Alignment question!

[YellowBee69]

I have a little bit of an odd setup, Im running a 68 swb steering rack, stock 68 front struts, turbo tie rods.

The question: Last night I was doing a string alignment. Found the center of the car. Marked the bumpers accordingly with a laser, measured out and had the exact same measurements on both sides of the car from the wheel faces.. So I'm 99% certain my string setup is accurate.... I set my front for 3mm of toe in, and I noticed the passenger side there seems to be more threads showing on the steering joint vs the driver side if that makes sense. I am 90% sure the wheel is centered in the groove I feel in the steering rack which I assume is supposed to be the center of the rack??

Regardless my wheel is straight and my alignment is within .05mm on both sides regarding toe.. Is it normal that one side would have more thread showing, or do I maybe have something off? Sorry if this is a dumb question, little crap like this annoys me and makes me think something is wrong even if it isn't so I need reassurance.

[David Inc.]

If you turn the wheel from lock to lock does it have the same rotation both sides? Maybe the steering wheel was removed, put back inaccurately, and the toe set to match.

[Fixer]

3mm is a lot of toe in but I guess youre wanting stability.
I usually do no more than 1.5

[YellowBee69]

Originally Posted by Fixer

3mm is a lot of toe in but I guess youre wanting stability.
I usually do no more than 1.5

This is my first time doing an alignment, I’ve rebuilt this entire car, figured I can figure the alignment out. Actually last night in the shower I realized I was doing it wrong. I was leaving out the “total” toe part. So I’ll have to go back and re do it! I should have 1.5 both sides all said and done.

[Duc Hunter]

I just had my car all apart, including the rack out and wheel off. When we put it back in we measured the turns lock, to lock. Then from the left lock stop we turned it half way across towards the other side, centering the rack l/r (ignoring what the steering wheel looked like). Once there we locked the steering rack in place, pulled the wheel and reset it to as level on the steering shaft splines as we could get it, and it was still slightly off. Then we unlocked the rack, turned the wheel to level, locked it in place, and did the alignment. That was the best way I could think of to have the rack as centered as possible, and the wheel level.

[YellowBee69]

Originally Posted by Duc Hunter

I just had my car all apart, including the rack out and wheel off. When we put it back in we measured the turns lock, to lock. Then from the left lock stop we turned it half way across towards the other side, centering the rack l/r (ignoring what the steering wheel looked like). Once there we locked the steering rack in place, pulled the wheel and reset it to as level on the steering shaft splines as we could get it, and it was still slightly off. Then we unlocked the rack, turned the wheel to level, locked it in place, and did the alignment. That was the best way I could think of to have the rack as centered as possible, and the wheel level.

Great idea!! Thank you!

[smadsen]

I've always centered the rack by having an equal amount of rack sticking out of each end of the housing. Then use a hose clamp or something to lock it down while you do your alignment. Then center the steering wheel, given the splines, as best you can before you remove the clamps.

[No Signal]

This might be a silly question, but if you take your car to a shop for an alignment, do they know what to do? Specifically, for a 1978 Porsche, do most alignment centers know how to perform an alignment on this type of vehicle, or do I need to find a specialist in vintage alignment services? Thanks!

[OldSpool87]

Originally Posted by No Signal

This might be a silly question, but if you take your car to a shop for an alignment, do they know what to do? Specifically, for a 1978 Porsche, do most alignment centers know how to perform an alignment on this type of vehicle, or do I need to find a specialist in vintage alignment services? Thanks!

Take your car to a shop that specializes in car. A regular alignment shop won’t know what to do and may damage your car in the overall process.

[Duc Hunter]

Maybe I am wrong, but the current hunter rack style systems can tell just about any monkey how to do a standard alignment. The rear on our cars is strange, but the front is very basic and standard, as far as I know. My local shops enter the car in their system and a graphic appears telling them what bolts to turn to adjust the various things. Yes I stay there and watch them do it to make sure it’s right, but it’s not hard for them. I also have to make sure they set the rear first, but that’s easy. Am I missing something?

[YellowBee69]

Originally Posted by Duc Hunter

Maybe I am wrong, but the current hunter rack style systems can tell just about any monkey how to do a standard alignment. The rear on our cars is strange, but the front is very basic and standard, as far as I know. My local shops enter the car in their system and a graphic appears telling them what bolts to turn to adjust the various things. Yes I stay there and watch them do it to make sure it’s right, but it’s not hard for them. I also have to make sure they set the rear first, but that’s easy. Am I missing something?

Theres not much to the suspension on these older cars at all. No adjustable control arms or anything like these new cars. Its a few bolts and measurements. I went to my local shop and they pulled all the way back to a 68 912 up with the specs, but with mine being an RSR are the rear being quite a bit wider they seemed a little like the machine may have to be tricked to make it work correct. So I figured id try the string alignment myself and if that doesnt work then ill take it to them!

[David Inc.]

I've had Porsche specific shops **** up the alignment on the rear. I would take it to a shop that is genuinely familiar with the car.

Edit: Actually one shop told me after a suspension change that I had frame damage and that's why they couldn't balance the camber side/side. The second place nailed it first try.

[jess p]

Most alignment shops only know how to do front toe. Porsche suspension systems are Greek to them. After the alignment they take the car for a test drive while wearing greasy clothes, redline your car in every gear and wrap it around a telephone pole. Ask me how I know. I use the string method and I’m just as accurate as well as any expensive alignment rack.
I center the steering wheel first and with turbo tie rods I measure each side of the steering arm
coming out of the rack. At that point if the steering wheel is off after the alignment I adjust the steering wheel last. Before I set toe-in I set camber and caster first.

[YellowBee69]

Originally Posted by David Inc.

I've had Porsche specific shops **** up the alignment on the rear. I would take it to a shop that is genuinely familiar with the car.

Edit: Actually one shop told me after a suspension change that I had frame damage and that's why they couldn't balance the camber side/side. The second place nailed it first try.

Thats crazy! Ive never aligned a car in my life and within a about 30 minutes I had the rear Camber and toe within .03mm of each other. Where I messed up was not understanding TOTAL toe.. So front I did 3mm of toe in on each wheel. I need to go back and do 1.5 on each side tonight.

I measured and found a perfect center point on the car, marked the line on a piece of tape, then got a self-leveling laser and set it up, put tape on the bumper and marked the line. Set up 4 tall jack stands with string attached to each one. Measured out the same distance both sides of the car, made sure the rectangle I created was square. I used a digital level for the camber, and a depth Caliper for toe. The ONLY issue I ran into was my driver side rear wheel sticks out maybe 1/8th of an inch more than the passenger. Im assuming this happen when the rear was converted from SWB to LWB.. However the wheelbase is identical on both sides and everything else matches. According to what ive done and what ill fix with the toe, it should be good! If not then ill bring in the professionals. I will say though, before the alignment I literally just put the suspension back on at no rhyme or reason, and drove it like that for the first drive and I was crazy impressed with how well it felt even with one rear wheel having -3 mm of toe, and the passenger side having about 2 degrees more camber. I cant wait to see how it feels actually aligned!