joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

I have found in my area that very few shops want to do an alignment on a car that is lowered or has any camber to it outside stock specifications. I have also found that the shops around me are terrible at performing alignments. I know the steps below look very long but once you have done this once or twice its very easy I can do an alignment in about 20 minutes from start to finish. For whatever reason there is a misconception that you need some fancy equipment to do an alignment. I developed this method after getting tired of paying for a shop to do an alignment and print me a piece of paper saying it was perfect only to have the car pull like crazy. I have also found my tires last much longer when I check alignment after any time I touch anything suspension related which I used to be too cheap to do at $75 a pop when I was paying a shop. I used to only do an alignment if I noticed an issue; now I just check every time. There is nothing complicated about this it’s pretty simple geometry, I have done countless alignments and can pretty easily get a car to run in a perfectly straight line without touching the wheel for 5-10 seconds on the highway at 70 mph which is my test after I align a car. The last set of tires on my car with a decent amount of camber wore evenly after 60k miles so I have pretty good faith in my system. The steps below are to align toe you really don’t need to pay too much attention to camber, adjust your camber so each side matches. I have found toe has a huge effect on tire wear much more than any reasonable camber. Once you have done this a few times you will pretty quickly be able to diagnose the issue from just driving a car. In general you will find if your car is pulling hard to one side it is usually because it is toe out. For example if it pulls to the right the passenger side wheel is probably toe out, both may be toe out but the passenger side wheel will be more. If it doesn’t pull hard to one side but doesn’t drive straight, is not very response, and the steering wheel is a little crooked let’s say turned to the left a little it is probably toe in and the driver side wheel is farther in then the passenger wheel. Below are the steps to fix these issues, next time I do this I will take photos and add them to this post.

Items needed: tape measure (needs 1/16” markings), (4) 5 gallon buckets, about 40 LF of string, whatever wrenches you need to adjust tie rod ends.

1. Make sure your tie rod lock bolts are loose and the tie rods move freely for adjustment. Once you get things setup you will not want to jack up the vehicle. You may need to get it up on jack stands so you have easy access to loosen the lock nut but throughout the rest of the process the car needs to be sitting on the ground the entire time to get the alignment right. It can be tricky to adjust the tie rods with the car sitting on the ground with a lower car as you may have very little room. So you will want to get the tie rod bolts spinning very freely. I recommend spinning them to their extents with never seize.
2. Pull vehicle into driveway or any flat surface making sure when you park the steering wheel is straight. Put the driver side window down, you may need to turn the steering wheel later and may not be able to open the door.
3. Fill buckets about 1/3 with water so they have enough weight you can get some good tension in the string. Setup buckets at 4 corners of car (a,b,c,d below), like the sketch below buckets need to be a little past the front and back of the car so you can run a tape between the 2 buckets at the front and also between the two buckets at the rear (dimensions X below) don’t worry about any measurements yet.
4. Tie string around the handle of one of the buckets on the driver side and run it back to the other bucket on the driver side and tie it to that handle. Give yourself an extra foot or two of string. Repeat for the passenger side.
5. Turn the buckets so the string is tight against the edge of the buckets as shown in the sketch below. Make sure the string is tight to the edge of the bucket not a fin or lip, also make sure the string is as close to possible to the center of your wheels (vertically).
6. Now measure from the center of your wheel to the string and make all the measurements match. Start with A and C, then move to B and D, then go back to A and C and double check, if B and D were far off you will need to adjust A and C a little. You want this measurement to be as close to the wheel as you can get it without it hitting the tire or rim or body.
7. Now hook your tape measure on the inside edge of bucket A and measure to the inside edge of bucket C. Record this measurement (dimension x in the sketch) and repeat for B and D, usually one measurement will be larger. For this example let’s say A and C were 73” inches apart and B and D were 74”. You need to move buckets A and C each a half inch farther so the measurement will then be 74”. Now check what the measurement is from the center of the wheels.
8. A and C should now match and B and D should also match. Record the measurement off the wheel to the string for A/C, B/D, and also record the dimension X. In the future once you have these three measurements you can just setup everything to these dimensions and you are good to go skipping steps 5-6.
9. At this point you have 2 lines on either side of the car that are perfectly parallel to your car and each other. Now measure off the front and back edge of each front rim. This measurement should be the exact same for each wheel. If it is not your out of alignment. If the front measurement is larger than the back measurement it means you are toe in. You need to bring the back of the wheel in so turn the bolt in the tie rod to the right to reduce the length of the tie rod. If this front measurement is smaller you are toe out, turn the tie rod bolt out to increase the length of the tie rod.
10. It is very important as you make adjustments that you keep an eye on the steering wheel making sure it is not moving, if you are adjusting the tie rod and the wheel is not moving it probably means the steering wheel is moving. Usually it will not move but on some cars it will. This is why I said to put the window down in the first step, if it does move a little just move it back to center and you should be fine.
11. Once you get the measurement on each wheel as close to perfect as you can measure with the tape measure, tighten the lock bolts and go for a test drive. The car should be good now but it is not uncommon that I have to set it up again and make a minor adjustment after the test drive. After the second test drive if it is still having issues in my experience the problem is probably the result of a loose suspension component or inconsistencies with the tires neither of which an alignment will fix.

thoiboi

Wouldn't finding a trustworthy shop be easier than this I'd be shocked if there's NO shop around.. you may have to pay more but get a better result. My shop charges $110 but is very lowered friendly and he's very meticulous to whatever specs you provide or stock specs.

Props to you for the DIY though!

