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Anybody do their own alignments?

kz

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Have you confirmed the Hunter rack report with string? If no, then you don't actually know what you have.
I verified that alignement multiple times at home - every time car has been driven hard - if you're that concerned - and yes - wtih strings, camber gage and garage floor corrected to be relatively flat (because it isn't) - since I've suspected that my rear camber arms don't really hold the settings as they should which also affects the toe. Also have toe plates somewhere. I know very well what I have, trust me. Also have been under that Hunter rack that I mentioned twice this year.

Bottom line - alignment at home done right will be more accurate than average shop and just as accurate as done right on a rack. It's simple geometry problem, not a black magic. Rack is obviously more convenient with loaded suspension and tires able to slide while adjusted.
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Michael_vroomvroom

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I'm convinced that having to read for comprehension was way better for me than merely watching and hoping that learning by osmosis is a real thing. Still have that book, still refer to it from time to time.

Yep, I think so too. But watching a good video (and I think that video was good with him explaining things too, though not to the level of a text book I'm sure) feels like getting a flying start on learning it. It has encouraged me to give it a go, and suspect I will do some reading to learn the finer details later.

I have camber plates and new springs to install, and finally found a decent deal on 19x11 wheels that I've now ordered, so I will need to get my wheels aligned no matter what at that time, but I think I'm going to start by trying to measure what my current stock-from-Ford alignment is using the mentioned by-wire procedure. Should hopefully give me a decent indication on whether I will be doing it completely wrong or not.
 

jmn444

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Yep, I think so too. But watching a good video (and I think that video was good with him explaining things too, though not to the level of a text book I'm sure) feels like getting a flying start on learning it. It has encouraged me to give it a go, and suspect I will do some reading to learn the finer details later.

I have camber plates and new springs to install, and finally found a decent deal on 19x11 wheels that I've now ordered, so I will need to get my wheels aligned no matter what at that time, but I think I'm going to start by trying to measure what my current stock-from-Ford alignment is using the mentioned by-wire procedure. Should hopefully give me a decent indication on whether I will be doing it completely wrong or not.
the alignment won't change from a wheel change fyi, you can align it with current wheels and then swap wheels back and forth without needing to re-align every time.
 

Michael_vroomvroom

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Have you confirmed the Hunter rack report with string? If no, then you don't actually know what you have.
I know very well what I have, trust me. Also have been under that Hunter rack that I mentioned twice this year.
I may be mistaken of course, but suspect that was a joke from JAJ's in lieu of this thread. Verifying the results of an expensive alignment rack with "cheap and primitive" string. ;-)
 

Michael_vroomvroom

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the alignment won't change from a wheel change fyi, you can align it with current wheels and then swap wheels back and forth without needing to re-align every time.
Yep, I was thinking about the camber plates and springs install.

Edit: though my intent is to swap the alignment each time I swap wheels back and forth (19x11 for my amateur trackdays, and the stock PP1's for my daily driving). I believe the Vorshlag camber plates should make that easy without having to remeasure/realign each time, but instead being able to move them between two settings measured/aligned once.
 

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Norm Peterson

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I may be mistaken of course, but suspect that was a joke from JAJ's in lieu of this thread. Verifying the results of an expensive alignment rack with "cheap and primitive" string. ;-)
More like you'd be verifying the quality of the job that was done, which includes some human setup operations where errors can creep in. Inflating tires to recommended pressures (or at least side to side equal pressures somewhere near recommended) being just one potential error source if not performed.


Norm
 

RedWhiteBlues

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Genuine question. Someone could extend the same argument to oil changes, etc.
Why is it absurd to consider making adjustments?
It's a great question. It isn't absurd at all. If you have camber plates, you likely want to adjust alignment for track days and then back again for street driving. Taking it to a shop each time is obviously fine, but why not learn to do it yourself. It's not a rocket science with some basic tools.
 

RedWhiteBlues

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Have you seen what alignment equipment looks like these days? I find it hard to believe anybody could think they could come close with a string compared to the technology a properly equipped shop has (assuming they know what they're doing, if not find a shop that does).
This is the key really - many shops DO NOT know what they are doing unfortunately.
 

kz

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Inflating tires to recommended pressures (or at least side to side equal pressures somewhere near recommended) being just one potential error source if not performed.
Norm
+having weight of the driver in the passenger seat. Yet to see regular shop even thinking about it.
 

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After watching the video and reading this thread, how do you make sure that your garage floor is level, and if not, what is the trick for leveling it?
 

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After watching the video and reading this thread, how do you make sure that your garage floor is level, and if not, what is the trick for leveling it?
Great question! I was thinking the same thing. Was thinking about trying to construct some sort of laser leveling scheme.
 

WD Pro

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I set up toe and camber with some basic tools in my garage and I am confident enough not to feel the need to get it rechecked when the car is (finally) finished.

I appreciate its not practical / suitable for normal cars, but I did the following :

Fixed the ride height.

Set toe to zero allowing for my garage floor slope and ideal rake (ally box section, tape measure, camber gauge).

Set the the wheels straight ahead relative to the back axle (laser).

Set the camber on each side - the suspension uses shims which I later replaced with a stainless spacers (camber gauge).

Set the toe.

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I have since made a tool to hold the camber gauge so I can recheck camber quickly on the car (wheels on).

I'm pretty sure for my requirement with that particular car, I would struggle to find anyone who could offer an improvement over the settings that I have made.

(For me) I'm not sure if it's a practical proposition on the mustang, but given the time / space / tools it would certainly be a fun experience trying ... :like:

WD :like:
 

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Mark your garage floor where your tires sit so you know where they'll be when you're checking everything, then move the car.

Get some 1' square vinyl floor tiles or anything else you can use as shims. Get about 15' of clear plastic tubing and a couple of jack stands. Fill the tubing with water until you have around 6" or so from the water level to the end of the tube. Hold the two ends together and make a line on the tubing where the water level is. From this point on, when the water is on the line your lines are at the same height - or level.

Set the jack stands right next to each other on a surface that is level, like a workbench. Zip tie the tubing to each jack stand with the water on the line. As long as the water is on the line the base of the jack stands are on the same level plane.

Start with the highest point of the four tire locations and set one tile or two (I like two because they can slide easily between the two to make a sort of turning plate) and set one of the jack stands on it. Move the other jack stand to another location and shim it up until the water is at the line. Once the water is at the line the top of the shims are on the same plane. Do the same thing with each other location and cross check them to double check (use the opposite diagonal location) and you'll end up with four stacks of tiles that are at the same height.

When you're moving the stands around put a finger over the end of the tube to keep the water from sloshing out. If you spill any water out of the tube you'll need to recalibrate the lines.

This process can make two points very far away extremely level.
 

GTIIIL

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All right, classic water level procedure. But do the tiles go underneath the tires to level the car? I presume they do, but without a picture my mind will not compute.
 

drummerboy

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Consider getting aftermarket camber arms and toe links for the rear as the parts and install are cheap and easy. Dialing it in will be easier than with the factory parts no matter who's doing the alignment. Someone more knowledgeable than myself can feel free to correct me as I never attempted it with the factory adjustments - I installed the arms/links straight away. But it looked to me that repeatedly checking and adjusting using the factory adjustments would have been a PITA.
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