Setting you own alignment

[TKisner]

Hello everyone, I was wondering does anyone on here set their own alignment? Are there any helpful sites that show the process on a balljoint front end? Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Marc]

Standard Beetles are pretty forgiving, a "shadetree" alignment is probably 90% as effective as the real thing. Supers are another story, ther's no point in even trying to align one until all the sloppy points are fixed (and even then it's a crap-shoot).
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=63992

[Theo]

I do my own alignments on my Ghia (ball joint). Many years ago we made a giant caliper to set toe with. Now I just use a tape measure or string. I picked up a camber gage from Harbor Freight for $10 ( the expensive one) and it works OK. I'm racing the Ghia so my settings are extreem.

I would like to find a good way to set the rear toe so that they align to the fronts.

Theo

[TKisner]

Thanks for the help Marc and Theo.

[Theo]

This site is helpful

http://www.allpar.com/fix/alignment.html

[sideshow]

From an old sermon of that Bob Hoover guy; Trimmed from an article called TULZ Part Ten FRONT END MAINTENANCE & ALIGNMENT just the sub section FRONT END ALIGNMENT
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After working on your front end you need to check the alignment and you'll probably hear more bullshit � and waste more money � on this task than any other of your many periodic maintenance requirements.

The first Myth and money-waster is that the work is so esoteric and of such precision that it can only be done by an alignment shop. Not true; not a bit of it.

The truth is, of the four factors effecting your alignment (caster, camber, toe angle and king-pin inclination), two of them (caster and king pin inclination angle [the term applies to all vehicles, even those without king-pins]) are not adjustable in the normal sense; they are built-in to the Volkswagen front axle assembly and unless you've suffered collision damage or modified your suspension, caster and king-pin inclination are fixed; there is no adjustment, no matter what the fellow at the alignment shop has told you.

Of the remaining two factors, you set the camber when you rebuild your king pins or replace your ball-joints. With king pins, the camber angle is set using shims and all of the manuals give the appropriate shim-stack data. All you need to do is make sure the shims are NEW (ie, of the proper thickness) and check the result with a protractor to insure camber is correct when you are done.

With ball joints, camber is adjusted by turning the eccentric barrel on the spindle in which the upper ball joint pin is mounted. Here again, you need a protractor of some sort. The spec for camber is about half a degree (check your manual). You can buy inexpensive (ie, about $30) wheel-alignment protractors that are accurate to about one-quarter of a degree (J. C. Whitney carries them) or you can make your own using plywood and a plumb-bob that is accurate to about three seconds of arc [ie, about one-twentieth of a degree] (see the article titled 'The Camber Checker Thingee' in the archives of the Type 2 Mailing List [www.type2.com] ).

That leaves only your toe angle.
Your toe-angle will change as wear accumulates in your front end and steering. This is normal. So you check it periodically. This too is normal. I do it every other oil change because on my old bus, that's when I adjust my link pins. Any time you adjust your link pins you will probably find your toe angle has changed slightly. So you adjust it.

To adjust your toe angle you measure the difference between the front and rear edges of the rims of your front wheels. The wheels should be slightly pigeon-toed. With fifteen inch rims, the front edges should be about an eighth of an inch closer together than the back edges. To make it so you simply loosen a tie rod and turn it. Making the tie rod shorter will pull the rear edges IN forcing the front edges OUT. Turning the tie rod in the opposite direction (ie, making it LONGER) will have the opposite effect.
Read the toe-in adjustment procedure in the 'Idiot' book. It's as clearly written as most.

Are you all done? Then adjust your front wheel bearings, put the grease covers back on and safety the speedo cable. Since the wheels are in the air you might as well adjust the brakes, too.

-Bob Hoover-10 May 2K

[Theo]

Another tip.

To set the toe in raise the front end and have someone spin the tire for you. Very carefully hold a piece of chalk against the tire to draw a line around the tire (center of the tread). Then take a nail and hold it to the chalk as the tire spins. The result is a chalk line with a thin mark that circumscribes the tire. Do both fronts and role the car back and forth to normalize the suspension (after jacking the car up). Measure the front and back of the tire between the marks at axel height. The difference is the toe.

I watched an old time frame shop use this trick on my Subaru WRX. I doubted the old school technique and had it check on a computer rack. It was dead on.

I hope this makes sense.

Theo

[Kafer_Mike]

Here's another good "How To" from the AirSpeed Parts' forum http://www.airspeedparts.com/community- ... b5d5dcc676