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

This is kind of the reason I wrote this DIY, that is usually the response I get when I say I do my own alignments. I have found there is this misconception that you need the equipment a shop has to do an alignment. I am sure I could find a shop that does a good job but what's the point it's easy to do myself and cheap. Why would I go to the troub le of calling around shops to find one that will work on my lowered car, make an appointment, wait an hour and a half while they do the work, then pay them $100 when I can do it myself in a fraction of the time for free.

Essentially all my instructions are doing is explaining step by step how to get two parallel lines that are also perfectly parallel to the car, within about 1/32 of an inch that's all you need. Seriously this really only takes 20 minutes next time I do it I will post photos and a video to show how simple it is. My experience with even the best alignments is if I check the alignment after a shop does, they are usually farther off then if I were to do it. The bottom line is there is no magic to doing an alignment. Anytime you touch anything related to the suspension you should get an alignment and a lot of time there is a good reason for that. At $110 a pop your going to think twice before you get an alignment after you change out a $60 upper ball joint and you don't notice any pulling. My main point of the post is to show you don't need to take your car to a shop to get an alignment, with supplies everyone has you can do it yourself as good or better then the average shop will. I personally have never found a shop that will consistently align a car as well as I can in my driveway, the reason is pretty simple it's not because I have a better method then them it's because I care more then them about getting it perfect.

WDPanda

Very interesting. I too, dislike paying the shops $60 (good deal) everytime i change out a suspension component which is quite often it seems with older cars.
Sub'd for video!

champaned_out

iTrader: (2)

so how accurate is this method? are you able to find out what your camber, toe, and caster settings are at after you finish?

cu2wagon

So this just checks/adjusts toe, right? Not camber or caster?

ATLS_666

Any mechanic over 47yrs old should know about this method.

I've seen it done before but I trust lasers and computers more than I trust a string and a bucket. That's just me though.

Jackass

What he has described covers toe only which is the big one. The assumption being made is the camber is already off/custom since he is lowered. This is a great option for those that have time and motivation. But....for those of of us that don't....I will pay the $75 and let someone else deal with it.

I don't even change my own oil anymore. Trying to keep my 2 year old out from under the car and out of the oil doesn't sound like fun.

Trav2390

Props for doing an alignment yourself. When I bought new tires from Firestone they had a deal that you pay $70 on top of the cost of the tires and you get a lifetime alignment with it for as long as you own the car. NOT for just the life of the tires. I have had 9 alignments done since I bought my TL back in 2014 (as I switch out my 18's for 17's come winter and vice versa come spring) and every time I leave Firestone, they hand me the before and after alignment spec sheet and an invoice that says I owe $0.

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

This is correct this only covers toe, most cars you can't adjust caster. You can only adjust camber in the front if you have adjustable ball joints. Caster and camber do not have a major effect on tire wear and have no effect on pull as long as both sides are the same

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

There are a few problem with you assumptions.

1. machines get out of calibration
2. lasers and computers are only as good as the mechanic using them
3. I have never seen a shop that checks alignment with a test drive after they have made any changes. My experience is like I mentioned a lot of times you may need to adjust it again after you make your first adjustment, if you get on hot rod forums where alot of those guys do their own alignment they will all say you have to take it on a drive and re check it. My assumption is things shift and settle during that first initial drive.
4. Above all else I have found your assumption to be false I have gotten an alignment by a shop taken my car straight home and after it was pulling like crazy checked it with my method and found it to be significantly off. When I went back to the shop they put it back on their machine and said it was fine so I insisted they go on a test drive and then they said another suspension component must be bad or it's from uneven tire wire even though they couldn't tell me what was bad (since nothing was). I explained I checked it and their equipment must be bad and they completely disregarded me and wouldn't give me a refund. I went home aligned it myself and took it back to them asked them to go on a test drive with me and then give me a refund. They refused and have never got my business since and I have never taken a car for an alignment again!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you're fucking awesome Joel Matt!! (WTF? Two first names!?)

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

It's as accurate as you want it to be, in my experience I can get it better then the average shop. In my opinion that's not because my equipment is better but because I actually care about getting it right not just getting it done so I can move on to the next job. If you used fishing line and a scale you could probably get it within 1/128th of an inch. however at that point your suspension components have much more play. You could check what your settings are for toe and camber if your halfway decent at math. For toe I would think it would be... tan^-1(difference between front and rear measurement on rim/diameter of rim). Really I am not sure why you care though, if the settings are within 1/32 of an inch and there is no pull your not going to have bad tire wear.

joelmatt89

iTrader: (1)

haha I am a twin my name is Joel my brothers name is Matt, when we were younger my brother and I always shared the same name on forums since we were always working on the same projects... 15 years later I still use the same name on forums.

cu2wagon

phew. It's okay guys! He's got a twin and they share the same SN. He's not a psychopath with three names.

Nothing more to see here. Totally benign user. Continue along with your day.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Nice to meet ya, Joel!
Keep rockin' the DIY alignment!!

nfnsquared

FYI, for the non-adventurous (like me) when it comes to alignments, Sears has a life-time alignment for $189....

Charsu

Speechless... I'd try it but I'm not really detailed oriented. This sounds pretty interesting though! Thanks for sharing regardless. Makes me wish that you would do this for my tl for some compensation =P

llllBULLSEYE

iTrader: (1)

The String alignment is a temporary fix. We used to do this at the dealer when the Machine had issues, but still made the customer return to get a real alignment once it was working again.
looking at the before and after I will stick to the Machine. So as a temp fix it is great

coltlauer

this is an awesome post and have ran into the same issues with shops not aligning properly. i have since been using a buddy that i trust and he does my alignments for the price of a 6-pack. but definitely a great DIY project and something i would like to try sometime. Thank you Joel Matt

AZuser

Still doesn't have anything on usdmJON. 3 first names FTW! Jonathan Ryan Frederick

Charsu

Ah, still cool nonetheless!