Old school alignment guys; gauge mount idea. What am I missing?

DionR said
I couldn’t even get a print out last time because “the printer is broken”. The boss kicked me out due to the tech getting nervous because he couldn’t figure out how to do the alignment while I did. If I hadn’t stayed at the door and walked in periodically I would have gotten a stock 1974 alignment (which I specifically asked not to get) and would have had no idea what alignment numbers I would have gotten at all. Then I got an argument out of them about the toe-in and how I should run a slight bit of toe-out.

Oh, and the sensors were all over the place. They kept popping off when the tech turned the wheel because the arms would hit the fender (always good for the paint) and in the end, pretty sure they were low on the wheel and giving wrong readings.

So, whatever inaccuracy I get due to run out will be far better than dealing with those yahoos again. And I still don’t see how the laser alignment machines see that runout anyways.

Exactly. The laser doesn't see any run out unless the tech corrects for it when they're setting the sensors, and I would wager they usually don't. Yeah the laser machine might be really precise in a single measurement, but if it's not set up right it won't be accurate and it won't be consistent between visits either because it won't be measuring the same distance each time. Cool, I've got the wrong measurement down to a thousandth.

The SPC gauge is actually pretty easy to use, and it's pretty easy to get it attached so it sits square. I haven't had any problems getting consistent, repeatable measurements using the SPC gauge. The first few times I used it I took the measurements a bunch of different times, just getting a feel for the gauge and making sure I was getting good results. And that's something you won't get out of an alignment shop, they're gonna be one and done. Sure, the first few times I did an alignment with the SPC gauge it took a lot longer because of how many times I checked and re-checked things, but after some practice and a consistent procedure it's not bad at all.