tow in algnment for the rear wheels need help and your ideas

[indiana818]

hi
i am looking for ideas on how to align the rear wheels (towin)
any good ways out there?
thanks,
kerry

[wallace18]

I just ordered a quick trick alignment kit. Check out their website. My longacre unit would not work on my wheels.

[tmoretta]

Yes, I too may need some help on procedure for alignment in general. In the rear, with five links and so many adjustments it will be really hard to effect a correct alignment. Then also the need to avoid bump steer etc. I think that your neighborhood alignment shop will be clueless, ineffective or worse when confronted with adjusting the suspension on an 818. They are used to the average new car which requires only toe-in adjustment on front end. Any baselines, ideas for procedure, etc?

[Jaime]

You can get the rear in the ballpark without any tools.

1. Adjust the lower trailing arm to get the wheel centered in the wheel well front to back.
2. Adjust the upper trailing arm to make the lateral arms parallel to each other. Stand back ten or twenty feet directly behind the car. Position your head so you see the inner ends of the lateral arms directly in line with each other. It will be obvious if the front and rear aren't lined up.
3. Adjust the length of the lateral arms to get the wheel just inside the wheel well.
4. Stand back ten or twenty feet and eyeball along the surface of the brake rotor at a height and angle that gives a clear view of the front hub. Adjust the lateral links until this line of sight points directly at the outer surface of the front brake rotor.
5. Get a small level and adjust the upper later link until the brake rotor is level vertically.

This will get you very close to zero degrees of toe and camber.

The major flaw in this method is that steps 1 and 3 need the body work on and steps 2 and 4 need the bodywork off. My compromise here is to guess on steps 1 and 3, but make sure both sides are the same. Then, when the bodywork is on, make sure to align front to back by adjust both the upper and lower trailing arm the same amount and adjust in and out by adjusting all three lateral arms the same amount.

I have a lot of experience with motorcycles. Every time you adjust the chain, you potentially throw the alignment off. We always did alignments with nothing but 20 feet of string and our eyes.

[Jaime]

For the front, you can eyeball toe and get the steering wheel centered.

1. Adjust camber with a small level.
2. Turn the wheel until a sight line down the outer surface of one of driver's side rotor points at the outer surface of the rear rotor.
3. Adjust the driver's side tie rod end until the steering wheel is centered when the rotor is lined up.
4. Make sure the steering wheel stays in place and adjust the passenger tie rod end to get the passenger side rotor lined up with the rear.
5. Recheck camber. If it's off, adjust it and go back and do the previous three steps again.

That will at least get you close enough to drive safely to an alignment shop.

[Frank818]

I just ordered a quick trick alignment kit. Check out their website. My longacre unit would not work on my wheels.

Which one you got? The QuickSlide Complete or Pro system?

[Brando]

Killer build!

[Burner1]

I just finished the rear alignment on my Pantera last night.

I use a laser from Harbor Freight. I mount it to the wheel so it is flat on the rim; not on the tire. The tire is not always uniform.



http://www.rc-tech.net/cars2/panttransam/Align/Align1.jpg



The toe is measured on beams set at fixed distances. If everything is set at zero, then the distance of the beams is not critical. If you are doing anything other than zero you just have to set the beams at fixed distances and you can use basic triangle calculations to determine toe.



http://www.rc-tech.net/cars2/panttransam/Align/Align2.jpg



When aligning toe the axle must also be aligned with the center of the car. With the laser pointed toward the front I also measure the distance of the laser beam form the center of the front hub. What ever you measurements are, these need to be the same distance (assuming your not running on a circle track).

For camber I use a vertical laser and measure the distance from the laser beam at the top and bottom of fixture:




http://www.rc-tech.net/cars2/panttransam/Align/Align3.jpg




Simple, cheap.

[Frank818]

Excellent cheap method. Except you need to find that laser level that has the exact size to fit your rim.
Where did you get that one? Or what brand is it?

[Burner1]

It was one from Harbor freight. I bought a pair years ago. I am not sure which one exactly but probably this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/16-laser-level-with-swivel-head-69259.html

I have done the same with different rims on different cars. Sometimes I have to cut a piece of aluminum angle for it to sit on for rims where it is not a perfect fit.

[Burner1]

You can see on the front rim I had a piece of aluminum channel. On the MG it fit on the rim:


http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/bump/bump4.jpg

http://www.rc-tech.net/MGB/align/align1.jpg

[Frank818]

But if your floor isn't flat/leveled, how do you take it into account in your camber measurements?

[Mechie3]

killer build!

:d hahahaha!

[metalmaker12]

I like how you hung the panels!! The alignment shop near me got it damn close and I tweaked it. You can't beat a laser style machine in the right hands

[Burner1]

But if your floor isn't flat/leveled, how do you take it into account in your camber measurements?


In this photo is a laser on the floor which is self leveling. It has a vertical laser which self levels. I put a metal ruler against the yellow laser fixture on the rim and measure distance at the top and at the bottom:


http://www.rc-tech.net/cars2/panttransam/Align/Align3.jpg

[wallace18]

Which one you got? The QuickSlide Complete or Pro system?
Pro system

[Frank818]

Wallace, are(were) you happy of your Pro system?