Doing Your Own Alignment With String

If you replace front-end components on your car or truck, it's going to need an alignment. Today we'll look at how to set the toe yourself with nothing but some string and a couple ladders. is it as close as an alignment shop will get? No. But it will get it good enough to drive.

[@tattoosteveneo]

I’ve used this method and a stick method before. Took it to a shop and they told me it was spot on. The stick method I use takes a little more time but works basically the same way.

[@FrainFreeze]

cool video, as per usual for your channel :D

[@damnimcooltom1]

I can totally hear myself swearing a bunch while trying to get that string lined up. What do you do if the rear track width is less than the front?

[@YoshimoshiGarage]

You move the string out and measure that it's the same distance from both sides of the tire/rim. Basically use a tape measure to keep it parallel

[@bondjovi4595]

Jegs has been selling alignment panels for years.

[@YoshimoshiGarage]

Yes and I would have used them if I had them. They're probably a good investment if you need to set toe more often than once every few years.

[@tetedur377]

Trust me: I started doing alignments, including rear tracking, when we used sticks and silver paint, camber caster heads, and all that. Including lights and strings, and so on. Saying "you don't need to take it to an alignment shop" is bad advice. It is better to say "you still need to do an alignment, but this will get you by for a time until you can get it professionally done." Or DIY if you have aforementioned camber/caster heads, and so on, for doing older cars. I'm sure there are videos on facisttuble that show how to do that kind of thing. Here's why it's important: tires begin to wear in certain patterns, and the longer you drive with conditions that are causing those patterns (cupping, scuffing, odd wear, and so on), the more set those patterns become. So if your front tires are showing wear on the outer edges that might indicate a camber problem, even if those underlying problems are fixed, the tires still continue that wear pattern. Fixing the conditions mitigates the wear, but doesn't really stop it. Rotating the tires also mitigates it, but that wear pattern remains.

[@joe_moms_lover]

YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE IT TO AN APPOINTMENT SHOP. 9 or of 10 times the shop doing your alignment doesn't have a clue what they're doing. It can be done very well with strings.

[@YoshimoshiGarage]

Last year I replaced the suspension on my 67 Dart. I aligned it myself with string and a home-made camber tool. I then took it to an alignment shop. They charged me $300 because "it wouldn't work with the computer" and the results were that they had to do 1/2 a degree toe adjustment on one side and camber was fine. That car will never see an alignment shop again as long as I own it. My 74 power wagon I don't think even has the capability for adjusting camber or caster, and I'm sure they'd give me some bullshit excuse about its age to charge me more for doing less. And with all brand new parts that you don't have to fight rust with. I doubt I will take it to a shop for an alignment. The 85 chevy in the video has been running for months as a daily driver with no abnormal tire wear. Now if the 2022 Explorer ever needs an alignment, I'll take it to a shop. So I think it depends on a lot of factors. How many miles will the vehicle see? How complex is the alignment process? The point of this video, and really many of mine, are that vehicles, especially old ones, aren't some arcane thing that require specialized tools and expertise to work on and the reality is that most mechanically inclined people, with some time, ingenuity and patience can get a result as good as, or better than the average shop on many, many jobs.

[@joe_moms_lover]

@@YoshimoshiGarage I did an alignment on my 2013 smart a few years ago. 50k miles later and no abnormal tire wear. People keep screaming call a professional for everything. Some people are just lazy