DYI Alingnment tool set?

[b5blue]

  Any doing your own alignment? I'm looking into investing in a "do it at home" set for my 70 Charger.  The last few times I had the car aligned I had issues even when they got the adjustments right. (Bolts/nuts not tightened, lifting the car wrong, I'm tired of babysitting the process and wasting time.) One asshat even drove the car away for a "Test" after being told not to! 
  I'll post links to what I find offered for discussion if interested.   

[HPP]

The most basic set up would be a caster/camber gauge, a tape measure, and four pieces of sheet metal with some grease squished between the pairs of them to create turn plates.

Caster camber gauges come in a few different varieties from basic magnetic bubble gauges to rim mounted digital read outs. All depends on how fancy you want and what you budget for the device.

Similarly, you can buy high zoot turn plates that allow all sorts of articulation of the tires as you move them through the adjustments. All comes down to cost. In a pinch, a simple piece of cardboard is better than nothing, but you want something to allow the front tires to move somewhat friction free during adjustments.

If you want to get into thrust measurements too you might need a plumb bob to plot layouts for measurement.

[toocheaptosmoke]

Will have to get a pic, I use a couple pieces of aluminum window trim as straight edges set on pieces of 2x6.  Park car on flat level gound, tape measure front and back of tire to set toe, takes two people.  Drive car forward and back a bit in between adjustments to let things settle in.   I use a magnetic angle finder on the hubs to set camber, you can get it to within a half degree if you're patient.  For caster I just want as much as possible while keeping the camber within reason, so I've never really worried about actually measuring it.   It's hokey and my friends laugh, but it cost me nothing and my tires are wearing just fine.   

[Troy]

I have pictures of mine at home - although it's mostly tools I bought with a few "homemade" pieces to save some money.

This is the whiz-bang part:
Digital AccuLevel Caster Camber Gauge
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PJIW9S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Most used tool for an "old" car:
LONGACRE 79622 Toe In Bar
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PJGWZ4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Prior to that I literally set up jack stands at all 4 corners and ran a string around the entire car so that it just touched the tires. I adjusted the toe so it was dead even (perfectly flat against the tire and a straight edge/square) and the steering wheel was straight. On my Mach 1 I think it's 1/8" toe so I adjusted the tie rods to get 1/16" on each side. This was cheap but assembling it was a giant pain!

Now, to make all this easier... you need something under the front tires so they twist easily without catching or binding on the flooring surface. There are commercial items called "turn plates" but they are expensive. Also, if you set the tires on something you need the back to come up as well or it screws up you caster/camber readings. The car must be flat! In the scenario above, I folded over some heavy duty "garden" trash bags and set them under the tires. This certainly makes them turn easier but it has drawbacks when it comes to measuring movement. After a little bit of Google and some trial and error I came up with this:
* 8 pieces commercial floor tiles
* couple dabs of axle grease
* lots of pieces of 3/4" plywood left over from a shelving project (about 20"x24" each)
* triangle cut out of a cardboard Mountain Dew 12 pack box

I had designed some elaborate "boxes" to set under each of the 4 wheels so I could adjust the steering easily. I wanted to raise it by about 9-10". While I was digging out the saw and tape measure I remembered this big stack of left over plywood pieces in the corner. I divided the stack by 4 so I'd have an equal amount under each wheel. Before setting the car down, I laid a floor tile shiny side up on each stack, smeared a bit of axle grease in the center of each of the front 2 (don't need it under the back), and sat another tile shiny side down on it. I made all this "square" to the car. Then I lowered the car and the top tiles squeezed out and twisted a bit as the suspension settled. Oh well! For the record: this is akin to setting your car on ice. Do NOT lean on the car of you can easily slide it right off the stands. I had originally used motor oil but it wasn't as slick and made a big mess when it oozed out. Any way, once I verified that the wheels would turn with next to no resistance and that I could reach all the adjustment bolts I broke out the caster/camber gauge and went to work. This is where the cardboard triangle comes in - you need to turn each wheel 15 degrees so I used a straight edge and pencil to draw a line on my "box" where the top floor tile was. I laid down the triangle and turned the steering wheel until the top tile was now lined up with the other edge. Not as simple as it sounds since the wheels moves fore/aft! After each adjustment I'd flex the suspension to get things "settled" again. Ideally you'd drive the car but this set up doesn't make that simple. Once caster/camber was set I used the toe-in gauge. I was glad my plywood was as large as it was because the gauge needs something to rest on (and the tire turns in a much bigger arc than you'd expect). My original box design wouldn't have made things so easy. The toe is ridiculously easy to set when you have a handy tool and can reach everything. You could probably make a toe in gauge that would work fine out of a piece of tube or wooden dowel and some stiff wire.

