DiY aLiGNmenT Too!s

[tektic]

Quote:
I was at the hardware store buying deck supplys and decided I needed to build alignment tools.

2-1/2"x10' electrical conduit. $ 2.06 each
10-12"x12x" vinyl tiles $.66 each
I all ready have 4 jack stands (what Mitsubishi owner doesn't) string a level and a micrometer.

I'll post a picture when I set up the rig.



Jump to today;
I tried to set it up today. I leveled out the car on the tiles face to face with oil sandwiched between. on tire needed an extra tile to level it with the other 3. I bought 10 in total. Then I started to made the rig but I messed it up and made one of the bars too short. I got to get another piece of tube.

there are a bunch of different sites that cover this idea, Google it.

 

[G]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[tektic]

Quoting G:
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif


What does that mean? your clueless? Don't know what Google is right?

car and driver click
Ls1 forum click
Hot rod magazine click
elantra forum click
brz forum click

I mentioned in another thread I would show pictures. Haven't gotten that far yet.

 

[citymunky]

We all read about DIY alignments, but I'm petty G was getting at your incomplete post about getting tools and supplies, and not showing a DIY alighment in progress.

 

[tektic]

I agree it was a little premature, but was looking for helpful insight into the project as it was coming into fruition. I had expected to have done it by now but blizzard droped the Diablo 3 patch and the season started yesterday so I kinda got sidetracked. Messing up the length of the conduit lended to the desire to stop, turn the computer back on and play some more greater rifts.

Back on track ... I have never tried to adjust rear toe. It seems like the most difficult part.

I also noticed that the corner height is not the same in the back. The front is fine because I'm using coilovers. The back is about a 1/4" lower on the passenger side.

 

[strokin4dr]

Either ADD or drunk posts. Can't quite tell.

 

[tektic]

So I rushed through making the tools again and the came out less than perfect, however the idea here remains the same. The goal is to make two identical rods with holes at either end to place equal lengths of string or fishing line. The more exact you make it the easier it is to set up each time you do the alignment. My rear toe was significantly off and I was getting a difference of 2mm measuring hub to hub on the drivers side. At the time I thought it was the tools being sub-par but it turns out that the alignment was just that far off. (probably a combination of the two) I aligned the string to the hubs best I could then I set the front toe. I took a quick look at the back and couldn't really make seance of it. I made an apointment for the rack at a local shop. We ended up having to remove my lower control arm and trailing arm and adjust the heim joint because the toe adjuster bolt wasn't within spec. I had to turn the heim joint out 5 turns until the center of the bolt and the mount holes measured 4.77". It was a job much easier done on a lift with a laser alignment machine measuring while I work.






Conclusion: If you just want to check and tweak your alignment after changing out struts this idea will work accurately without much trouble. With my unacuret set up procedure (aligning the string to the center caps of the rims, I have the ones with the 3-d triple Diamond emblems )the front toe was 0.0L and 0.05R. That's a decent result $10 worth of tool supply. Preliminary measuring between hubs with a tape measure may have exposed my bigger problems in the rear and allowed me to tackle those issues however it was frustrating enough to get it right on the alignment rack , so it just wouldn't have been worth the trouble for the issues I was up against in this particular situation.