So last year when I redid my entire suspension, I got to the end and I called my local to see if they could do a four wheel alignment and corner balance. They said, “Sure, we can get you in about the middle of next month.” Honestly after shelling out cash for new torsion bars, bushings, sensors, shock inserts, and a host of other things, I was ready to spend that $250 to just get it done and have it back on the road. But after 5 months of having the car up in the air, I was ready to get out and drive. So I said, eff this, I had come this far, I could do an alignment. So I did. Turned out great. The biggest pain though was getting the rear camber set up. The car came up, the car came down, I drove it, adjust, up, down, adjust. Ride height, re-index. Again. Every single time the car came up and down, it shifted slightly and I had to realign the strings. Or if I was torquing a bolt and jostled the jack stand. Realign the strings. It took me about 4-5 nights to get it sorted.
So I bought an air ratchet for those long spring plate cover bolts, and I became a re-indexing camber master. A year later and my spring plate bushings were toast again. So here I am faced with another alignment, and I decided I wasn’t doing that again. I bought a quick jack, and the up and down problem is solved. Looking around I saw several string setups that mounted on the car, but $500 felt steep, so I spent $40 bucks in square tubing and went to work.
First I cut up some 1” square tube into 4” sections:
Then I welded on some 1/4” - 20 nuts onto holes I drilled at the top at each section. I would use knobs in those nuts to secure each section of tubing and hold it square. In retrospect honestly I should have just cut holes slightly smaller than 1/4” and cut some threads into it- it would have saved a ton of time. Maybe I’ll do it in V2:
Welded and primed the junctions:
Then created the different spans of 3/4” tubing that would create the structure - all fitting neatly in the 1” tubing I have for the junctions. 4 pieces have hooks that will latch onto the inside of the frunk and rear engine bay when everything cures I’ll probably coat the hooks in rubber, but for now, a bit of cardboard is fine. 4 other pieces will run vertically down past my bumpers and hold the tube for the strings - that will have 1/4”-20 threads as well, with knobs:
Painted with brass knobs inserted! I’ll need to wait for the paint to cure for a day or so before I try it. Pics for that coming next.
