At Home Alignment Made Easy - How To Use String To Align Your Car
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- čas přidán 3. 10. 2020
- ►Aligning your car is something that is easily overlooked during your regular maintenance and bringing your car to a shop to have it done is time-consuming and costly. If your alignment is out of spec, however, you run the risk of poor handling characteristics, bad fuel economy, and the premature wear of tires and other components. If you have just replaced suspension components, hit a curb or pothole, or are seeing uneven tire wear, these are all indicators that it is time to do an alignment. Even in performance applications, this can be an effective tool to get the most out of the handling of your car. But how do you go about doing this yourself?
Our director of Motorsport, Nate Vincent, is back to show you the proper way to align your car all for under $50 with parts found at your local hardware store. This method works for any make or model of any car! The string alignment method is one of the most accurate methods to get the suspension of your car within manufacture specs and one we use regularly at the race track as part of our motorsport program.
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You could just use trigonometry.
Thanks 😊
Thanks. Is the diameter the "tire diameter" or the "wheel diameter"?
@@gustavette8487 wheel
@@douggolde7582 Yes measure actual diameter of wheel rim where measured, my cars 18 inch are actually 19 inch.
Very informative. Now all I need to make it easy is a full size lift in my house.
No... Have seen old guys do Stringing race cars with the car on a flat surface ( on a tar surface).
Trolly Jack is what they use to jack the car up to allow adjustments
I do it in the pits. Just have to jack up the car a tiny bit at the front to do adjustments
Video hasn't even started yet n I'm ctfu @ this comment 😆
@@gj91471 yo
😂😂😂
Excellent video . Just one point, toe in is
positive and toe out is negative {3:43}
I've used both string aligning on my Camaro because it sits too low for me to try any other method but I used solid metal bars on each front wheel on my truck to set total toe. Technically you are correct but I think the guy is referring to the fact that doing the alignment by string method the way in which you measure it is backwards. If you were using bars on the wheels doing total toe measurement with 2 tape measures and say you were setting toe in then moral of the story is less you want a smaller measurement on the front tape measure vs the rear tape measure. But when your doing string alignments and setting toe in the number on the front edge of the rim on your measuring stick gets larger and the rear gets smaller because as the tires toe in they pull away from the string on the front since the string stays stationary that is set square and the rear of the tire or rim gets closer to the string. It's hard to explain but hopefully it makes sense.
Good video! A couple things that I have found after doing my own string alignments:
Use 1" EMT conduit instead of the PVC. If the jack stands are placed in a different spot front or rear, there will be different flex, and that can alter the actual distance between the slots in the PVC. We are talking very small differences, but I can hold my measuring to .25 mm. I do my alignments outside, if the sun is beating on the front tubing but not the rear, with PVC, this could cause a difference between the slots. PVC expands and contracts at a rate much higher than steel. Even if this wouldn't be an issue for you, steel EMT would be much more stable and durable. Doing string alignments is all about eliminating variables. Use the thinnest hacksaw blade you can find and cut the slot by hand for best precision.
To hold the steering wheel, you can get a steering wheel holder for alignments on Amazon. Looks like a little guy with a red head. Works great and it's a lot easier to use.
I also use 50 lb test, .36mm diameter braided deep sea fishing line in bright yellow, it is very user friendly, doesn't knot up and tangle, yet it is easy to tie knots. It is highly visible so you don't bump it. And it holds a nice taught line with the weight without stretching.
Some manufacturers measure toe in as a positive # so be aware what your manufacturer is actually stating.
Here's a great toe conversion calculator: www.1728.org/toe-out.htm
Yes u' r right.BMW have positive toe and is in not out...
I found a cheap alternative to the Amazon steering wheel holder - the wife 😂. And she gets annoyed being called an Amazon...
thanks
Smart Man and smart comment.
