Tracking, third time lucky...

[MetalMonkey]

I've had it with garages doing wheel alignment too. Can anyone recommend any kit which does the job for cheap?

You won't get anything cheaper than a roll of string and a ruler.....
With that you can do a full four wheel alignment.

They sell fancy jigs for stringing if you feel you want to burn money, but none of it is needed if you take your time.

In terms of cost, stepping up from that you have the old Dunlop style gauges, modern clones now using frickin' laser beams. They will just do your front alignment and you need a flat surface.
There was also the old Wheelforce deflection type gauges - I have a battered old set kicking around somewhere, but they don't work with the bumpers on most modern cars.

Then you get the hang on style laser quick alignments with the flags, clones by Tecalemit, QuickTrak, Super tracker etc - available in two or four wheel styles.

Then you are up into the computerised stuff and deep pockets.

 

[optima21]

I just look down the side of the car, thats good enough for me as I change tyres due to old age rather than wear

 

[northwest]

I had a four wheel drive Audi, yes one of those and I remember having to take it to a number of "specialist firms" before they got the tracking right. I changed the drop links on the Astra and the steering wheel is offset now so it needs sorting. I will take it to my mates place and get it done right.

 

[Ton-up]

I was on holiday in Cornwall 4 weeks ago and lost all the power steering fluid out the end of the rack. Had to have new rack and the guy that fitted it didnt have tracking equipment so he told me to try a garage in Truro. I went in with the steering wheel off about 10 degree. The guy put the steering wheel straight and put a clamp on it to stop it moving, put 4 sensor things on the wheels and set it up.
It was spot on. It was £40 and the van drives so much better.
Expensive holiday though…….

 

[Jack_K]

I even went to a guy who does classic car racing alignments using an old Hunter lite-a-line. He has probably been doing them since the machine was new and it is his business but he was just as bad as if I took it to a tyre store but more expensive. The worst issue was that when I got down the road I found the lower arm bushes (Rover mini) had destroyed themselves.

I had already been looking for an old aligner for some time, I ended up buying an old (1970s) VLC Uniflex 130 for the price of two of this guy's alignments. That is a light based aligner which can do four wheel alignments with runout compensation, it just takes time to do. There were a few other manufacturers of equivalent setups but they don't usually do alloy wheels, I haven't found anything new which really compares. The laser ones previously mentioned work the same way but don't have runout compensation or camber/caster inbuilt.

 

[Bornfree]

I've had it with garages doing wheel alignment too. Can anyone recommend any kit which does the job for cheap?

i use a roll of fishing line 4 axle stands and a steel rule.

 

[Keithmac]

i use a roll of fishing line 4 axle stands and a steel rule.

I made a metal bar jig to sit on the wheel faces ase well and use a magnetic angle finder for camber.

You lay a bar across the strut top mount studs and zero the angle finder first, this means the ground doesn't have to be 100% level to set camber.

 

[droopsnoot]

I'm glad it isn't just me that does their own tracking. I've recently been given a set of Dunlop gauges that I had a play with, but as I need to swap the wishbone bushes on my daily, there's not much point messing around yet. I've also got a Gunson Trakrite - the thing you drive over and it tells you whether the alignment is "within tolerance". I've used that quite a lot and my tyre life seems to suggest that it works effectively. Mine was £2 from a car boot sale. I do need to sort out a camber gauge though - a mate has one, and he's happy for me to borrow it, but I believe there are cheap plastic ones available that might be good enough.

The other down side of whipping the steering wheel off and centring it on a modern car (apart from it being just the wrong thing to do) is that a lot have steering angle sensors for the traction control system, so unless you reset or calibrate that as well, you'll get interference when you don't expect it. I set mine once, rushed it, found the steering wheel was about 30 degrees off centre but needed to go home and figured I'd sort it the next day. Part way home I get all sorts of rubbing and grinding and I believe it was the ESP trying to sort out what it thought was a bad case of understeer as I was going straight on and the wheel was pointing quite far to the right.

 

[redlig]

I had to do a alignment check on a NSX which were critical and the dealer couldn't get it to stop wearing rears. Arrived at " super " dealer and shown set up ,high teck kit , laying on the most uneven cr*p concrete floor you could imagine . No chance in hell of getting it right. Removed car to a decent dealer ,no further problems. Cancelled first dealers warranty bill and charged him for removing the car to second dealer. As the NSX were in short supply I managed to stop any more supply to first dealer.

