mesaure from the center cap of each wheel out to the string. You will need to slide the conduit around to acheive a perfect box... it needs to be an equal box unless the rear of the car has a different track than the front... if that is the case then the two front measurements should be equal and so should the rears.

Now you are going to measure the tow by measuring from the front side of the rim out to the string and from the rear side. The difference will be the actual toe measurement in inches (or mm depending on what type of ruler you have). By the way your steering wheel should be straight before you start this process!

You can reach under and adjust the front tie rod ends or the rear compensator arm to change the toe.... Here are a couple more pictures.







With this method you can get your toe set to within 1/32" very accurately. The other advantage is that you can take the stuff with you to the track. Oh yeah and it cost me less than $20.

I set my front toe in 45minutes tonight

Ausmith - who is ready to race the new EF this weekend

Have a good holiday.


[Modified by Ausmith, 4:55 AM 8/31/2002]

 

Good ****!! DIY ownz

Ryan, who is curious to check his own toe measurements now

 

good stuff austie

 

Good stuff.

Similar and more detailed description here (with more expensive hardware):

http://www.smart-racing.com/pdf's/Sm...20-%206-02.pdf

I am curious as to how one ensures that the steering wheel is dead center.



[Modified by norice, 12:11 AM 8/31/2002]

 

I use Trilene fishing line. Good post.

 

how do u adjust the toe, alignment after u use the setup?

 

cool

 

You reach under the car and adjust the toe - then you recheck it.

 

Norice- I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Is the steering wheel dead center with respect to the steering rack? - meaning that you have exactly the same amount of travel both ways.

OR that the wheel is perfectly centered when from the driver's perspective as he/she sits in the seat.

To me those are 2 totally different issues.


The Smartstrings set-up is nice (I've seen people use it), but it is $379 and it takes longer to set-up. If you have ever been at the race track you probably know that things have a good chance of getting run over - especially when you have a nervous driver going up to grid



[Modified by Ausmith, 12:05 PM 8/31/2002]

 

old idea but great concept! We set toe (rear, and front) by stringing with all of my formula cars! works great! though if you want to do it right, i suggest after every adjust rolling car back then pushing it forward, this allows any play to be adjusted for!! also try to be on level groun!! good luck!! eric

 

I misspoke - what I meant is how do you ensure that the two front wheels are pointing more or less directly forward with the steering wheel in the centered position?

From the SmartStrings link:


[Modified by norice, 10:12 AM 8/31/2002]

 

You don't worry about the wheels point directly forward... that's why you are doing the alignment. With the steering wheel perfectly centered the wheels may be not be pointing straight forward. You adjust the tie rod ends to change the direction of the wheels.

Unless you have replaced the steering rack, changed steering wheels, or let some stunna do your alignment you shouldn't have to worry about this.

 

t

 

Sweet!!! DIY.........the best way!!

 

So, the distance of the front and back of the wheel from the string, should be equal?

 

That would be 0 toe.

 

Do these cars need to run with 0 oa a little negative toe?

 

Good thread. Here's a pic of one of the World Challenge Luxus' setting their alignment before the National GP.



Looks like they are using fishing line, and they have cut groves in the pipe instead of holes. I imagine this would make it easier to setup and tear down often.