DIY alignment

[NoDestiny]

Hey gang!

I recently brought my minivan in for an alignment... (Last time at the track, I killed an axle which took out one of my bushing retainers and loosened up part of the arm, so I welded everything together to strengthen it all, replaced bushings, ball joins, and axles all in one shot). I was denied my alignment because "somebody welded the control arms and messed it all up" :nuts: Trying to say that "whoever" did it took the arm apart then welded it back together (where nothing was ever taken apart, just welded in a few spots for strength...) in other words, they didn't want to take the chance and me sue the shit out of them.

So... I'm in the market for building my own alignment kit and just doing it myself. I have read plenty of DIY guides, all giving slightly different options on how to do it...

What have you done for a DIY alignment? Either link or basic instructions, please!

[NoDestiny]

well, yesterday I started on it but ran short on time. Let me give the break down of what I did exactly...

Prep work...
1. Pull vehicle into shop onto cement, nice and straight in there.
2. Put a marking at where each tire is with an arrow
3. Measure tire width, pull vehicle out of shop
4. Use 12" x 12" tiles and put directly centered over where tires sat, mark them (I just left them there and spray painted around them)
5. Get a bucket of water, 15' of 1/4" or so clear hole, a measuring stick (yard stick), some tape, and a jack.
6. Put bucket of water on jack, jack up a few inches, put clear tube in, suck till water near other end of tube, tape tube to teh yard stick.
7. Put the yard stick down in the center of each tile marks. find which of the 4 have the highest result
8. Take highest result, put the yard stick down, and jack up till you get an exact number (I think mine was 15"). Measure each one and write them all down.
9. Find out how much lower each other spot is. From there, raise it up using whatever is thickest needed to make sure all 4 spots are exact on bucket of water (I used tiles that were .050" thick and plywood of .200" thick)
10. You can use the bucket of water method again to check and make sure all levels are even, the pull the vehicle directly on top of them.

Camber adjustment...
My van is probably different than other peoples, but here is how I did it... I would recommend a regular level (preferably with a magnetic strip) for those who want a 0* camber and a digital level that does degrees for those who want to adjust camber.
1. Measure the very outer edge of the rim, right on the lip. Cut a piece of 1/4" square steel tube out just a hair larger than that size.
2. Put a level on this and put it up to your rim, straight up and down (I used a magnetic level, hence the steel instead of aluminum)
3. Is it level? If so, GREAT! If its out of the line at all? go to #4 (if you intentionally want a few degrees either direction, there is some math you can do to find it, but as much as I appreciate math, I don't feel like writing it all out for you... buy a digital level that does degrees if you want to avoid the math)
4. (This isnt something I saw done anywhere else, so it may not be the greatest way to do it, but it worked) Put another metal tube on the ground, straight up, with the level on it. Hold it perfectly level and have somebody measure from the bottom of the rim to the tube. Then the top of it. Write those down.
5. Jack up and do #4 again. Remove wheel if needed. Remember to block all tires that will be on the ground before jacking! There is some math involved to see how much difference you need between it sitting on the ground and sitting up like that... can't remember how I figured it out last night. Will edit later if there is any interest. If you have a digital level that does degrees, you can probably do this a lot easier.
6. Put the level on the brake disk so be able to see how much difference you make. Adjust the camber as needed.
7. Throw the tire back on w/ 2 lugs. Repeat #4 again and see if it is roughly where your math says it should be. If so, put all 5 lugs on and lower back down. If not, make more adjustment.
8. Drive back and forth a few times, maybe also push on the suspension a bit to settle it back down. Put back on the exact spot you had it and check camber again.
9. Don't forget to torque things if you are done! But camber does effect toe, so be prepared to adjust that if you touch the camber.

Ill be doing the toe today.