Alignment Gear

[Shoeless]

Hey guys,

I'm sure like everyone else, we make lists of large purchases and wait for Black Friday or Holiday specials to pop up and then pull the trigger, and this year I've got my eye on all the gear I will need to perform accurate wheel alignment changes right in my garage. I've read over several older posts and the challenges of finding someone local who really knows what they are doing is driving me down this path. The group of guys who run HP Academy where I have done all my tuning classes and wiring classes, put together another company called Race Craft. So far they have published classes on alignment and corner weighting and I am almost done with the alignment class. With that said, I'd rather invest in the proper equipment and do it myself.

Below are the items I'm looking at so far (String Alignment Kit, Camber Gauge, Cast/Camber Gauge, and a set of Turn Plates). These may not be the best prices out there, just a list. I'll also be expanding this list to include a set of respectable corner weight scales once i get a little more knowledge on them.

With that said, anyone have any feedback on these items and/or a set of corner scales?

Smart Stings:
https://smart-racing-products.myshopify.com/collections/smart-racing-products/products/copy-of-smartstrings
SmartStringes - $449.95

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bgr-bgr200
Summit B-G Racing String Line Kits BGR200 - $423.89


Camber Gauge (Smart Camber2):
https://smart-racing-products.myshopify.com/collections/smartcamber/products/copy-of-smartcamber?variant=33131733572
With adapter and carry case - $294.90

Caster/Camber:
Longacre 78264 Caster/Camber Gauge
https://www.amazon.com/Longacre-52-78264-Caster-Camber-16in-16/dp/B003TQ65LU/ref=asc_df_B003TQ65LU/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451665328783&psc=1
Amazon $138.99

Turn Plates:
Quick Trick Alignment Turn Plates 60004
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/qta-60004
Summit - $229.95

Speedway Alignment Turn Plates, 0-20 Degrees
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Alignment-Turn-Plates-0-20-Degrees,355619.html
$199.99

[Ajzride]

I’ve used these for caster and camber on my 818 with good results. A little bit of work for caster, but very compact and economical.

https://smile.amazon.com/Tenhulzen-Hand-Held-Camber-Degrees-Accuracy/dp/B00PKI0VT2?pd_rd_w=QAege&pf_rd_p=a92e0124-cfa8-4f1e-82b5-a4a348d97008&pf_rd_r=3JA77P4MQKPR1CAGD238&pd_rd_r=08caebdc-6d5f-4af4-b3b1-ad8d68aa8d56&pd_rd_wg=7juZD&pd_rd_i=B00PKI0VT2&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_1_t

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Just my $0.02. I've tried the string alignment thing before along with a $300 camber gauge. Took my time and got everything perfect according to the strings and camber gauge. Ended up later taking the car to an alignment shop. What I thought I had it set to was not even close. Everything was in the red on the rack. The camber settings were no where close to what the $300 camber gauge said they were. I found that I can actually do a better alignment by just standing back and looking at it.....no strings...no gauges....just my eye balls. I had one GTM that I just eyeballed the entire alignment, took it in and put it on the alignment rack and everything was in the green except we had to adjust the front toe on one side of the car.

[Shoeless]

Just my $0.02. I've tried the string alignment thing before along with a $300 camber gauge. Took my time and got everything perfect according to the strings and camber gauge. Ended up later taking the car to an alignment shop. What I thought I had it set to was not even close. Everything was in the red on the rack. The camber settings were no where close to what the $300 camber gauge said they were. I found that I can actually do a better alignment by just standing back and looking at it.....no strings...no gauges....just my eye balls. I had one GTM that I just eyeballed the entire alignment, took it in and put it on the alignment rack and everything was in the green except we had to adjust the front toe on one side of the car.

All good info here. Might I ask, did you check how level the ground in your shop was when you used the strings and gauge to check?

[Shoeless]

Just note, I don’t mean to sounds off by my last question, just wondering.

There is a portion of the class I took that showed how to effectively deal with “leveling” the pad that the car will rest on using a long box aluminum, vinyl pads, and the digital camber gauge.

[wareaglescott]

I have those summit turn plates. Very pleased with them

[crash]

I have set up cars hundreds of times. Leveling is important. Corner scales are important. Caster/Camber gauge is very helpful. You can't go wrong with the Longacre Caster/Camber gauges. Other than that, everything else can be done with strings and jack stands. The key is to settle the car properly and check your work to make sure it is repeatable. One thing that people get wrong frequently is that they do not disconnect the sway bars when doing setup. YOU MUST DISCONNECT THE SWAY BARS OR YOUR READINGS WILL NOT BE CORRECT. Especially after you start making adjustments...assuming the bars were zeroed after the last alignment, otherwise they just won't be correct at all.

Zeroing the sway bars means that once your alignment is done you go to attach the sway bars and you adjust them to where there is no tension or compression in them when at rest. Of course there are multiple ways of doing setup on cars and some people insist on having the driver in the drivers seat when doing alignments. (I do this) And some people think it is close enough to do setup without the driver or equivalent weight in the drivers seat. I can tell you that for zeroing the sway bars the drivers weight is required. You will see a significant difference with this weight added. A driver usually adds about 5-7% to the vehicle weight so IMHO the car must be aligned with the driver in the drivers seat. Most alignment shops will not do this.

