DIY toe alignment question

[A930Rocket]

Recently, I replaced all the bushings, control arms, tie rods, etc on my E46 and while waiting for the backordered Vorshlag camber plates, I wanted to get my toe alignment in the ball park.

Visually, it looks close and it drives straight, but using two pieces of angle iron on the outside of the wheels and tape measures, it was over an inch toed in.

Is it possible to get it in the ballpark using this method? Can it visually look close and be so far off with a tape?

The sideways pictures don’t help, I’ve looked every which way and it looks straight

Because the car is low, I can only set it as seen to clear underneath with the tapes.

[smadsen]

In theory your method would work, but only if you can get the chunk of angle iron parallel to the center line of the chassis and then elevated enough to be on the centerline of the wheel.

For dead nuts accuracy, use the string & jack stand method.

For quick & dirty, ballpark accuracy, lift each wheel, rotate, & mark a line in the outer tread circumference. Lower the car & roll it back & forth to re-squat the suspension stopping on the forward roll. Then drop a plumb-bob on a string from the front & rear mark on tire circumference down to the floor. Mark a pip on the floor, front & rear for each tire. Measure across right to left. The difference front to front and rear to rear is your net toe-in (or out). Divide by two for the theoretical toe on each side.

Using the string/jack stand method is almost as simple, but a little more involved, and also as accurate as anything a shop can do for about zero cost.

[BK911]

Yes your method will get you close.
Believe your tape before your eyes.

[BK911]

Here's how I did the caddy.
Toe and camber were dead on when I took to alignment shop.
Caster want even close!

[1990C4S]

^^^ That's all I do for my cheap daily drivers.

[wdfifteen]

I would at least move the angle iron up to the center of the wheel and drop lines off the front and rear. Mark where they hit the ground, move the car and measure the difference between the front and rear marks.

This thread is about my backyard alignment adventure.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1043021-backyard-vw-wheel-alignment.html

[porsche930dude]

I just use a measuring tape and hook it on a tire tread as far up to the body as i can. Simple. My brother has checked them on the machine at his shop and always perfect. So we dont even bother checking anymore.

[island911]

BK911 has it right.

Alternatively you can square off the rear wheels -you need to know the offset/track width, and adjust.

[TimT]

We use toe plates at the track to fiddle with alignment if we feel we need to make an adjustment.. Those angle irons are a good DIY solution

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I would at least move the angle iron up to the center of the wheel and drop lines off the front and rear. Mark where they hit the ground, move the car and measure the difference between the front and rear marks.

This thread is about my backyard alignment adventure.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1043021-backyard-vw-wheel-alignment.html

I was fiddling with raising the angle iron and getting dimensions from one side to the other. Didn’t think about a plumbing bob, but I have two I can use.

[dad911]

In the 70's the station I worked at had a tool that was basically a pipe with two pointers. We would mark the tire on both sides, at the pointers, roll the car forward 1/2 revolution, and measure the distance between the points.

[Zeke]

When I did this I inserted machine screws in the bars so that I was reading the rim, not the tire. And by turning the bars vertical I could gauge camber by how many turns on one screw and using a level.

Actually, the bar was a 2' level.

Another trick was to load the suspension with the wheels off and attach a magnetic laser/level to the brake disc and project to the wall. Depending on the distance to the wall, 1/8" could become 2 inches. This helped immensely with rear toe.

[908/930]

I have done this many times using 1 1/2 pipe 8' long, I usually would tie it so that it rests higher up from the ground away from the bulge of the tire, position it so the majority of the pipe is to the rear and measure then pull the pipe towards the front and measure, being further out will give greater accuracy and pipe is easy to check if it is straight by rolling against the other one.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by 908/930

I have done this many times using 1 1/2 pipe 8' long, I usually would tie it so that it rests higher up from the ground away from the bulge of the tire, position it so the majority of the pipe is to the rear and measure then pull the pipe towards the front and measure, being further out will give greater accuracy and pipe is easy to check if it is straight by rolling against the other one.

I did this. Two pieces of 1/2" electrical conduit and some plastic bracket thingies and some fasteners. I was able to fasten the conduit to the rear and front of the car. Then I stretched two strings between them, one on each side of the car, which I could use for measuring distances from the wheel rim. I even have an old fashioned camber measuring tool using bubbles.

I put weights in the driver's seat. Actually, old used brake disks. Then I did something REALLY clever. I went to Home Depot and got some rigid floor tiles. Not ceramic but some kind of plastic. About a foot square. 1/4" thick. I stacked them up to make all four level, and I placed some grease in between them. The car rested on four greased stacks of rigid tiles.

But I've also re-roofed a house and garage using nails and a roofer's hammer which involved 32 squares of shingles including removing some skip-sheeting to address a structural problem and then re-sheeted the entire thing. And I excavated the crawl space on my belly with a LONG screwdriver and a sheet metal pan.

That was when i had more time than money. Today, time is what I run short of. My cars go to an alignment rack. The 911 is properly aligned and corner-balanced.

[Skillet83]

Why was I anticipating a camel toe adjustment? Yeah, I know, I am in the gutter most of the time.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by Superman

. .....Then I did something REALLY clever. I went to Home Depot and got some rigid floor tiles. Not ceramic but some kind of plastic. About a foot square. 1/4" thick. I stacked them up to make all four level, and I placed some grease in between them. The car rested on four greased stacks of rigid tiles.

....The 911 is properly aligned and corner-balanced.

Lowe’s is on my list for this weekend to buy some type of plastic for the tires to rest/turn on. Also, I’m thinking of some cheap spacers between the wheel and angle iron...maybe some sockets or a piece of hardwood to fit inside the wheel lips.

Of course, this is all just to kill time until I get the camber plates and get it aligned and corner weighted.

[John Rogers]

I wrote a tech article on alignment at home and it should be in the tech section in the 914 area. I made a pair if aluminum sheets to stand against the side of the wheel and it worked great. Couple things to remember: have the car level, have the driver or a matching weight in the drivers seat and finally after an adjustment bounce the car up/down and roll it some to settle parts.
John

[unclebilly]

The grooves on your tires I’ll get you closer than your angle iron setup. Obviously, some tire grooves won’t work for this.