Poor man's alignment DIY

[mz.368]

lol, who told you to do that? I made friends with the alignment guy at kauffman tire so when i need it done again from adjusting the height or what ever he slips it in under warranty

some dumb blonde

[2kredz3]

some dumb blonde

if she's hot, then $200 wasnt so bad

[MdMcoupe]

The main thing to understand about this design is what happens to camber and toe settings as the semi-trailing arm moves through its travel. The rear wheel on a semi-trailing arm suspension gains negative camber as the suspension compresses. Also the rear suspension gains toe-in as it compresses past the horizontal position of the trailing arms. The gain in camber and toe-in actually is beneficial during cornering while power is being applied.

http://www.zvolution.com/Z3Faq/suspe...suspension.htm


Essentially, as the semitrailing arm is compressed, camber becomes more negative and toe moves in (good for accelleration and hard cornering). Badness happens when the rear end is unloaded (braking, decelleration, throttle-off), and camber becomes more positive and toe moves out. This creates a very unstable rear end - often described as being "a hand-full" or "unstable" with wild oversteer.

http://wiederhold-rd.com/suspensionrear.html

Sorry just a type-o.....thanks!

[Critter7r]

..... dont get me wrong i know why you did it, because obviously 1mm off is better then 13mm off by anyones standard. but even still there is no substitute for a proper alignment (which you should include in your original post so people dont get the wrong idea) ....

Right, because it's his job to protect everyone from themselves....


And to the OP.... you're tripping over dollars to pick up dimes.... driving 6000 miles on $200 tires to save $70 on an alignment???

[Critter7r]

P.S. Very cool write-up though.

[mz.368]

if she's hot, then $200 wasnt so bad

I think so

[IRPancake]

I'd love to have been able to afford a $70 alignment, that was when I was getting new rear tires, and at the time was most of the money I had to my name. Buying a car like this when you're 19 and don't have a good job is not a good idea.

[2kredz3]

Right, because it's his job to protect everyone from themselves....


And to the OP.... you're tripping over dollars to pick up dimes.... driving 6000 miles on $200 tires to save $70 on an alignment???

nop, not his job. but just like your last comment says $70 bucks is dimes compared to tires. I would hate to think that someone would do a home alignment with garden string and wonder why their tires are shot or why there are acted up around a corner causing them to loose control and hit a tree.

I think so

very nice, totally worth it then.

I'd love to have been able to afford a $70 alignment, that was when I was getting new rear tires, and at the time was most of the money I had to my name. Buying a car like this when you're 19 and don't have a good job is not a good idea.

i hear ya dood, im not much better off then you. bought my car @ 21 making 2,000 take home a month. sigh, monthly payments are $500 but there is only two more years to go then she is mine all mine!

[ontrack]

I'm late to the DIY alignment discussion, but can someone tell me how to convert the toe-in/out measurement each side using the ruler per Pancake's setup to actual "Degrees" that alignment specs are listed in? Sorry for such a noob question.

[IRPancake]

You can use the total difference between the measurement in the front and rear of the rim, measure the total diameter of the rim (roadstar I just measured was 18.5") to form a triangle and use some trig to figure it out.

Also, I did another alignment recently using the same method and absolutely no problems, and took me 20-30 mins. Using a thinner string like fishing line makes it more accurate

[Ryan Mitchley]

I had my alignment done a couple of days ago and sat in the *driver's* seat, because that seems to be the way the car is driven, mostly!

The steering had been off center. Also the factory toe seemed ridiculously large - something like 1.2mm (I think about 0.05 inches). The previous time I took it down to 0.6mm total. This time I took it down to 0.2mm total, and I am way happier. Each drop in toe has made the car so much more responsive, with better steering feel. I haven't noticed much increase in tramlining, although the tyres are starting to wear down and are quite a bit better than when new.

[tmaher]

I used the OP's method for years on my F250. The front axle was a closed knuckle type and the only way for the camber to go out was if you physically bent the axle. And if you did happen to bend the axle you needed to use shims to get it right again. So, I aligned the truck once this way, and it never changed for 6 years. lol

Now I'm doing this method on my wife's Amanti which is her DD like every 3 months. Soon I'll have to replace front end parts because it's all a little light-duty and gives in easily to NJ roads..

[toocool4657]

i would like to give this a try, but i dont know haha. im going to have it checked, its driving and riding fine, but i (like and idiot) went off the shoulder of the road the other day and hit a hole so hard it knocked my rear view down where i was looking at my sub.
unfortunatly my alignment is 2k miles out of warranty

[Raggadiman]

I'm a technician at a local Tires Plus store. I think they have stores nationwide under the names hibdons or tires plus or morgan tires. We do alignment checks for free and will give a printout if asked. The proper setup for alignment of Zs calls for 150 lbs in each seat and fifty pounds in the trunk plus a full tank of gas. (seriously) If you do buy the alignment it is gauranteed for 1 year or 12K miles. Then you can get a check/adjustment whenever you want/need. Not a bad deal for $65+ tax. also free flat fixes and brake inspections.....

[tmaher]

does the z3 have the driver side front wheel set back slightly further than the right? I know Hyundai's are now doing it for road crown compensation.