Remember that dynamic alignments are far more critical than static alignment, but static is a good starting point and a good point to go back to if things get wonky so it makes sense that everyone should at least develop a base line alignment on their GTM.

[GoDadGo]

You Forgot The Bayou Boys Alignment Tools:

> One Summit Caster/Camber Gauge
> Two Sheet Rock Squares
> Four Vinyl Floor Tiles & Axle Grease
> Four 6 X 6 Bocks
> One Tape Measure
> One Cheepie Angle Gauge
> One Very Patient Wife

Believe it or not, it shocked me that only minor adjustments were needed when I brought my car in to be properly assigned.
If you have some quality "Real Alignment" tools, then doing your own alignment should be pretty easy.

[Shoeless]

I have set up cars hundreds of times. Leveling is important. Corner scales are important. Caster/Camber gauge is very helpful. You can't go wrong with the Longacre Caster/Camber gauges. Other than that, everything else can be done with strings and jack stands. The key is to settle the car properly and check your work to make sure it is repeatable. One thing that people get wrong frequently is that they do not disconnect the sway bars when doing setup. YOU MUST DISCONNECT THE SWAY BARS OR YOUR READINGS WILL NOT BE CORRECT. Especially after you start making adjustments...assuming the bars were zeroed after the last alignment, otherwise they just won't be correct at all.

Zeroing the sway bars means that once your alignment is done you go to attach the sway bars and you adjust them to where there is no tension or compression in them when at rest. Of course there are multiple ways of doing setup on cars and some people insist on having the driver in the drivers seat when doing alignments. (I do this) And some people think it is close enough to do setup without the driver or equivalent weight in the drivers seat. I can tell you that for zeroing the sway bars the drivers weight is required. You will see a significant difference with this weight added. A driver usually adds about 5-7% to the vehicle weight so IMHO the car must be aligned with the driver in the drivers seat. Most alignment shops will not do this.

Remember that dynamic alignments are far more critical than static alignment, but static is a good starting point and a good point to go back to if things get wonky so it makes sense that everyone should at least develop a base line alignment on their GTM.

You make some VERY important points here, and was also picked up in the class. Sway bars should disconnected and then reattached and be under no compression or tension load whatsoever when reinstalled. They should easily slide right into the bushings on the control arm.

I'm personally liking the idea of setting this base line, run the car seeing what works, makes some changes,....rinse and repeat.

[crash]

You make some VERY important points here, and was also picked up in the class. Sway bars should disconnected and then reattached and be under no compression or tension load whatsoever when reinstalled. They should easily slide right into the bushings on the control arm.

I'm personally liking the idea of setting this base line, run the car seeing what works, makes some changes,....rinse and repeat.

That's how we do it. The tires will tell you almost everything as far as camber/caster. General stability will tell you about toe, and if you can get some pictures of the car going thru corners and under braking this will tell you about sway bars, ride height, and spring rates/shock settings.

I'm giving away the secrets here so make sure you use them. :)

[Shoeless]

That's how we do it. The tires will tell you almost everything as far as camber/caster. General stability will tell you about toe, and if you can get some pictures of the car going thru corners and under braking this will tell you about sway bars, ride height, and spring rates/shock settings.

I'm giving away the secrets here so make sure you use them. :)

You should see the word doc I literally started YEARS ago where I would copy and paste notes, just like this in it so I can refer to it later once I get to that point in my build. It has been an invaluable resource.

[Shoeless]

You Forgot The Bayou Boys Alignment Tools:

> One Summit Caster/Camber Gauge
> Two Sheet Rock Squares
> Four Vinyl Floor Tiles & Axle Grease
> Four 6 X 6 Bocks
> One Tape Measure
> One Cheepie Angle Gauge
> One Very Patient Wife

Believe it or not, it shocked me that only minor adjustments were needed when I brought my car in to be properly assigned.
If you have some quality "Real Alignment" tools, then doing your own alignment should be pretty easy.


You will be blown away once I share the bump steer test/setup LOL. Its right in line with what you have shared here.

[HardRocker]

My laser TrackAce works great for toe. For camber/caster get a magnetic gauge.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

All good info here. Might I ask, did you check how level the ground in your shop was when you used the strings and gauge to check?

Yes.....I have small chunks of 1/4" plywood as well as some thin metal plates that I use as shims to create a level area under each tire and verify that with a laser level.

[Shoeless]

Yes.....I have small chunks of 1/4" plywood as well as some thin metal plates that I use as shims to create a level area under each tire and verify that with a laser level.

I figured you had some approach to level it. I should check my garage floor first, but need to pick up a nice digital level to assist.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

I figured you had some approach to level it. I should check my garage floor first, but need to pick up a nice digital level to assist.

Years ago, I bought a self-levelling Craftsman laser level. It will give you a vertical line, horizontal line or both. I always wondered how accurate it was until I built a 40x30 garage. I borrowed a top-of-the-line self levelling transit from my work to mark all of the posts for the garage, and out of curiosity, waited til dusk and got the laser level out to compare it to the marks I made with the transit. Across the 40 foot span of the garage, the laser level was off less than a 1/16" from the transit marks.

