Has anyone done their own alignment?

[proman]

I don't know if it's normal but every car i have driven new or after being aligned they still pull slightly in one direction. I know sears has a 6 month or 5000 mile warranty or something like that on their alignments and you can just bring it back to them within that time and they can check it.

 

[apexlater]

Well, there's two things. One, they will align cars to pull slightly right so that if you do let go of the wheel the car won't drive into incoming traffic. Two, the crown of the road will steer your car right towards the shoulder since that is how they handle road drainage.

However, your steering wheel should be centered, and you can check to see if your car is still pulling badly in a fairly level parking lot or other level surface.

It also depends on how lazy or anal the tech doing your alignment is. I know some places will just make sure that they are within the factory specs and leave it and try to make the steering thrust as straight as possible. Have them print out your alignment settings so that you have documentation of your alignment. It may also make them work harder on making the toe/camber more "even" if they know you want a hard copy of your specs.

 

[protegeV]

holy s***, you use magazines as turn plates, and string as the sensors(transducers)(scratch)...thats some ghetto ass s***.

Please take your car to Firestone, Merchant's, Pep Boys, etc that does alignments. They should be able to give you a straight steering wheel no matter what, via front toe settings. However, if your car needs a rear camber adjustment you'll probably need a camber bolt like I put in my MSP.

and they should never send a car out that still pulls. Once you pay to have your car aligned you should have a straight steering wheel and no pulls, darting, or wandering. Keep in mind, aftermarket adjustments like rear camber may require kits which cost extra money

 

[apexlater]

ghetto, not really, is that how race teams do alignments at the track, yes, is it accurate, yes, if done properly.

I do agree that if you get it "professionally" aligned the car should have a straight wheel and not pull dramatically outside of the road crown and ruts.

Toe isn't the only thing that affects whether the car pulls or not. The side with more negative camber will pull the car. Also, the side that has less castor will pull the car, even with the steering wheel straight.

 

[protegeV]

ghetto, not really, is that how race teams do alignments at the track, yes, is it accurate, yes, if done properly.

I do agree that if you get it "professionally" aligned the car should have a straight wheel and not pull dramatically outside of the road crown and ruts.

Toe isn't the only thing that affects whether the car pulls or not. The side with more negative camber will pull the car. Also, the side that has less castor will pull the car, even with the steering wheel straight.

Race teams have proper equipment to do on the spot alignments though. Not magazines and strings(but hey, if you can get it to work, more power to you, but I think a large majority of people would not be able to perfect that method.)

you're right about the pulling except you have it backwards...The car will pull in the direction of more positive camber and less positive caster. Also, Toe doesn't cause pulling at all. The only thing it does is wear tires out and cause a crooked steering wheel. Total toe out will cause a wandering feeling to the steering, while toe in will cause darting. Its funny this alignment stuff gets brought up now, I just got through a week of training at Hunter. I passed with 100%(pats himself on teh back(lol2))

 

[Mallard]

I do it pretty much like apexlater does. I've never tried magazines though, but it's not hard to set up toe.

 

[Protege52003]

we are having a group install day this upcoming sunday. we will do 4 wheel alignments for 30/car after taking a couple 30-racks down. we will show you how well we all work with some beer in us.....

show up early, but we will have to take at least one 30-rack down before we start the alignments.....

 

[apexlater]

protegeV - actually, I use toe plates and tape measures, which is what most teams, or at least the club racers and a few pros, use. All the magazines do is provide a surface with less friction for movement than concrete or asphalt. I don't use them for camber because it is too hard to get them level with each other because they deform too much.

I guess you're right about me having them backwards...but Toe will cause the car to pull. Go and give yourself gobs of toe out on one side and tell me it doesn't pull the car

Toe out will make the car more "darty", toe in makes the car more "stable".

Click me to learn about what toe does.

 

[protegeV]

I guess you're right about me having them backwards...but Toe will cause the car to pull. Go and give yourself gobs of toe out on one side and tell me it doesn't pull the car

It wont cause a pull because the wheels will align themselves while traveling down the road in a way that total toe will drive the car straight(with a crooked steering wheel)...so if you are 1* out on the left and 0 on the right you will have .5* total toe and you will have to turn the wheel slightly to the right to stay driving straight.

oh yeah, and racing is a whole different story as far as some really agressive angles are concerned...Im talking about getting cars to vehicle specs.

 

[apexlater]

I understand that, then why would a car like the Protege (or any car that you can't adjust camber or caster from the factory) pull with an incorrect alignment given the same tire pressures on both sides? The only thing that an alignment shop can do is adjust the toe to correct not only the steering center, but also help reduce the amount of pull with the toe.

If a car pulls too much they will dial in more total toe in to make the car less succeptible to the ruts and crowns in the road, giving the perception the car is not "pulling" anymore while keeping the wheel straight.

So yes, you are right that toe won't make the car "pull", as long as you are driving on a perfectly level and smooth surface with the exact same tire pressures on both sides of the car. Otherwise, toe will or will not make the car pull.

 

[protegeV]

I understand that, then why would a car like the Protege (or any car that you can't adjust camber or caster from the factory) pull with an incorrect alignment given the same tire pressures on both sides? The only thing that an alignment shop can do is adjust the toe to correct not only the steering center, but also help reduce the amount of pull with the toe.

Because things can bend or shift that arent necessarily adjustable...Example: I hit a piece of wood rolling across the road at about 40mph in the left rear. Threw my camber out 2*...Now there's no adjustment for camber in the rear, but it caused a pull and very bad tire wear. I had to buy a camber bolt to fix it. There are factory adjustments, and then there are aftermarket kits for almost everything else.

 

[apexlater]

Holy crap! It threw your camber off 2degrees!!! It must have bent the mess out of something....unless you mean something else.

It's too bad some cars don't have the adjustability that others do, but I suppose cost and "idiot-proofing" has to be taken into consideration.

 

[protegeV]

cost is a factor...reliability is another...Its a LOT easier to throw something out of alignment if there is an adjustment...If you have a slotted strut, camber can slide out easily, whereas without it, something must bend or shift pretty bad to mess the alignment up...and that doesnt happen often.

If everything was adjustable, a good alignment wouldnt last more than a couple thousand miles...thats basically what Im trying to say

 

[protegeV]

Holy crap! It threw your camber off 2degrees!!! It must have bent the mess out of something....unless you mean something else.

It's too bad some cars don't have the adjustability that others do, but I suppose cost and "idiot-proofing" has to be taken into consideration.

my bad...it threw my camber of TO 2*...the spec is around -1*(cant remember the exact number) so it was only out by close to 1* and a camber bolt took care of that easily...