alignment DIY
 

I have been working on doing my home alignment and read scrugs books etc. The hub distance he references what excatly are we talking what surface? Should I just call it a day and spend the $100 bucks or so and have it done? I really want to learn to do this effectivly any tips or suggestions to getting this right.

Ben I dont think it matters what surface as long as you use it the same on both sides and every time you re-measure.

Tip - get some cheap metal conduit, 2 pieces about 10 feet long. Carefully measure and put little cuts in with a hack saw. 2 cuts in each piece about ~ 6 inches wider than the wheel base. The cuts in both pieces need to be the same distance apart

tape the conduit to the jack stands and put the thread in the "cuts". It will stay together better if you bump it and is much easier to set back up between rounds of driving it to settle the suspension.

I find it very satisfying to do it myself and save the money....

The wheel or hub cap in the center of the wheel is where you measure from to set up the strings.

Download the Smart Racing instructions, they are pretty thorough. I made my own smart string set up out of aluminum tubing. Also made a camber/caster gauge (digital protractor) holder that slips into the center cap hole. Much easier than the 3 point bracket. Very satisfying feeling once your done.

A simple way is to measure the distance from the rear center of rotation of the front wishbones to the ground, and the distance between the center of the torsion bar cap to the ground at the rear. It does require that the car is placed on a reasonably flat floor, though.

For the hub distance just use half the diameter listed by the tire manufacturer.

I've used this approach for a few years, and it's proved to work quite well.

/Peter

I confirm my settings with a temp probe at 3 areas of tire, outer, center, and inner.

a direct placement probe

For the cross bars I use steel shelving brackets from home depot, probably 5 feet long. They have multiple holes already stamped in so I pick two that are equidistant for the front and rear.

For string I use red fishing line.

I used to leave the center caps of the wheels off and measure to the ends of the stub axles, but these days I just measure to the caps. The wheels and caps are made to a fine tolerance so I figure it's OK.

I walk around the car multiple times, sliding the bar back and forth until I get the fishing line the same distance between each front hub and the same distance from each rear hub. Theoretically I should have a square around the car at that point, I've never found the centerline of the car.

I can't remember what Scruggs says about caster but here's what I do. Set the front camber the same side to side, then turn the steering wheel one turn in each direction and measure the camber change. (Mine went from -2.8 to -4.1) If one wheel changes camber more than the other it has more caster. Reduce caster that side and repeat the process.

Good luck, it's very satisfying to do on our own.