> Has anyone done their own front end alignment. If so how did you do it.
I do my own, most of the time.
For toe-in, I made a "special tool", which is a length of 1x2 wood (aka
furring strip) with two Masonite rectangles screwed/glued to it, each
approximately 6" by 12". Crude ASCII art :
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The Masonite rectangles are placed so that with the 1x2 laying on the floor,
the other edge of each rectangle reaches to about the middle of the front
tires. Doesn't have to be exact, so the same tool works on my other cars
with different size tires, wheels and track.
You'll also need a flat, level place to work, a small ruler, and a pencil.
The procedure is to jack up the front of the car, spin each wheel in turn
and make a mark on the tread of the tire with the wheel spinning. I
generally use a scribe or the blade of my pocket knife to make the mark.
Doesn't matter exactly where on the tread it is, you just want a reference
for the plane of rotation.
Lower the car to the floor, and bounce it a few times so the suspension
settles. Now slide the tool in behind the front wheels, and turn it so the
edges of the two Masonite rectangles are resting against the center rear of
the tires. Without moving the tool, transfer the marks from the tires to
the edge of the Masonite.
Now move the tool to the front, and rest the edges against the center front
of the tire. Line up the marks at one wheel, then measure the distance
between the marks at the other wheel. This is the toe-in (or toe-out if the
mark on the tire is farther out than the mark on the Masonite).
As you make adjustment, don't forget that the back of the tire will move
opposite to the front of the tire. So you only need to move 1/2 way from
the initial observed point to the 'correct' point. You can double-check if
you want, by erasing one of the marks and transferring from the back of the
tires again. Also don't forget to bounce the car again after any
adjustment, to once again settle the suspension.
The TR2-6 do not have adjustable camber (although there are ways to change
it). But you can measure it fairly accurately with a carpenter's square,
two or three 6" rulers, a pair of small C-clamps, and a flat, level spot to
work. Clamp two of the rulers to the long side of the carpenter's square so
that they are at right angles to the edge, and just touch the outside of the
bead area on the rim, with the short leg of the square touching the floor
evenly. Difference the length of the two rulers and divide by the diameter
of the rim, then multiply by 57.3. The result is the camber in degrees.
For a 15" wheel, each 1/4" of difference is about 1 degree of camber.
Randall
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