Any instructional videos?

[ksrimounchanh]

Hello All, Front wheels visually does not look like it is align. I want take it to get aligned, so, what should I be looking at from a shop to align the vehicle?

anything special that the shop needs to have or know? Any suggestions?

Thanks again,

KS

[bolus]

I'd recommend getting your own tools and do it yourself.
I got a camber gauge like this one
http://www.longacreracing.com/catalo...id=129&catid=5
and this toe gauge
http://www.longacreracing.com/catalo...id=153&catid=5
which I actually got on their refurb catalog for about $150 for both
http://www.longacreracing.com/refurb...rb_catalog.pdf

So for about the cost of 2 alignments you can get the equipment to do everything yourself.

I thought doing an alignment was some sort of rocket surgery voodoo thing that I would never understand. Turns out it is about as easy as changing a tire.

[ksrimounchanh]

cool.. seriously consider it... .. you think you will have a video available for order soon?

[bolus]

I could make a video. seriously though its something like this:

camber
1. stick gauge on side of wheel
2. loosen jamb nuts
3. turn rod end adjuster nut until gauge reads what you want
3. tighten jam nuts

Toe
1. measure distance on the front of the tires
2. measure distance on the back of the tires
3. subtract (this is the toe)
4. loosen jam nuts
5. turn steering tie rod by hand until toe measures what you want
6. tighten jam nuts

and caster isnt adjustable on our cars so that's really easy.

[ksrimounchanh]

not 100% clear, but this is how I learn..

Thanks again, I'll be back with more questions for sure.

KS

[MadMaxAtom]

What is also critical when performing an alignment is keeping all 4 wheels equally tracking off the centerline of the car.

You can have the front end properly adjusted for toe and camber,and the rear properly adjusted for toe and camber,and have the two tracks off by inches! I have seen it on track cars (and street cars..) many times,and it does affect handling!

You need to have an alignment setup that allows you to properly adjust the front and rear track to be in synch with each other.

This can be done with simple strings along the sidewalls and a tape,or on a sophisticated alignment machine which measures off the thrust line.

Do NOT take wheel alignment lightly. At 100+ mph,it will bite you in the ASS...

Thrust Angle and Thrust Line are defined by the rear suspension's relationship to the centerline of the car.
The Thrust Angle is determined by the toe- in of the rear wheels.
If they do not have equal toe the vehicle will pull in the direction of the side with the greater toe-in.
The Thrust Line of the car will not coincide with the centerline of the car.
This can be compensated for by adjusting the front wheel toe-in, but that is not the correct way to align a car.
A similar situation can exist at the front end if the horizontal axis of the wheels is not perpendicular to the centerline of the car.
This is known as Setback. The upshot of this is that a car must have the same
wheelbase (maximum acceptable variation is about 1/2 inch) on both sides
in order to be correctly aligned and a correctly done alignment must start with the REAR suspension!

[ksrimounchanh]

Good info. found some DIY on youtube, seems like it is easy, but again, I know how important this part is also.

Thanks for all the input and guidance.

Regards,
KS

What is also critical when performing an alignment is keeping all 4 wheels equally tracking off the centerline of the car.

You can have the front end properly adjusted for toe and camber,and the rear properly adjusted for toe and camber,and have the two tracks off by inches! I have seen it on track cars (and street cars..) many times,and it does affect handling!

You need to have an alignment setup that allows you to properly adjust the front and rear track to be in synch with each other.

This can be done with simple strings along the sidewalls and a tape,or on a sophisticated alignment machine which measures off the thrust line.

Do NOT take wheel alignment lightly. At 100+ mph,it will bite you in the ASS...

Thrust Angle and Thrust Line are defined by the rear suspension's relationship to the centerline of the car.
The Thrust Angle is determined by the toe- in of the rear wheels.
If they do not have equal toe the vehicle will pull in the direction of the side with the greater toe-in.
The Thrust Line of the car will not coincide with the centerline of the car.
This can be compensated for by adjusting the front wheel toe-in, but that is not the correct way to align a car.
A similar situation can exist at the front end if the horizontal axis of the wheels is not perpendicular to the centerline of the car.
This is known as Setback. The upshot of this is that a car must have the same
wheelbase (maximum acceptable variation is about 1/2 inch) on both sides
in order to be correctly aligned and a correctly done alignment must start with the REAR suspension!

[bolus]

Here's Camber.

[ksrimounchanh]

Thanks Bolus!

KS

[Lane]

There are plenty of sites that can be found with Google that describe how to do a string alignment in your own garage. I did this myself in order to get the settings 'close' after I replaced all of my rod ends. It is truly amazing how easy it is due to accessibility to all the adjusters. I've got some pics and a link to a how-to site in my website's gallery here. The Fastrax tool that I use costs around $125 if I recall correctly.

After the rod end replacement and my own string alignment, I took the car to a garage for a more precise machine alignment. I brought my own wrenches along and just did the adjustments myself. No crawling under the car, no need to put it on a lift, heck - you barely even have to bend over to make the adjustments. As I was doing this, the tech commented on how easy it was ("... no F'n way...") compared to what he was used to.