DIY wheel alignment

[armalites]

I always did my Classic Rangie with a length of 25x25 tube with nuts welded on the end. I put a piece of rod or a long bolt in each end. I could then see the difference between the front of the rim and the rear. With a solid axle it's pretty reliable as you can do it with the wheels off the ground because they don't change. I have used it as a quick and easy method on several cars.

I bought a http://www.trackace.co.uk/ a few years a go and it's a great bit of kit.

 

[the snooper]

Don't think it's worth messing around with, you may think you have got it right but by the time you realise you haven't you have ruined the tyres so you need to buy new tyres and pay for the tracking

 

[BrokenBiker]

doh £50

Almost everywhere I have been its been £20-35 quid, £50 seems high, shop around a bit, £20 is a lot easier than doing tryout self then needing new tyres in 1k miles and still need tracking done

 

[123hotchef]

THERE is a local place that charges £25 £50 Is for the decent computer allingment

 

[colnerov]

Hi, It's not just down to the cost. There is the operator as well, does he know what he's doing? If not it could cost you a pair of tyres if you don't spot it early enough.

Colin

 

[colnerov]

Hi, This has been around for 30 odd years and is accurate (we've checked it against Dunlop opticals) and for the cost good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simple-Dr...905838?hash=item53ea29fcee:g:iS8AAOSw1vlUs6RE

Colin

 

[the snooper]

Hi, This has been around for 30 odd years and is accurate (we've checked it against Dunlop opticals) and for the cost good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simple-Dr...905838?hash=item53ea29fcee:g:iS8AAOSw1vlUs6RE

Colin

I've got one of those, they are not very consistent, you need a good flat surface to use it and seem to get different readings each time even if you havnt adjusted anything mine sits in the cupboard and I just pay to have it tracked, much easier and it's right

 

[brightspark]

2 x 13 foot scaffold planks. one each side against the tires and a tape measure. it don't get any better or simple

 

[Cobbler]

Hi, This has been around for 30 odd years and is accurate (we've checked it against Dunlop opticals) and for the cost good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Simple-Dr...905838?hash=item53ea29fcee:g:iS8AAOSw1vlUs6RE

Colin

A mate of mine has one of the original ones of those, Sykes Pickavant I think it is from the 1960's all steel rollover tracking gauge. Lovely bit of kit, when I worked in a garage in the mid '60s it was the high tech equipment, trouble was I think it looked low tech compared to the optical type, but just as good. It was far better than the set of trammels on a bar that most of the garages used.

 

[arther dailey]

I have always done my own, on vans ,lorries and cars, ten minutes or drive down the road ,wait your turn, £20,drive back, lost an hour minimum. never scrubbed tyres yet, but I also service them, so no play in track rods etc etc......well the main stealer is £90 hour plus vat........and believe me those boys never break into a sweat .Arther

Mod:edited for language

 

[MoreWellie]

the pole being at the same location on the wheel or rim

just by eye, should have said this was on solid axles. I have done most of the families landies like this and no complaints on tyre wear

I have now bought an old light based system which also lets me check front back axle alignment and checked one I set by the rod method and found it was within half a degree

 

[Justme]

£50 or poss wreck your front tyres in just a few miles?

Get it done right.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Find a cheaper garage. £30 is all it should cost, less/nil if it doesn't require adjustment.

You can spend as long as you like messing around but tracking just isn't something to do diy. Vehicle data is usually given in degrees toe in/out and if using sticks you need to calculate the length difference from where you measure from, it's NOT ok to say three degrees is equal to three millimeters.

Also, your work surface must be dead level to do it properly. It's just not worth it. Get it wrong and not only will it cost you a new pair of tyres but you'll still need to pay to get it put right afterwards.
Expensive, fancy equipment is not necessary for checking toe in/out and don't go paying extra for that, any reasonable quality tracking gauges which hang from the tyre and rest against the rim will do the job properly.

 

[rikrobson]

It's a simple bit of trig to measure the wheel angle and we all have our zues books or excel.
My local quick fit is 4 Door down from my workshop and the guys in there are excellent. Thierry service is second to none and I had a dislike of kwikfit based on experiences in the eighties.

I got 4 new. Tyres for the puma and the manager told me to go on line because I'd get more discount. Did it online while I was there. The car was in my workshop and I brought the wheels on a trolly. The next day they were ready and all strapped uo back on the trolly.

I'd like to fault them but I can't. Simple as that and they are I think 25 for a tracking.

There is a teaser in the town but they only do the laser beam super duper 4 wheel tracking for 70 odd quid. Most cars don't have 4 wheel adjustment and they don't do standard fw tracking

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Try to find a place with a Hunter machine, it'll be a little more expensive [iirc I paid £80 for laser 4-wheel alignment on the 5 series] - you'll track a place down here http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

Edit: I forgot to say the improvement in steering response was noticeable immediately on driving off.

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have seen it done using a couple of lengths of paper on the floor, then pushing the car forward onto the paper. But can't remember any details, When i worked on the lorries while serving my time there were steel plates that could pivot, Same idea as the paper. set a pointer to zero,slowly drive the truck on top of them and see what the pointer said regarding to-in etc as the wheels swivelled one plate on top of the other, Can anybody else remember these or am I just getting too old

 

[123hotchef]

well its all done drives great steering wheel is straight i did it with string i may get it checked if i notice abnormal tyre wear

 

[optima21]

I just do mine by looking by eye down the side of the car when its on a flat surface. I've not had my cars "tracked" in 20 years, and my tyres need replacing after 8 years of use rather than wear these days

 

[Cobbler]

I have seen it done using a couple of lengths of paper on the floor, then pushing the car forward onto the paper. But can't remember any details, When i worked on the lorries while serving my time there were steel plates that could pivot, Same idea as the paper. set a pointer to zero,slowly drive the truck on top of them and see what the pointer said regarding to-in etc as the wheels swivelled one plate on top of the other, Can anybody else remember these or am I just getting too old

Yes, see my post 29, this was the same system, but for light vehicles, I don't know what the weight limit was, but don't think it would take a truck.

 

[gaz1]