When setting ride height on these cars, I set the laser level on the floor, get my shims out and place them on the tire patch areas so that they all measure the same up to the laser line, roll the car up onto the shims and then I just take the measurement from the "floor" (top of the shim stacks) and subtract that from what I want to set the ride height to. So....if it's 2" from the floor to the laser line.....and I want to set the front ride height to 4.5" and the rear to 4.75", I take a popsicle stick and measure down from one end 2.5", draw a line and mark it "F" for front and flip the stick over to the other side and mark it at 2.75" and "R". Now all I have to do is roll around on the creeper and put the stick up against the chassis and see how far the laser is from the line on the stick and adjust the coil overs accordingly. Without scales here, I just make sure both front springs measure the same and both rear springs measure the same so that I don't end up with some crazy cross-weight issues.

[Shoeless]

Years ago, I bought a self-levelling Craftsman laser level. It will give you a vertical line, horizontal line or both. I always wondered how accurate it was until I built a 40x30 garage. I borrowed a top-of-the-line self levelling transit from my work to mark all of the posts for the garage, and out of curiosity, waited til dusk and got the laser level out to compare it to the marks I made with the transit. Across the 40 foot span of the garage, the laser level was off less than a 1/16" from the transit marks.

When setting ride height on these cars, I set the laser level on the floor, get my shims out and place them on the tire patch areas so that they all measure the same up to the laser line, roll the car up onto the shims and then I just take the measurement from the "floor" (top of the shim stacks) and subtract that from what I want to set the ride height to. So....if it's 2" from the floor to the laser line.....and I want to set the front ride height to 4.5" and the rear to 4.75", I take a popsicle stick and measure down from one end 2.5", draw a line and mark it "F" for front and flip the stick over to the other side and mark it at 2.75" and "R". Now all I have to do is roll around on the creeper and put the stick up against the chassis and see how far the laser is from the line on the stick and adjust the coil overs accordingly. Without scales here, I just make sure both front springs measure the same and both rear springs measure the same so that I don't end up with some crazy cross-weight issues.

Very nice!!!

So what points are you picking up on the frame for front and rear ride height? I think I came across this some time ago, but didn't note it in my files. I should be able to set this height without the body on, do the alignment, throw the body on, and reset the ride height.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

I measure front ride height at the main chassis tube under the door hinges that runs the width of the chassis. Rear ride height I measure from the main chassis tube under the fuel tanks that runs the width of the chassis.

[Shoeless]

I measure front ride height at the main chassis tube under the door hinges that runs the width of the chassis. Rear ride height I measure from the main chassis tube under the fuel tanks that runs the width of the chassis.

AWESOME, thanks Shane!!!!

[Shoeless]

OK everyone, lets shift to corner scales. Anyone have any practical use experience they can share? I'm running 20x12 rear tires so I would think I need the 15x15 plates that are offered out there versus the 12x12 plates.

I threw a few links in to start this side of the discussion.

Pegasus $1,195
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=2485

Longacre (need to confirm these are 15x15 plates) $1,099
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lng-72582?rrec=true

[crash]

Again, I feel you cannot go wrong with any Longacre product. I use their products for scales and caster/camber gauges.

Make sure to level the pads, disconnect the sway bars, make sure the tire pressures are set correctly, and know that you cannot move weight side to side or front to rear without physically moving weight in the car. The only thing spring adjustments will do is effect cross weights.

I usually start by adjusting ride height and rake and then work on getting corner weights correct. It is usually a bit of a balancing act to keep ride heights correct and bring the corner weights in. Proper setup can take hours, if not an entire day. Remember that almost every adjustment you make will have an effect on all other adjustments so after adjusting things you will need to go back and verify your other settings.

I would not think that scale plate size really makes any difference so long as you get the main contact patch of the tire on the middle of the scale. For instance we run quite a bit of static camber and so we bias the scales toward the inside edges of the tires.

If you really want to get correct setup of a vehicle it takes a lot of trial and adjust, trial and adjust, etc. This is because the only thing that really tells you if setup is correct, or going the right direction, is tire wear and lap times.

[Shoeless]

Awesome!!! I really appreciate all your input on this topic!!!

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

and know that you cannot move weight side to side or front to rear without physically moving weight in the car.

And on a related subject....when you are setting ride height, know that you can't move just one corner. If you have one corner of the car that shows it is significantly higher or lower...while the other 3 corners are set at what you want.....there's no way to just move that one corner up or down to make it right. You can move the front higher or lower. You can move the rear higher or lower. You can move the right side higher or lower. You can move the left side higher or lower. But you can't move the RH front higher or lower.

[Shoeless]

Right on, thanks for the additional pointers!! Can’t wait to go through the corner weight class I picked up too. I’m sure there are some additional little nuggets of info, just like I picked up in the alignment class :cool:

I wish Summit would run their x% off if you spend $x, but looks like they are not doing that this year. Guess I’ll have to do some more research to find some deals this year.