DIY alignment

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Jan 23, 2022
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I just put new struts on the minivan. Figured it needs alignment now. Has old tires I don't care about. Can I check alignment myself and try to get it close until I have a chance to get new tires and proper alignment?

The only adjustment I see besides toe is camber. It seems to be adjusted using a "loosen the bolts, give it a nudge, and tighten them again" method. Should I just set the camber so the wheels are vertical when the van is at rest?

It drives perfectly.
 
I have a Firestone lifetime warranty on wheel alignment which I payed less than a hundred dollars (I think it was $75 back in the 1980s) in which I'm currently using. It saved me thousands of dollars in wheel alingment over the years. I just bring in the vehicle anytime it needs to be done
 
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I just put new struts on the minivan. Figured it needs alignment now. Has old tires I don't care about. Can I check alignment myself and try to get it close until I have a chance to get new tires and proper alignment?

The only adjustment I see besides toe is camber. It seems to be adjusted using a "loosen the bolts, give it a nudge, and tighten them again" method. Should I just set the camber so the wheels are vertical when the van is at rest?

It drives perfectly.
On a passenger vehicle personally I wouldn't. There's a reason Hunter alignment machines are 30k. I've done alignments on open wheel racecars which isn't nearly as complicated as the suspension is made to be very adjustable.
 
Home alignment isn't all that hard, but obviously isn't as accurate as a rack done one. When I re-did suspension components, I would always do an "eyeball" one just to make sure it could track properly for the drive to a shop. I used a 5' level for a straight edge and placed it against the tires so I could put tape marks on the garage floor in front and back of each tire. Measure the distance between the marks on each axle set and make sure they are either the same, or maybe a 1/16" toe-in at most. Then I would run a string around the bottom third of the tires and check for equal front to rear tracking. Would then take a corner square and give them all a touch of negative camber. Once it was at the shop and on the alignment rack, I was kinda pleased that my home made alignment jobs were very close to where it should be. Always make sure to get a proper alignment as soon as possible after your mess with any component that could affect the setting. Unless you feel like buying new tires too.
 
Discount Tire charges maybe $89 for an alignment, will put it on the rack, show you the alignment values and if you decide not to have an alignment, no charge. Not a bad deal IMO.
 
I have a Firestone lifetime warranty on wheel alignment which I payed less than a hundred dollars (I think it was $75 back in the 1980s) in which I'm currently using. It saved me thousands of dollars in wheel alingment over the years. I just bring in the vehicle anytime it needs to be done
Not sure they are offering that anymore. Sears offered it also.
 
My son and I just check the toe with a tape measure when I swap a suspension part on the front. This relies on the tire and tread being quite uniform, but the spec is 0 toe +-0.2 deg which give a bit of leeway. On the Focus at least I can adjust the tie rod with just turning the tires all the way with the car on the ground.
 
My son and I just check the toe with a tape measure when I swap a suspension part on the front. This relies on the tire and tread being quite uniform, but the spec is 0 toe +-0.2 deg which give a bit of leeway. On the Focus at least I can adjust the tie rod with just turning the tires all the way with the car on the ground.
I am guessing you are not doing this at the axle centerline, as that is usually obstructed by the unibody or K member and exhaust.
 
I've replaced lots of struts and put the cars on the alignment rack afterwards....I can't remember a single time when a camber adjustment was required. Of course, I was at a toyota dealer, using toyota struts with round holes in them for the knuckle, and while there was a very slight amount of adjustment possible...it wasn't much unless you switched out for undercut camber bolts or slotted the mount holes. We'd just set the toe, which was usually pretty close and didn't change because of the strut replacement but existed before the work was performed.

If you have slotted holes or lots of adjustment where the strut mounts to the knuckle, it can absolutely change the toe setting....set camber first, then toe.

Park it on flat ground, hole a framing square up against the wheel....measure from the square to the bead on the bottom and the top, and I usually make the top 1/4" farther away from the square than the bottom.

Then jack the car up, wrap the tire with 2" painters tape, use a sharpie to scribe a line all the way around it. Get a helper to hold one end of the tape measure, then after rolling the car back and forth a bit to settle things...measure line to line both in front of and behind the tires. Give it zero to 1/8" of toe out for a FWD car, 1/8-1/4" of toe in for a RWD car, and send it.

You can get all fancy and use a tire scribe... https://trakkrats.com/products/tire-scribe-for-toe-measurement the tape and sharpy works good too. I'd argue that this is every bit as accurate as using a proper computer aligner machine...possibly more because we're measuring off the actual tire, not some compensated figure of runout of a bent wheel (all wheels are bent).

Yeah, you're not on the axle centerline, but it's close enough.

If you have actual specs are your disposal, use those...without specs, the above numbers will work pretty good.
 
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I am guessing you are not doing this at the axle centerline, as that is usually obstructed by the unibody or K member and exhaust.
Yep just lift the tape as high as you can at the front of the tire, and then at the back. My math says that +-0.2deg is about a 12th of an inch range at 12 inches from the centre line. So if you get the same number front and back, assuming the tread is perfect(most seem very good when I spin them), you are probably in close to the range.
I wouldn't do this with new expensive low profile tires, but for old high profile all seasons and my winter tires, it seems to be fine. Usually I get a set of 15" tires near $400 so a $100 alignment to often doesn't make that much sense.
 
I would get it aligned before the tires get an abnormal pattern. Tires that have abnormal camber wear will fight the alignment technician and lead to a possible alignment that comes out a little off. Spend the money now.

I have found that abnormal camber wear will sneek up on you. One moment the tread is fine, next moment you are looking at steel belts.
 
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