Great explanation. Instead of taping and measuring threads on the tie rods, I think it’s easier to just make one full turn of the adjuster and then measure the change at the wheels. You only have to do it once per car and you get a precise measurement of the amount of toe in/out for each turn. Also, knowing that value, you can make quick toe adjustments at the track without having to restring.
if someone wanted to take the extra time to do that, thats a great idea!
The context about camber before toe at around the 31:00 mark actually goes for the front too. Camber (and front caster if adjustable) should always be done be done before toe at all 4 corners. Virtually every car out there will experience some degree of toe change when camber (and / or caster) is adjusted and thus toe should ALWAYS be the last thing you adjust and never the first (unless that is the only thing you are going to be making adjustments to.
Even with camber plate adjustment, many cars will experience a noticeable toe change because its a factor of knuckle / upright geometry and NOTHING to do with the chassis suspension pickup points.
Was just about to say something similar...
Yes, this is key!
Thanks for this
Hit up a "dollar store" and grab 8 cheap smooth thin cutting boards. Stack 2 of them, and stick them under each tire. Almost totally removes stiction when you're making adjustments. Sure, you could get fancy bearing plates - but then you wouldn't be watching a DIY vid! :)
Love to hear it!
I was thinking about metal plates and axle grease between the two but sounds even simpler!
@@PetuniatheGT350 me too
This is brilliant! I'm going to try it.
@@PetuniatheGT350 Overthinking it bruh
I've been doing string alignments for years! They are way better than a shop alignment which always gives you a crooked steering wheel.
Probably shop incompetence, typical when you have a "pro" do it. I recently had an alignment done on our old van and sure enough, the wheel is cocked at 11:30
I did alignment work for 25 years, I test drove everything, I made every effort to ensure my customers never complained of pulling, worn tires, or crooked steering wheels. Parking lot would be jam packed from open to close. Been 20 years since retirement, and customers still call for me.
@@r.weaver3769 Respect you you sir.
@@devonstrickland5640 Thank you, I miss the work, but truly miss the awesome customers I had.
@@r.weaver3769 string alignments? :) Sounds like you did an actual thorough job LOL.
First, Great instructional guys. After dealing with incompetent shops in my area that literally can't align your car unless it's 100% stock. I decided to do this my self. Glad I did, can confirm best alignment I've ever had on my Mazda 3.
One note for people like me with OCD, you can help compensate for human error during setup by making the distance between your bars significantly longer than the length of the car, if you have the room. Due to the relative length from the pivot points when making adjustments this let's you be more precise in twords the vehicle. Hopefully that made sense lo
Love it, Mike!
A few years ago I thought of using this method and used a pair of slotted wood battens for the string end supports, this method is by far the most accurate way to make wheel alignment, you did an excellent job of showing how to set the system up, hope not to many people spotted the little mistake you made when cutting the second set of slots in the wrong side of the pipe :)
Lol I thought I was the only one who saw realised that didn't seem right
Aren't you getting your negative and positive toe mixed up. Negative toe = toe out and positive toe = toe in. Apart from that technicality great instructional video
Depends on manufacturer. BMWs need toe in, regardless of what its called.
Might be worth mentioning to release the rubber gator/boot clips on the tie rods when rotating as the twist associated will likely shorten their life. But a great instructional, thanks!
I had to replace both rear trailing arm bushings on my 2003 Volvo S40. I didn't want to spend any extra on alignment. Followed this method carefully. I am amazed at the results. Car now tracks as it should.
Only minor downside is adjusting the alignment without a lift can be time-consuming, as you may need to measure, jack up, adjust, lower, settle suspension and then measure again, several times!
If you have the option to get something the same heigh under all 4 tires, that helps!
Olfen that is what we love to hear! Now that you've done it once , it gets faster and easier each time after. Glad we were able to help
How much would the alignment costed you?
Excellent video. I did the alignement on my oldtimer lotus esprit using this method years ago, but this is the first video that explains things so clear. Thanks
I am so proud that you uses millimeter ❤
Thanks for your video.
