Self Alignment

I’ve been looking at purchasing a DIY self alignment kit for my garage for a while at $100 dollars an alignment decent kit will pay for itself fairly quickly. I’ve looked at some of the higher end kits such as

http://www.advantagewheelalignment.com/Lazer_Align.html

or some of the cheaper kits
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p..._Alignment_Kit

Or some combination of tools:
http://www.ogracing.com/longacre-toe-in-gauge
http://www.ogracing.com/longacre-bil...ickset-adapter


I was wondering if anybody has/does use any of these type of tools to perform DIY alignment on the S and what they think of it, is it something that would be worthwhile? Is it going to be as accurate as a 4k laser alignment machine a at a mechanic shop, looking online it seems like there are some die hard string enthusiasts who claim using a string and a few cheap tools you can do an alignment as good as professional machine. Being that the car sits so low I wonder how much of a problem it is going to be to get to the tie rods while the car is sitting.




I found a couple previous threads which touch on the topic but being a noob to DIY alignments I wanted to get peoples overall opinions on the matter

All input is welcome...

 

im not sure it would be as good or accurate...but I can tell you a laser alignment machine at a shop isn't 4 grand...try more like 30 grand for a mid level model

 

Last time I took my civic in to Firestone for something, they told me they had a $175 lifetime alignment. Apparently it was for "the vehicle" but would be granted for the life of the car, despite puchasing new tires every now and then.

Not sure if there was a limit on how often though.

 

I did string alignments for many many years. Did them over an alignment pit.

They can actually be more accurate than many shops.

I would absolutely go for it.

 

I've seen them start at 4 and go up to 15 for wirless/bluetooth adjustment, but never seen one for 30 but its completely possible.


So it's $175 and the will realign it forever? That seems pretty cheap, my local shop charges %100



Do you have a preference to the brand of tire mount you use along with the string? I am totally going to pick your brain when you do my valve adjustment if you don't mind

 

I have "string" aligned some of my previous cars, including an MR2 and a Miata. I didn't buy any special equipment, just ran monofilament fishing line between jackstands at wheel center height and parallel to the vehicle centerline. I got good results, though it was time consuming, especially the first time I did it. The fishing line was for toe, I did camber with a plumb bob. I established level pads for the car to sit on during the alignment.

I like to know that it's done right, and I think it can be plenty right enough with a manual alignment if you're careful.

 

I've done DIY alignments for 35 years. The best "cheap" way that I know of is to use a parallel set of bars. These are generally a set of 4 aluminum 2x2 bars that are accurately drilled to fit together in a parallelogram/rectangle. They sit on legs that adjust so the top of the bars are at wheel centerline.

This is a variation on the string method. But with the added advantage of easy repeatability and setup.

I've made camber gauges using a sailboat inclinometer attached to a piece of aluminum sheet metal. It's crude, but accurate enough for my uses.

Setting caster can be a pain on some cars using such cheap methods.

 

Haha yes I can teach you a great deal about alignments that weekend with some props.

 

There's no doubt you can use those diy products to set toe and maybe camber, but a good alignment is much more than that. Not to mention you could spend several hours attempting to get it into spec while most alignment shops will have it knocked out in less than an hour. Your time is worth something too right? Plus you get a print out with most alignments so you know it's in spec.

 

Interestingly, you can take that "pro" shop alignment printout, and measure everything yourself and often get different numbers. In fact, you may even notice that the LH and RH numbers don't match! I don't put all that much faith in many local shops. The equipment may be out of calibration, the tech may not account for a slightly tweaked rim (remember that a rim/bearing/hub assy that is out 1/16th of an inch will greatly affect the outcome) And, these are all things the DIY guy can deal with. Often by simple knowledge of his car.

A quick and dirty way to get a more accurate DIY "trackside" alignment is to place newspapers under each tire. This allows you to turn the wheels for caster measurement with relative ease and very little friction. A better way may be to use 2 plates of sheet metal with grease between them (grease plates) under each tire.

There is no question that a full and complete alignment can be done with great accuracy using the parallel bars I suggested, along with a quality camber gauge. One can even take wheelbase measurements and set the dimensions with accuracy. Something that is generally ignored by most shops.

It does take quite a bit of initial setup time to get it right, and on cars like the S, it's not so easy to work underneath without knocking the bars. However, the advantage of using bars is that you can configure the bars and car to each-other for rapid repeatability. You can do this by using a centering link, front and rear. Or by hard points to measure from.