 

[Smallfry]

If the tracking has been checked and set correctly, either whip off the steering wheel and put it back on straight or adjust the track rods by equal amounts until the wheel is straight. Either method will take only a few minutes.

I would not touch the steering wheel, but adjusting each track rod is the way to go, but you must think about what you are doing, effectively moving the steering without moving the wheel, and most importantly, NOT losing the tracking setting. Mark the rod, locknut, and end before starting so you know where you are. Both rods must be turned an equal amount.

 

[dobbslc]

There's no way I'm touching the steering wheel!
When I asked what settings they'd used for toe in, the counter monkey just said that the machine tells us!
I then asked does it know it's a Jap import? He just said we use the reg number...
After the third attempt to track it he asked me if I.wanted 4 wheel tracking, I don't think he knew what a solid rear axle is...
I knew I was onto a looser there and then
I said it's basically a Toyota Land cruiser 90 under the body but he wasn't interested.
The world is full of idiots.

 

[James1979]

Don’t take the wheel off.

That’ll cause more issues.

If it were me I think I’d give up and attack it myself. At least you know it’s done properly. That’s why I tend to do most things myself. Fed up of dealing with morons who can’t be arsed.

 

[Farside]

I use two lengths of two-by-two, each bungeed to a front wheel, and measure the distance between them. I have them marked at measuring points and can work out the wheel toe-out or ins from that.
Seemples.
Saved bloody fortune over the years.

 

[Keithmac]

As people have mentioned about removing the steering wheel, if you do that to a car with Electonic PAS, Steering Angle Sensor, Pull Drift Compensation it would be an absolute disaster!.

For the older cars I would go from lock to lock, to find the dead centre of the rack and go from there.

We have metal alignment bars for MOT'ing motorcycles made out of box section but they are dead straight.

 

[bricol]

I made a metal bar jig to sit on the wheel faces ase well and use a magnetic angle finder for camber.

You lay a bar across the strut top mount studs and zero the angle finder first, this means the ground doesn't have to be 100% level to set camber.

That does assume the shell is straight and true, that the ride height is correct - and that's not always the case.

 

[bricol]

There's no way I'm touching the steering wheel!
When I asked what settings they'd used for toe in, the counter monkey just said that the machine tells us!
I then asked does it know it's a Jap import? He just said we use the reg number...
After the third attempt to track it he asked me if I.wanted 4 wheel tracking, I don't think he knew what a solid rear axle is...
I knew I was onto a looser there and then
I said it's basically a Toyota Land cruiser 90 under the body but he wasn't interested.
The world is full of idiots.

Not necessarily.

Set the front tracking relative to the back axle rather than to itself may well sort out issues with the wheel off to one side - your back axle isn't necessarily still where it might originally have been, or as straight as it ought to be.

Mine you - the old Renault 4 / 5 would confuse a modern lad - different wheelbase each side - the thrust/sey back measurement would be off the scale!

 

[bricol]

I found a local place to me, with a guy who knew how to work their expensive system, which was set-up on a ramp that allowed rear wheel tracking too.

Which allowed me to discover just how far out the as built, non-adjustable castor and camber were on my Dodge, allowing me to clock off-set replacement bushings (sold for the purpose - originally for the Merc that donated its floorplan design) and get it all back within spec. front and rear.

Not done enough miles to prove if its stopped the excessive inner edge wear front and rear.

 

[eddie49]

I use two lengths of two-by-two, each bungeed to a front wheel, and measure the distance between them.

We have metal alignment bars for MOT'ing motorcycles made out of box section but they are dead straight.

Two cheapo laser spirit levels - or even laser pointers - clamped to the wheels provide very long and very straight lines.

 

[James1979]

As people have mentioned about removing the steering wheel, if you do that to a car with Electonic PAS, Steering Angle Sensor, Pull Drift Compensation it would be an absolute disaster!.

For the older cars I would go from lock to lock, to find the dead centre of the rack and go from there.

We have metal alignment bars for MOT'ing motorcycles made out of box section but they are dead straight.

I have a set of bars I made for doing bikes. Got fed up of looking for straight bits so made a dedicated set.

Used the idea to make a massive set for doing HGV ones. They work quite well. It’s a basic principle which scales up well.

 

[Robotstar5]

I use two lengths of two-by-two, each bungeed to a front wheel, and measure the distance between them. I have them marked at measuring points and can work out the wheel toe-out or ins from that.
Seemples.
Saved bloody fortune over the years.

My dad used a couple of lengths of wood to do the tracking on his Landy.