DIY Wheel Alignment

Gaijin

Gaijin

Gaijin

Soldato
Joined
18 Feb 2003
Posts
8,616
Location
Brighton/West Wicklow
Hi guys,

Does anyone have much experience with this? Either with the string method or buying tools to do it yourself?

Reason for this is a while back I changed the suspension on my MX5 for some Koni Coilovers which i'm very pleased with. Aftwerwards, I wasn't able to immediately get a wheel alignment done, and noticed a bit of inside wear.

Then I got the alignment done, and some time has passed and I have recently noticed that the inside wear has progressed to the point of concern. I don't think the garage in question who did the alignment did much if anything. At this point i'd be inclined to go back and have a moan, but I no longer live anywhere near them and to be honest, can't be bothered to travel a long way just for an argument.

So, without waffling on, given that I seem to be finding it difficult to find trustworthy garages in general (and doing most of the work on my cars as a result), I live in the middle of nowhere, and that i'm 20 minutes from the nearest racetrack (Mondello), I'm investigating as to whether it makes more sense to get some equipment and do it myself so at least I know it's been done to the best of my ability (which I can live with).

I know perhaps it won't be as accurate as a laser alignment, but given that I have two cars that I intend to track, I'm figuring it will pay for itself very quickly, and give me the opportunity to play around with different setups moving forward.

So, does anyone have any experience of this, and furthermore, any recommendations of equipment?

Wouldn't want to spend more than around 200 quid, and i'm looking at being able to do all 4 wheels, camber, castor and toe at a minimum.

Thanks
 
This is silly.

Just go to someone with a Hunter machine, or Beissbarth/John Bean 3d will also do who specifically do 4 wheel alignments.

You should only have to do alignments once a year even with tracking the car. I paid £49 for the S class on Monday, everything was in the red, I know it's been done properly and don't have to be paranoid about it being out.
 
Surely being 20 minutes from a track there must be someone around there that's going to offer a decent spannering service?
 
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The track idea that tom suggested might be worth looking at. Though I know Gayjin likes to do things himself! :p

Maybe pepsilol missed the bit where he lives in the middle of nowhere and cannot get access to a laser alignment machine.
 
pepsilol said:
This is silly.

Just go to someone with a Hunter machine, or Beissbarth/John Bean 3d will also do who specifically do 4 wheel alignments.
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Sorry but I don't think it is silly for the reasons mentioned in the OP. I don't live in the UK, there aren't a massive amount of Hunter machines around (most are owned by main dealers) and I don't have a massive amount of confidence in general competency - there are threads and threads of mixed experiences with the same garages.

That coupled with the fact that I will likely experiment with car setups in the future points in a direction.

I'm just exploring options here, nothing is a done deal.
 
tom_e said:
Surely being 20 minutes from a track there must be someone around there that's going to offer a decent spannering service?
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There is, but it's funny how prevalent word of mouth still is over here - particularly with the Rally scene and all. There are barely any tuning companies around and for the nearest one, i've seen quotes bandied around for 150-200 quid - another reason for investigating this.

If need be, then i'll absolutely find somewhere to do it, but as Freefaller said, i'm interested in all parts of car tinkering and so there is a degree of enjoyment to be found in it as well.
 
Gayjin said:
Sorry but I don't think it is silly for the reasons mentioned in the OP. I don't live in the UK, there aren't a massive amount of Hunter machines around (most are owned by main dealers) and I don't have a massive amount of confidence in general competency - there are threads and threads of mixed experiences with the same garages.

That coupled with the fact that I will likely experiment with car setups in the future points in a direction.

I'm just exploring options here, nothing is a done deal.
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Hunter isn't that strong outside of United Kingdom. That's where Beissbarth etc will come on. As long as they put it in the green it should be fine? Personally think the string method is just not going to be reliable.
 
I've done DIY alignments on my cars as like you i'm miles away from anywhere with a hunter machine that i would actually trust to do anything to my cars. I've found them to be 'fine' with no weird tyre wear and handling when on track. So in the short term i'll continue to do them myself with a combination of string and a home made camber gauge which consists of some wooden board with a string with a weight on the end :p

I would be interested in getting some 'proper' equipment for doing it at home though.
 
I've done my own alignment on the race car with wood and string. It's basic geometry, not rocket surgery and there's no reason you can't get perfectly good results from it as long as you have somewhere flat and level to work and are methodical.

Laser alignment isn't necessarily more accurate, it's just quicker and easier for trained chimps to use without screwing it up.
 
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pepsilol said:
You should only have to do alignments once a year even with tracking the car.
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That's raises an interesting question. I generally only consider alignment every couple of years unless there's been a curbing/pot hole incident or indicative tyre wear. Our local tyre places have poor equipment so I don't let them near ours cars for alignment.

So most have been carried out by main dealers supposedly with good equipment but I've not always received the before and after report (I do ask for this now). So other than the risk they didn't do the work at all I don't know how bad it was before.

Do people find general driving causes alignment to change that much?
 
DereksDontRun said:
I might be wrong, but I think a lot of Mazda dealers in UK have alignment jigs and only charge £50. Would a local main dealer be an option?
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Probably not in my case - my MX5 is a JDM import and the official dealerships have flat out refused to serve me in the past
 
kaiowas said:
I've done my own alignment on the race car with wood and string. It's basic geometry, not rocket surgery and there's no reason you can't get perfectly good results from it as long as you have somewhere flat and level to work and are methodical.

Laser alignment isn't necessarily more accurate, it's just quicker and easier for trained chimps to use without screwing it up.
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Do this, it isn't that hard.

A friend helps me out, borrows a welded jig that sit on the ground front and back, then run string to do your toe in/out.

A camber gauge also helps, if you can adjust it that is.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
They did the alignment on my mates civic for the sme coat as my Mazda6
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I'm not doubting you at all, but it would appear that by buying a 2nd hand 15 year old import from the same marque, I suddenly somehow became complicit in a legacy crime to steal from them. I only wanted a thermostat and a gasket last time and they wouldn't help me at all!

-Ad- said:
Do this, it isn't that hard.

A friend helps me out, borrows a welded jig that sit on the ground front and back, then run string to do your toe in/out.

A camber gauge also helps, if you can adjust it that is.
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Thanks, MX5's are quite adjustable out of the box due to double wishbone, so should be able to.

EDIT: I know this is starting to sound a bit far fetched by now, but it is a combination of having difficulty finding consistent credible businesses, the distance, the faff in having to do so, and the enjoyment of learning myself. In the UK I had built up a reasonably good network of trusted suppliers in all walks, and i'll be the first to admit that starting again has been tiresome.
 
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kaiowas said:
I've done my own alignment on the race car with wood and string. It's basic geometry, not rocket surgery and there's no reason you can't get perfectly good results from it as long as you have somewhere flat and level to work and are methodical.

Laser alignment isn't necessarily more accurate, it's just quicker and easier for trained chimps to use without screwing it up.
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This. When I rebuilt my car with new everything, I had to start from scratch, so I took the time to measure it out with string. I then out of curiosity took it to Abbott Racing to get it checked (mainly wanted to be nosy and used it as an excuse to go there) - was bang on the centre of the required spec.
 
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