Crazy alignment questions

[bobs409]

1) Ok, forgive me if this sounds crazy but if you put a level (one carpenters use) against your front tire, should it read plumb if your alignment is set properly? (I believe this is caster/camber setting?)

If so, can one just adjust it until is does read plumb?


2) For in/out alignment, when wheels are in straight ahead position, should they be perfectly parallel to the rear wheels? (I believe this is toe in/toe out setting?) If so, would it be possible to use an accurate l-o-n-g straight edge to set this adjustment by setting against front & rear tire?


Just something I've been wondering lately.


Bob

 

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,if the bubble on the level is in the center of the lines,thats 0 camber,if the top of the tire is tilted in,thats negative camber,if the top of the tire is tilted out,thats positive camber.
Caster is the center line between the upper and lower ball joints,if the upper ball joint is towards the rear of the vehicle,thats positive caster,if the upper ball joint is towards the front of the vehicle thats negative caster.The more positive caster is the best handling on drag strips and e-way speeds.
Toe in is when both front wheels are pointed in,toe out is when both front wheels are pointed out.

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

 

[davids impalas]

from my alignment experiences , 11 years with chevrolet master technician
this is what i do on alignments
this is true in most cases

another way to somewhat think about it is a roof of a house is like a road ,

1 . think of it this way , as for caster if the vehicle has a perfect measurment on both sides left to right (wheel base wise) and you drive on a perfect flat road it will go straight , example a kids wagon
but that is not the case , the roads or hiways are designed not to hold water so there is a crown in the road ,so if you have a same measurment side to side it will pull to the right
now i know its hard to think about a f!@# , but when they were built back in the 20s and 30s , they were built with solid axles and NO adjustments , the way they solved the problem then was to , make the wheel base on the drivers side shorter than the passenger side , ex. pass side wheel base 110" and drivers side 109.5" , there fore the vehicle would tend to pull to the left all the time if in a perfect flat road ,so when on a road crown the vehicle would go straight , thus the reason for a positive caster on the drivers side

2 . camber , also goes with the road crown , if you put the camber at "plumb" or at zero , you will wear the drivers side tire out on the out side
due to the way the road is designed so the drivers side tire needs to be a little negetive , sounds crazy but i promise no tire wear , to much positive camber and the road crown the tires will wear out on the outside

3. toe , a way to look at it is this , look at your own feet if you face your feet together and walk for miles on end that way you will wear the outside of your shoes out , ex. / \ this is toe in . if the ouher way around it would wear the inside of the tire out ex. \ / this is toe out but if you were as straight as possible l l you would wear in a equal direction
a way i do it to rough it in when i do a frame off , until i can get it the the shop to align it is to set the toe with a tape measure , find o spot in the tread in front and measure and do the same in the rear till its within an 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch apart

hope this book helps

 

[dq409]

WoW !!!! Thats some good info !!
Just a question on toe,, I thought that most cars had a toe in, say 1/4 to keep the car from wondering. Yes?,,, No?

 

[JimKwiatkowski]

WoW !!!! Thats some good info !!
Just a question on toe,, I thought that most cars had a toe in, say 1/4 to keep the car from wondering. Yes?,,, No?

dq,all front wheel drive cars and 4x4 trucks I run 0 toe because the torque on the front wheels tend to pull the wheels toe in.Rear wheel drive I like to run 1/16 to 1/8 toe in.

 

[bobs409]

Thanks for all the great info! And I thought it was going to be as easy as breaking out the old carpenters square and cranking some bolts.

Guess I have to pay the $45+ cost of alignments just like everyone else. :evil


Bob

 

[rstreet]

Davids impalas alignment book is the best I've read in years on the subject. Yeah Bob I sort of realized that a good tech(who understands Davids book) and machine is hard to beat. I'm going back to just stay with "lumens"
robert