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Posted by: Dr Evil Jun 23 2006, 10:21 AM

I got sick of needing to find folks to do my allignment and my Mom hooked me up with a gift certificate for Harbor Freight so I got these $129 on sale, $10.99 shipped. I got the little $9 camber/caster level, too.
Anyone in the PA area want to use them some time just let me know.


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Posted by: Bartlett 914 Jun 23 2006, 10:44 AM

That looks like a pretty good deal. How do these get used. Are they just for toe adjustment. I assume they work by setting them to zero then driving the car on them and take a reading. Is this correct?

Mark

Posted by: Dr Evil Jun 23 2006, 11:17 AM

The short answer is, "sort of."

You need to know/measure the exact distance between your front wheels at center (so toe will not matter). Then you place the plates at the measured distance, drive your car on to them (centered, ofcourse) and pull the retaining pins on the plates. Then you can turn the wheels all the way in each direction and do your figureing from there. When I was in auto shop wehad a set that worked like this. Nice and easy, no need for lazer and IR lights. Quick and dirty for low $$.

I think that toe is the only thing it measures, but it mentions camber and caster soI am not sure. I have a level for that, too, though.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jun 23 2006, 11:21 AM

next thread by the doctor

"Why are the inside edge of my tires bald?" LOL


nah.. you are smarter than that. looks like a cool set of toys.

very cool mike
AA

Posted by: blitZ Jun 23 2006, 11:30 AM

Do you get 2 or 4 for the price? Save a lot of $$ in the long run being able to tweak your own alignment.

Hey, you got my gears yet??

Posted by: Dr Evil Jun 23 2006, 11:32 AM

Les, you only get two.

Yup, I got your gear stack and the preliminary inspection is looking good. It is one clean unit. I plan on having a full write up for you by Sun night.

Posted by: blitZ Jun 23 2006, 11:35 AM

QUOTE(Dr Evil @ Jun 23 2006, 01:32 PM)

Posted by: Howard Jun 23 2006, 11:35 AM

QUOTE(mrdezyne @ Jun 21 2006, 01:53 PM)

Posted by: URY914 Jun 23 2006, 11:55 AM

You better double check that scale. Them 8 year old Chinese kids that made that thing may not have measured it right.

Posted by: Dr Evil Jun 23 2006, 12:12 PM

Oh, I will.

That sounded like a jab at HF...I said no bad HF remarks!

Now you cant use them

Posted by: McMark Jun 23 2006, 01:35 PM

I just had an alignment done at a local place with an AMAZING Hunter computerized setup. It was really really slick. But I've dreamt about making some cheap tools to do alignment work. I'm curious to see what your experience is Mike.

Posted by: Dr Evil Jun 23 2006, 01:47 PM

HF offers a laser allignment kit that does it all and is fully portable for $5K.....more than I have.

I'll document how it goes when I get them in and start using them. first I have to get my car to move reliably under its own power.