Al_P

There is no such thing too low to have alignment done. There are in ground alignment racks with no ramps everywhere. I doubt pep boys or other crap hole will, but most decent dealerships do.
Plus its a solid rear and there is no toe adjustment in the back so you are less likely to notice any tire wear in the back or drift/pull conditions. only the F will change when lowered.

To avoid tire wear and on a normal car toe should be within .00 degree of accuracy.

On a G35 Coupe a .00 and .15 degree toe in will buy you probably 5k miles on top of average 10-15k

.05toe in on one side and .20 toe in on other will make a huge difference on tire wear and handling. I deal with it every day first hand.

So down to my point....if you or anyone here claim they can get their toe down to one hundredth of a degree within spec i call BS.

Yell88CRXsi

No, I was simple implying that with todays technology, you would have to be a dumb ass to try a DIY alignment. No offense to the OP, but $40-50 alignment, vs $200-400 set of tires...hmmm it doesn't take a rocket scientist to get this one.

It's bad medicine to even offer the idea. Come on, think about it. What kind of people would try this DIY...that's right, the very people here who do not know any better and are probably reading this right now!


Ya, that's right...I'm talk about YOU!

Jaybo

okay, thanks buddy. call me an idiot, a dumbass, or whatever you have to do to feel better about yourself. the only people you'll be getting through to with that kind of talk is the weak minded, and you don't do a whole lot for your image in the process. maybe you should take a look at this thread http://www.dragva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=661 and change your tone before you reply again.

i've searched and searched for pits with no luck. everywhere i've been told, per EPA standards, pits are only grandfathered into the law and not allowed to be built. maybe i'm mislead. as far as racks, the ramps aren't the problem, it's the cross beams and jacking equipment in the middle of the ramps that doesn't clear my headers.

i'm not trying to argue the difference in accuracy that can be attained by taking it to a shop., and i'm not debating your experience. as i said, i took my civic to a shop last week for an alignment. all i'm saying is it's not impossible to DIY, and i've done it with good results. 1/8th inch of toe can be measured using tape. and the difference between 1/8th and a 1/4 inch is easily recognized.

TAK82

i've read articles on grassroots motorsports and sport compact magazines and read about miata owners doing wheel alignment with car on all 4 jack stands and attaching string's with fishing weight's,

the tires are cheap and i hate my ast's but they're cheap, so they'll be replaced with g-force sports when the ast's are worn

Yell88CRXsi

F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.
F*&$ you, I won't do what you tell me.

MOTHERF*&$ER!!!! Ugh!!


Sorry, just had to say that.

What you are talking about is called "stringing" and it's something we do to our race cars each time before we truck them off to race the weekend. There's a bit more to it than 4 jack stands and fishing line and it takes an experienced person to do it correctly.
As I said before, I will stick to and say again...I was simple implying that with todays technology, you would have to be a dumb ass to try a DIY alignment for the street. Especially when you can go to a shop and get it done for CHEAP!
BUT if you feel the need to go and do a DIY alignment, when go right on and have a nice day.


BTW, how many degrees are there in your 1/8"?

sjfehr

Except that professional alignments get quite expensive when you're getting alignments done twice a month to balance weekend racing with daily tire wear.

On my car, 1/8" equates to about 0.15° toe split between the two tires. 1/32 accuracy (0.04°) is not hard to get with a tape. My owner's manual calls for 5'+/-5' which is not at all unreasonable to get with string or a tape.

And yeah, I do expect to be replacing these tires in a year. But even a half-assed attempt to zero it back out after a race will yield better results than knowing full well it's way-out of whack for street driving and leaving it anyhow. I agree that if you're not racing... it's worth $60 for a good alignment. It's going to more than pay for itself in tire longevity.

Al_P

I wasn't arguing nor looking for an argument just stating my opinion.

I know alignment rack at C Barker Yota has cross beams that are level with the ground.Maybe you should try them. I've gotten 240s on it that are almsot dragging their exhaust on the ground with no clearance issues.

Now using the built in jack that slides front to back of the rack is a problem,l it kept hitting the cross member whenever i try to flip it vertical in to the jacking position...I had to jack the car up(on rack) to get extra clearance then flip the rack jack vertical and only then lower car on to it. Major PITA. So all that rack is good for is adjusting toe and rear camber, anything else requires too much work.

Jaybo

believe it or not, i'm not trying to argue either. and i didn't take your post that way either. i don't mind if we disagree, it's the personal attacks like calling people dumb asses and what-not that's not needed.

i might give that place a try. i've been to a number of places that can't get the car on the rack without ripping the collector's off my headers, so i just gave up and ended up doing it myself. it's not a daily driver, so for me, DIY wasn't a bad option. as i said earlier, i'm with everybody else who said if you can pay to have it done, do it. but the question that was raised was "is it possible to DIY", and the plain fact is yes it's absolutely possible. just not always the best option. not sure why some people try to argue and flame when it seems we're all saying the same thing?? we don't make any progress in discussion and discredit ourselves when we look like a bunch of hot heads.

disheeki546

I have been doing my own alignment since I got my car over a year ago. I have taken it to get aligned before and it was never quite right, and cost me about $80 due to being lowered and oversized wheels. I took it home and after a few days of learning by trial and error got it dialed in perfect. Now after many projects where all my alignment settings were lost, it takes me about an hour to do by myself or half an hour with help. I set my ride height roughly, then set my camber to roughly were it needs to be, drive around the yard (which is huge) to let everything settle, then pull into the garage, which is level, and as a pull in make sure the wheel is straight. With help I get someone to hold a string at the center and rear of the rear tire and I pull it across the center and front of the front tire and take a measurement of how far off it is, then do the other side. Jack it up, reach around the tire or pull it off, make an adjustment in the proper direction (you learn how far to go after a while depending on wheel and tire size), set it back down, lap around the yard to let it settle, and repeat. On my honda the proper toe in setting is 0 degrees, + - 1/16". I have done this on my car many times and others cars and tested it against a machine, and it was exactly right. Good luck.