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How to do Alignment at home

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  #1  
Old 03-17-2012, 08:32 PM
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Default How to do Alignment at home

Hey, just replaced my tie rods today and now my alignment is way out of wack. Looking for some tips on how to re align it enough to be fairly driveable.


Thanks, Oliver
 
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Old 03-17-2012, 08:37 PM
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if you just did the tie rods you can adjust the toe and use a tape measure to measure the distance between a reference point in the tread on the front of the steer tires and the back of the steer tires, a little tow in is ok. but not so much and eyeball it straight helps too.
 
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Old 03-17-2012, 08:58 PM
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Okay thats what i had in mind. Thanks for your advice!
 
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Old 03-17-2012, 09:39 PM
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You'll want about 1/32"-1/16" toe in, measured as close to halfway up the front and rear of the tire as possible. Front wheel drives might require slight toe out to allow the tires to straighten out under power.
 
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Old 03-19-2012, 10:18 PM
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A trick I use to find a center point on the tires is to put the front end in the air on jackstands, then spin the tires and hit them with chalk to get a nice round line.
 
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Old 03-20-2012, 09:43 AM
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Yup, a tape measure will do the trick. As stated above toe it in just a tad
 
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Old 04-08-2012, 01:35 PM
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i just did all my tie rods, got pretty close. on the alignment rack i was only .45 degrees off. felt good about that. measured the tires front and back, marked measure points, then measured center to center on rod ends and duplicate with new hard ware. don't be cheap spend the 100 bucks to save your tires. go to your local alignment shop
 
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Old 04-09-2012, 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by s10driver85
go to your local alignment shop
Yep that would be your best bet! They will get it exact
 
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Old 04-09-2012, 02:56 PM
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Many shops offer free alignment cheeky. I get mine checked every 6 months. Then it's only $50 to correct if I want to.


Sent from my iPhone
 
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