Front end alignment at home
Get some stuff and do your own alignment. You will never think about taking a car to a shop again. I use an old Howe Racing bubble camber/caster gauge along with a rim adapter I made from a couple pieces of angle iron and a few bolts. I also made a toe in gauge but toe can be set by various simple methods. Turn plates can be fashioned from several things as well. A couple of linoleum floor tiles with salt betwen for each wheel, the plastic bags as mentioned, even layers of cardboard. I use two pieces of 1/8" sheet metal with grease between for each wheel but anything that will let the wheels turn 20 degrees in and out will work. Just remember if you raise the front wheels you need to raise the back wheels to keep the car at proper ride height. If you can get a level piece of concrete to put the car on alignment is pretty easy. Search the internet for DIY alignment and you will see many ideas. Some really good, some not so much.... It will take some time to get things right so don't expect to do an alignment in an hour. You will soon figure out the system that works well for you and have your car driving just like you want and be happy not to deal with the "experts" any longer.
(I also made a rim adapter for a friend and he uses a magnetic angle finder to determine camber and calculates his caster from camber at twenty degrees in and out in place af the bubble tool.)
Get some stuff and do your own alignment. You will never think about taking a car to a shop again. I use an old Howe Racing bubble camber/caster gauge along with a rim adapter I made from a couple pieces of angle iron and a few bolts. I also made a toe in gauge but toe can be set by various simple methods. Turn plates can be fashioned from several things as well. A couple of linoleum floor tiles with salt betwen for each wheel, the plastic bags as mentioned, even layers of cardboard. I use two pieces of 1/8" sheet metal with grease between for each wheel but anything that will let the wheels turn 20 degrees in and out will work. Just remember if you raise the front wheels you need to raise the back wheels to keep the car at proper ride height. If you can get a level piece of concrete to put the car on alignment is pretty easy. Search the internet for DIY alignment and you will see many ideas. Some really good, some not so much.... It will take some time to get things right so don't expect to do an alignment in an hour. You will soon figure out the system that works well for you and have your car driving just like you want and be happy not to deal with the "experts" any longer.
(I also made a rim adapter for a friend and he uses a magnetic angle finder to determine camber and calculates his caster from camber at twenty degrees in and out in place af the bubble tool.)
