Alignment guage

[boB]

This is my homemade alignment tool. The plastic pieces adjust to touch the edges of the wheel. Camber is easy, just read the display.
Toe is more difficult, the laser must be aligned precisely with the level. I shimmed the plastic pieces so the laser is accurate to 1/8" at 30' (all the room I had to work with) so toe is good to about 1/20 degree, good enough.

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[1 old racer]

I use the same method. just different end block material. been doing my own camber and toe alignments for years on some of my cars. I always have a shop do the first one and use that as a baseline for changes

 

[TicTocTach]

I like the looks of that camber gauge - I've been using an old JC Whitney-sourced camber gauge for years, and it's great, but you have to count tick marks and do math... This would be a lot faster. The old toe gauge might not even fit under the Mustang, so I'll probably end up at a shop at some point anyway, just to make sure everything is balanced where it needs to be.

 

[Grimreaper]

What's on the end of the gauge? Plastic?

How are you finding the center line for the rear toe and thrust angle? Fronts easy enough but rear has me bit worried.

 

[boB]

What's on the end of the gauge? Plastic?

How are you finding the center line for the rear toe and thrust angle? Fronts easy enough but rear has me bit worried.

ABS parts, milled to within 0.01 mm for accuracy.
Centerline is determined from suspension mounting points (front and rear) then marked on the body for future reference. Drop a plumb from the two points and that is accurate enough.

 

[GTP]

Would 3D printed blocks be accurate enough?

 

[boB]

Would 3D printed blocks be accurate enough?

Probably. The 3D process I use (Shapeways SLS nylon) is specified at +/- 0.004" so it could be off by as much as 0.008" over the 19" of the wheel. That should not be a problem.

 

[GTP]

What is the gauge in the photo? Will you share your design for the blocks?

 

[boB]

It took me awhile to find my drawings, from 2011! The laser level is a Harbor Freight part, I bought it years ago and it has probably been replaced with a new model by now.
The blocks are doweled to align accurately, 3/8" hard plastic tubing with 1/4" nylon bolts holding the two pieces together.

I made the parts on an inexpensive mill (littlemachineshop.com) but 3D printing should work ok and is a lot easier. I can provide a stl file but no guarantees of how well it will work since I have not tried it that way.

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