Alignment options, Can I do it myself?

[YellowBee69]

As stated above. I'm ready for an alignment and taking the car to any shop near me scares me. I'm in rural Southern Indiana and classic P cars aren't common around here at all. I have seen some videos of BBI Autosport doing the string alignment. Is this something that can easily be done at home or are specific tools needed?

[andino]

You can do a string alignment at home but you'll need some tools or to make some jigs in order to do it accurately. Main things is having your car on a level surface and also in a position high enough to work under to make adjustments or a repeatable way to raise and lower the car to make adjustments and recheck.

[My82SC]

You can use the string method. I ended up getting this. https://wheelalignmenttools.com/store/
They work really well I’ve been doing alignments for 30 years but didn’t have access to an alignment machine so got there kit and did it at home. The only thing you would need to get besides this are scales to properly corner balance the vehicle. I didn’t because I aligned then drove it and made small adjustments till I got it to what I wanted.

[AndrewCologne]

Originally Posted by YellowBee69

As stated above. I'm ready for an alignment and taking the car to any shop near me scares me. I'm in rural Southern Indiana and classic P cars aren't common around here at all. I have seen some videos of BBI Autosport doing the string alignment. Is this something that can easily be done at home or are specific tools needed?

Here's all you need to know:
https://nineelevenheaven.wordpress.com/adjusting-the-toe-on-a-911/

[Showdown]

Not hard at all, just tedious.

You can make string jigs for almost nothing.

If you don’t have a lift it’s going to be a real pain, particularly the rear but it is doable. With a lift it’s not all that bad- still time consuming but worth it for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fanaudical]

I did it in my garage with strings, jack stands and rods, some measuring tools, angle gauge, level, etc. No lift. I would jack it up, roll it back/forth to get the suspension to settle, had some big zip lock bags with a little grease in them under the front wheels so they would pivot without a lot of friction.

[Funracer]

https://gyraline.com/

[brighton911]

I made up some simple plywood forms to hold 3/4" EMT tubing that was exactly the same width (at the strings). With some time, I was able to accomplish an accurate alignment. My first effort was using stands to hold the strings which I found to be a pain as any movement of the car or bumping into the stands meant starting over again.

[2.7RS]

Yeah but one of the most critical alignment parameters in a 911 is corner weight.

If your car has not been corner balanced ever your string alignment is going to be mediocre.

Do the string, plan on finding a proper shop to do a complete alignment unless your car was corner checked before

[YellowBee69]

Originally Posted by 2.7RS

Yeah but one of the most critical alignment parameters in a 911 is corner weight.

If your car has not been corner balanced ever your string alignment is going to be mediocre.

Do the string, plan on finding a proper shop to do a complete alignment unless your car was corner checked before

A friend of mine races dirt track cars and has scales. Are there specs on the corner balancing somewhere?

[dannobee]

Yes, you can do the alignment yourself. Strings or dental floss. Or a longacre caster camber gauge and a toe bar.

One thing about corner balancing that many people forget (or simply don't know) is that, to do it accurately, you need to disconnect one end of the sway bar(s) before attempting. If the sway bar is binding up, your weights won't be accurate.

[2.7RS]

yellowbee.

I have only watched the job being done. To me it's an art.

I can tell you Left to Right Front to Back and cross weights..... Affects the handling the roll and more important braking.

There is something call the "911 rake"

Plenty of threads to read if you are doing it yourself.

People post 4 corner weights all the time in here.

Also depends on the use of the vehicle. I'm assuming your car is a street car.

[Joesmallwood]

I am in Southern Indiana, also (Georgetown). I just bought this and it arrived yesterday. I tried it for 20 minutes last night and it seems pretty accurate. I will be testing it more next week. https://gyraline.com/

You are welcome to stop by and check it out.

FWIW, I have used the string method in the past and it works well, but it is tedious, for sure.

[Funracer]

Originally Posted by Joesmallwood

I just bought this and it arrived yesterday. I tried it for 20 minutes last night and it seems pretty accurate. I will be testing it more next week. https://gyraline.com/

[Joesmallwood]

Originally Posted by Funracer

No likey?

[tobluforu]

If you have time and patience, then yep. I gave up, got older, shop does it and it's well worth it. It's kind of like the house I just moved into. I used to mow the lawn myself at old house, the hell if I'm doing it on a 1/4 acre with a push mower.

[Funracer]

Originally Posted by Joesmallwood

No likey?

Haha my emoji skills are sadly lacking. I thought that was the “cool stuff” emoji.

Been waiting for someone to get one of these new alignment aides and give a report.

Next time you head this way give me a holler.

Regards

[smadsen]

Do you put 200 lbs. of redi-crete in the driver's seat before you corner balance?

[HarryD]

This thread may be helpful: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/97217-toe-adjust-techniquest.html

[stownsen914]

Corner balancing is easy enough … but you need the equipment of course. Do a little reading, make sure you have a level surface as with alignment.