If you want to be more exact, you can use thinner tiles, cardboard, paper, metal shims, or whatever else you have to make sure the tires are perfectly level. I was lucky and must have found the only 4 identical spots in my garage floor as a laser level showed them all even. I should have marked those spots! I only got the car up about 7" - but that's tire height so I had about a foot to the lowest underbody part. However, it was low enough that I couldn't get my torque wrench too far around when tightening everything back up. I think 10-12" would have been more ideal. I will try to remember to add pics if my description isn't clear.

Troy

[b5blue]

Thanks! Great ideas and a good explanation! I first looked at this:  http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/shop/quicktrick-pro/pro-system 
Then this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Best-value-DIY-Wheel-Alignment-Gauge-Accurate-fast-toe-plates-camber-/281369044813
What do you think? 

[cdr]

i kinda like the ebay one, you will still need turn table plates,or as others have said cardboard,grease &  steel sheets.

[b5blue]

Here's a 5 minute video on one type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu5xEFdDr7M 

[b5blue]

This is a clever wheel turn plate: http://www.arkansaspontiacs.org/techstories/turnplates/turnplates.html

[chargerbr549]

I have the Fastrax 91000 alignment tool and it works great, aligned several vehicles aleady and have no complaints!

[b5blue]

  That's the one I like best so far. (159.00) 15 years steel framer, I know how to read a level! Caster is the tricky one and my focus. I just installed adjustable struts. With offset UCA bushings installed also I should be able to hit ideal settings. (I know I'm "close" even now.) 

[b5blue]

  Okay I've ordered the FasTracks: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=fas%20trax%20alignment%20&index=blended&link_code=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=mozilla-20
  Using ideas from others I'll try checking toe in this weekend using bunches of stuff leftover from my framing days.     If that drives me nuts I'll get the tool Troy linked  to. 
  I'm pretty sure my friend at the local garage will let me play around on his alignment rack. Funny he was complaining about his fancy new setup wishing he had the old bubble setup! (If I can't use his rack, I'll be greasing some tiles!  ) 

[b5blue]

Here is a link to PDF of instructions for FasTrack, what sold me was that they are clear to understand. Others got fuzzy on castor and with new adjustable strut rods the main reason I want to DYI.
http://www.spcalignment.com/instructions/91000-INS_WEB.pdf

[chargerbr549]

Now that I use this Fastrax alignment tool I haven't had to use tiles or turning plates anymore although they would make turning the steering wheel easier when you are doing the alignment. There are also different adapters they sell that allow you to attach it to your wheels depending on what style of wheel lip you have.

[b5blue]

I've 15" steelies on all 4 corners with the same size tires.    (Nothin fancy) 

[Troy]

When I was researching the FasTrax had good reviews. I like the AccuLevel better for several reasons:
* Digital accuracy - and the unit detaches to act as an angle finder.
* I can read the digital numbers from many angles - especially handy when dad is around to hold the unit while I'm under the car.
* "Feet" are gentle on the rims and fit steel or aluminum. There's a less expensive model with the same type of feet as FasTrax.
* Up to 22" wheels (just means I can use it on more stuff - FasTrax is 18" max).

To be honest, the old cars really just need a check on the toe every so often. That is a super quick and easy job with the right tool. They don't all have adjustments caster so you can buy cheaper tools if you only work on the old cars. When I got the tools I had 12 cars ranging from economy to muscle to small and large pickup trucks. Now I only have 9 but there's a large variety of wheel types and sizes that I have to deal with. I haven't tried to align everything yet but I've gotten 4 "free" alignments. However, if you count my time I would have been better off paying a shop - but then I'd have had to trailer the cars over since 3 of them were complete steering replacements. These tools are more geared towards racers and people who need constant alignment checks/adjustments.

Troy

[b5blue]

I started playing around with the fastrack yesterday and today, generally happy. Nice to be able to tell what's going on up there.