DIY Alignment Turn Plates

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I admire your making what you need. I looked around for the longest time for plates....then ran an ad on a local online trading page.....almost a year later....man send a message that he has a set all boxed to ship but the buyer flaked and that was some time ago...said I could have them for a crisp 100.00 bill and as he was local, I jumped on them with all four feet....
 
That's very nice work, Doc! Thanks for Sharing!
 
Nice.
I used (4) 12" sq floor tiles. I put grease between them. I've heard sand works too. Cardboard will work in a pinch.
 
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I like the lazy susan bearings but they have one problem using them for alignment plates. They can only turn in a 360* range. They cannot move laterally like a real alignment turn plate. That's a must to unload the suspension after it has been jacked up.
 
My plates worked well for aligning my car after I followed Rob's advice and cut out the central pivot point. I jacked the car up off the plates to make my control arm adjustments. I then positioned the top plate about an inch inward from the lower plate. This allowed the plates to slide outward when the jack was lowered. After experimenting with the amount of outward slide, I was able to position the plates consistently. My degree marks worked well even if the top plate wasn't perfectly aligned with the lower plate. All I had to do was make sure that the top plate was parallel to the 15* marks that I made.
Many thanks to Rob for taking time to help me sort out my alignment issues.
 
FJRdoc said:
My plates worked well for aligning my car after I followed Rob's advice and cut out the central pivot point. I jacked the car up off the plates to make my control arm adjustments. I then positioned the top plate about an inch inward from the lower plate. This allowed the plates to slide outward when the jack was lowered. After experimenting with the amount of outward slide, I was able to position the plates consistently. My degree marks worked well even if the top plate wasn't perfectly aligned with the lower plate. All I had to do was make sure that the top plate was parallel to the 15* marks that I made.
Many thanks to Rob for taking time to help me sort out my alignment issues.
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Anytime! Glad I might have been a little help. Have you driven it yet?
 
Took her for a drive around the block. Unfortunately, the tranny isn't upshifting correctly. The guy who rebuilt the tranny is going to pick up the car and make things right. The car seemed to track pretty nicely but we weren't moving very fast.
 
FJRdoc said:
Took her for a drive around the block. Unfortunately, the tranny isn't upshifting correctly. The guy who rebuilt the tranny is going to pick up the car and make things right. The car seemed to track pretty nicely but we weren't moving very fast.
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Hay Kevin! Hope everything is good with you. I was wondering if you had an update. Curious to see how it drives.
 
Hi Rob. Sorry for the late reply. This month has been crazy busy. I drove the car last Sat and Sunday. She drives OK. I think that I need to adjust for more + caster. Also, the steering wheel is at 11 o'clock instead of 12.
I went to start her up Friday night and she wont crank. Lights and radio work. I haven't had time to look for the problem.
 
FJRdoc said:
Hi Rob. Sorry for the late reply. This month has been crazy busy. I drove the car last Sat and Sunday. She drives OK. I think that I need to adjust for more + caster. Also, the steering wheel is at 11 o'clock instead of 12.
I went to start her up Friday night and she wont crank. Lights and radio work. I haven't had time to look for the problem.
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Sounds like you got it close at least!
 
@RustyRatRod
@FJRdoc Doc

Hello Rusty and FRJDoc,
a question about the need to remove the center pin as mentioned in post #13,, is that slip ability needed due to the car being lowered down on to the DIY slip plates? It seems that if the car was rolled on to the plates the center pin would be a keeper. Asking as I have seen a lot of manufactured alignment turn plates that look to be a wheel mounted on a plate. And what did you use for the center pin?
FJRDoc,, a year down the road anything else you would change?

I am looking at making a set of these like shown in the video and I plan to roll the car up on the plates.

thanks
John
 
my68barracuda said:
@RustyRatRod
@FJRdoc Doc

Hello Rusty and FRJDoc,
a question about the need to remove the center pin as mentioned in post #13,, is that slip ability needed due to the car being lowered down on to the DIY slip plates? It seems that if the car was rolled on to the plates the center pin would be a keeper. Asking as I have seen a lot of manufactured alignment turn plates that look to be a wheel mounted on a plate. And what did you use for the center pin?
FJRDoc,, a year down the road anything else you would change?

I am looking at making a set of these like shown in the video and I plan to roll the car up on the plates.

thanks
John
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If you lift the car's tire(s) off the center plate for repair or adjustment and then let the car back down, the center pin in the plates keep the plates from sliding perpendicular to the car's center line to let the car return all the way to its static ride height. If the pins are not removable, the plates will not slide and the car will sit to high in the front when you let it down.
 
RustyRatRod said:
If you lift the car's tire(s) off the center plate for repair or adjustment and then let the car back down, the center pin in the plates keep the plates from sliding perpendicular to the car's center line to let the car return all the way to its static ride height. If the pins are not removable, the plates will not slide and the car will sit to high in the front when you let it down.
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so you think it would be OK with the center pin if the car was rolled on to the plate?
 
I used grease and two 16” squares of puck board. Works slick, but i do have an alignment machine. Needed the plates for after jacking and adjusting.
 
my68barracuda said:
so you think it would be OK with the center pin if the car was rolled on to the plate?
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As long as the wheels are not lifted off the plates yeah, but how are you going to make caster/camber adjustments?
 
RustyRatRod said:
As long as the wheels are not lifted off the plates yeah, but how are you going to make caster/camber adjustments?
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I am thinking that I will have the front -rear adjustors clocked to provide max caster and go with that, if some tweaking is needed, I am thinking I could reach in the wheel well above the tire.
 
my68barracuda said:
I am thinking that I will have the front -rear adjustors clocked to provide max caster and go with that, if some tweaking is needed, I am thinking I could reach in the wheel well above the tire.
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Keep dreamin. lol Here's the kicker. While you CAN "back off" the came with the weight on the tires, there's no way you can crank more cam into the alignment with the weight on the tires. You'll damage the cam stop brackets. I've tried it nine ways to Sunday and never had any luck. I assembled them with axle grease between the cams and the whole nine yards. It just wouldn't work without taking the weight off the wheels. But try it. Maybe you'll come up with something.
 
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