DIY Strings Alignment Setup Options

[yeahmag]

This was built using 80/20 hardware and a friend of mine on the mill:

[Andyrew]

String alignment works great for toe in/out, but IMHO I dont see it helping with camber or caster...

I use 2 4x4's and a tape measure and a buddy... Then drive to the alignment shop and pay the man $50 to tell me I did it right and give me a printout of camber/caster/toe/"walk". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I also use a bubble camber guage... Cross between the two below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Aluminu...=item2eb4cc14e1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tenhulzen-A...=item4aab1e936e

[SirAndy]

I use 2 4x4's and a tape measure and a buddy... Then drive to the alignment shop and pay the man $50 to tell me I did it right and give me a printout of camber/caster/toe/"walk". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The problem with that is that a two wheel alignment does not ensure the whole car is square.

We use camber plates at the track for quick setups, but you're only setting the front or the rear at any given time.

If the car is not squared, you'll be crabbing down the road ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[Andyrew]

I use 2 4x4's and a tape measure and a buddy... Then drive to the alignment shop and pay the man $50 to tell me I did it right and give me a printout of camber/caster/toe/"walk". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The problem with that is that a two wheel alignment does not ensure the whole car is square.

We use camber plates at the track for quick setups, but you're only setting the front or the rear at any given time.

If the car is not squared, you'll be crabbing down the road ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

Which is why you go to the alignment shop that has lazers and pay the men 50 bucks to do the car the rest of the way... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The 4x4 method works great for those quick jobs if you just did something and need to drive somewhere. I just dont see how a string method will do the car to the level that a daily driver should be at to prevent premature tire wear.

[Dave_Darling]

I just dont see how a string method will do the car to the level that a daily driver should be at to prevent premature tire wear.

As long as you get the strings referenced to the actual centerline if the car, you can get it as good with strings as you can with lasers. In fact, you get the exact same problem with the lasers; they have to be referenced to the centerline of the car to make sure the car doesn't crab.

The track widths are completely irrelevant, you measure the tire (or the wheel) against the centerline, not the front wheel against the back wheel.

--DD

[mrbubblehead]

I just dont see how a string method will do the car to the level that a daily driver should be at to prevent premature tire wear.

As long as you get the strings referenced to the actual centerline if the car, you can get it as good with strings as you can with lasers. In fact, you get the exact same problem with the lasers; they have to be referenced to the centerline of the car to make sure the car doesn't crab.

The track widths are completely irrelevant, you measure the tire (or the wheel) against the centerline, not the front wheel against the back wheel.

--DD

so how is the best way to find the center line of the care.

[SirAndy]

As long as you get the strings referenced to the actual centerline if the car, you can get it as good with strings as you can with lasers. In fact, you get the exact same problem with the lasers; they have to be referenced to the centerline of the car to make sure the car doesn't crab.

The track widths are completely irrelevant, you measure the tire (or the wheel) against the centerline, not the front wheel against the back wheel.

so how is the best way to find the center line of the car.

You simply use the strings.
Measure the distance from the string to the wheel hub in the front left and right until they are even.
Then measure the distance from the string to the wheel hub in the rear left and right until they are even.
Double check front and rear until both are even left/right (Equal numbers per axle).
At that point, the strings are parallel to the car and have equal distance from the centerline.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

[mrbubblehead]

As long as you get the strings referenced to the actual centerline if the car, you can get it as good with strings as you can with lasers. In fact, you get the exact same problem with the lasers; they have to be referenced to the centerline of the car to make sure the car doesn't crab.

The track widths are completely irrelevant, you measure the tire (or the wheel) against the centerline, not the front wheel against the back wheel.

so how is the best way to find the center line of the car.

You simply use the strings.
Measure the distance from the string to the wheel hub in the front left and right until they are even.
Then measure the distance from the string to the wheel hub in the rear left and right until they are even.
Double check front and rear until both are even left/right (Equal numbers per axle).
At that point, the strings are parallel to the car and have equal distance from the centerline.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

so the front track width is the same as the rear track width on our 914's? and when you say "wheel hub" do you mean the tip of the axles?

[SirAndy]

so the front track width is the same as the rear track width on our 914's? and when you say "wheel hub" do you mean the tip of the axles?

No. Track width is completely unimportant for any of this.

When i say "hub" i mean whatever is in the center of the wheel. The strings need to line up with the center of the wheel and you measure from the string to the hub or any other reference of your liking.

To set the actual toe, you measure the distance of the front edge and rear edge of the same wheel. That difference can then be used to calculate your toe.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[fasthonda]

so the front track width is the same as the rear track width on our 914's? and when you say "wheel hub" do you mean the tip of the axles?

No. Track width is completely unimportant for any of this.

When i say "hub" i mean whatever is in the center of the wheel. The strings need to line up with the center of the wheel and you measure from the string to the hub or any other reference of your liking.

To set the actual toe, you measure the distance of the front edge and rear edge of the same wheel. That difference can then be used to calculate your toe.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

You need to take the track width into consideration or the strings will not be parallel. The rear track width of the 914 is 1 icnh greater than the front. You need to add 1/2 inch when setting the distance from the front hub vs the rear to achieve parallelism.

[SirAndy]

You need to take the track width into consideration or the strings will not be parallel. The rear track width of the 914 is 1 icnh greater than the front. You need to add 1/2 inch when setting the distance from the front hub vs the rear to achieve parallelism.

I think the confusion here is that the strings are on rods that are indexed. The rods have grooves for the strings to sit in.
You put the strings in the same groove on the front and rear rod. That way, the strings are already parallel to each other. After that, you don't move the strings on the rods, you just move the rod itself, which moves both strings.

With that in mind, the track width difference between the front and rear is completely irrelevant to the rest of the process.

You set the distance to the hub individually per axle. So the front distance might end up to be 6 1/2" left and right and the rear distance might be 5" left and right.

It's only important that the distance is equal per axle!


Maybe this will help, quick and dirty photoshop ...