How level should the garage floor be for DIY alignment?

[RobZ71LM7]

I've done self alignments years ago on a car I used to autocross. Might be doing the same on the Mach 1 next week. My question is, and yes I've searched, what is the tolerance +/- everyone is using when leveling their floor?

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[EFI]

what is the tolerance +/- everyone is using when leveling their floor?

Well garage floors, from a construction perspective, have to have a certain slope to it to meet code. That should be whatever your town/state building department says. Otherwise it should be flat and smooth.

What are you doing to the floor, are you resurfacing or pouring a new slab? What's the condition of the current floor if you're just repairing an existing one?

 

[Dana Pants]

some people I know used a construction laser level and make shims where the 4 tires go to compensate for any floor non-flatness.

I dumped self-leveler out of trash barrels to resurface my garage floor and have declared it "good enough" for alignments without actually measuring.

 

[Siege]

I've been working on my alignment here and there the past few weekends and camber is impacted by not being perfectly level but toe isn't significantly.

Between compliance in rubber bushings and the fact that street roads aren't perfectly level it's debatable how much it really matters.

 

[TeeLew]

some people I know used a construction laser level and make shims where the 4 tires go to compensate for any floor non-flatness.

I dumped self-leveler out of trash barrels to resurface my garage floor and have declared it "good enough" for alignments without actually measuring.

For comparison, the NASCAR guys often setup on on scales set directly on the garage floor. A laser level and a stack of linoleum tiles or similar will easily get you within most people's measurement error (including mine).

If I have to accept a height difference in one direction, I point the car fore/aft on the slope. If it's in more than one direction, then I find a new place to do it. My present setup spot is the floor of a local street car shop. The owner is a buddy, so, If I want to do some alignment work, I just do it at his place. It's not perfect, but it's good enough that my results are significantly better than someone who is on much better equipment, but doesn't care as much.

I know that's not a real answer to your original question, but it really depends on what you're personally willing to accept.

 

[Knockdown]

That what I use, linoleum tiles and I have laser level I used to build a deck years ago and a stick marked for the highest corner. Just add floor tiles until the other 3 corners are level.

 

[RobZ71LM7]

Thanks guys. I did this years ago on my 4th gen Camaro (autox car). I used lineoleum sticky tiles as well with a laser level and got it within +/- 1/8". I was trying to see if this was sufficient. The new garage I have is nice but the floor is aggressively sloped towards the door. I'll have to level the end toward the door more than an inch. My plan is to use plywood and then tiles for fine tuning. My thought is front to rear level isn't nearly as important as side to side. This is my first 4-wheel alignment on a non-stick axle car. I've got Cortex and AAD arms for toe and camber to make it easier. I have a feeling I may hate life after this, but we'll see.

 

[TeeLew]

I'm not so sure about the AAD toe links. The camber arms are really nice, though.

 

[TeeLew]

Make damn sure the car doesn't roll off the stack of tiles. That could be bad.

 

[RobZ71LM7]

I got

I'm not so sure about the AAD toe links. The camber arms are really nice, though.

I’m going to use the AAD camber arms and Cortex toe links. I cannot imagine not having infinite toe adjustment.

 

[RobZ71LM7]

Our local shop that does custom alignments and is used by SCCA members is booked this week and my appointment is for July 6th. Getting ready to start this tomorrow, my goal is to have the car safe enough for a 4 hour road trip this upcoming weekend and not destroy my street tires. Changes made were handling package springs front and rear, rear sway bar, steeda camber plates, AAD camber arms, Cortex toe links, BMR cradle lockout. Toe really shouldn't be affected by a fore and aft out of level? I really think the main goal should be side to level. My main concern is toe for stability and tire wear until I can get to the shop next week, camber should only be affected by side to side, and caster is non-adjustable. I hate to have to drive the car over an inch and a half of shims on one end-I think that would present other problems.

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