I’m a low budget CZcams mechanic that depends on people like you.Makes total sense coming from a construction background.
We’ll explained.
Much love bro
One of the best tutorials I have ever seen. Well done mate.
Wow, I wish you could do every car repair video I ever watch. Excellent explanation, even stopped to clear up any question people might have of every detail. Thanks a lot!
Thank you for the great effort on explaining this wheel alignment method, I do my car using this method of the fishing line around the car for toe adjustment and the angle finder for the front camber adjustment with camber bolts on the struts. Finding a perfect level ground is the challenge when one is doing this at home
When you set the string line up for the front, you have to measure from the CENTRE of the wheel (fore and aft), where you measured it, 3-4 inches fwd of the centre, you are setting the zero to any error that is already in place.
when you are spelling center the e goes before the r.
also fully spell forward. dont use fwd because that means "front wheel drive" since where talking about an automotive topic.
you're spelling things wrong and making it confusing to read.
@@darkshadowsx5949 UK/EU and many countries spell center as "centre". The e before the r is an American thing.
@@darkshadowsx5949 You used "where" when you should've used "we're"....LOL!
Best tutorial of string alignment on the internet. Well done!
Excellent description and walk through.
Wow, this was incredible helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome tutorial! Thank you.
This is such an in depth video! Love it!!
Thank you. A thorough, concise and totally professional tutorial for us DYI'ers. You've taught me so much with your channel, especially with my son's Volvo, his first car. We watch the videos together and proceed with confidence after FCP Euro's pro tutorials.
Thank you. I just successfully used your DIY Alignment Method on my Audi A4 B5.5 Quattro. Worked perfectly on the first try!
Finally a video that mentions the reference box needed to determine the body to wheel relationship. I see the string methods often use the body wheel wells to measure from, assuming the body can guide what straight really is, so as to not create a crab walk.
I just learned that I was doing it wrong for 20 years!!! You just made me a better tech. Thank you.
when doing camber, try not to use the tyre as it bulges at the bottom, maybe 60psi would help negate this error, but get a flat bar the correct rim length for the DIYers
Absolutely! Hence Nate's note that tire is good, but wheel is better to get that camber measurement
Arent' we supposed to do camber adjustment first, then toe? The toe changes when camber changes.
@@ModMINI Caster, then camber, then toe.
@@fcpeuro Tire is not good
or just cut board correct
Well done guys.
Much appreciated.
Great job! Best string method diy alignment video I have seen
This is the kind of video I've been looking for. Great explanation! I'm going to try this on my car because it desperately needs it. You did an amazing job teaching how to do this! Thank you!
Thank you sir! I now know more about alignments than i ever did before.
Best string alignment video I have seen on youtube, thanks
Very useful video! My car is trailing to the left for some time now, and I was hesitating to take a look at the suspension myself because I would have to align it afterwards. I'll save this guide for later use!
Great information, thank you for sharing!
great video, great explanation!!! thank you.
Great video! Thanks!
Very good presentation. Thanks!
Thanks for the video!
Thank You! This helps. My son and I truly need the means to get things back squared away on our own. We are always wrenching and 'set the toe and let it go' is NOT for us. Attention to Detail matters!!
Let us know how it goes once you give it a try GMAN ! Takes time and some patience but hey math is math at the end of the day!
Awesome video guys! Very well spoken. Awesome detail and guidance throughout the video. I really don't have any suggestions for improvement. You covered the items needed and method to make the tooling needed for the process. Explained the process well. Bravo guys! Well done!
Glad you approve Neil! Hopefully it helps a few people tackle the job/process themselves at home
I've been seeing race mechanics do this kind of work at Sepang circuit where I work for decades and I'm always curious how this string alignment work. Finally you've answer all my questions. Tq
People are talking about various hacks for making turning steering effortless. Here’s what I did, albeit for replacing steering fluid, but for any purpose this works: Get some bubble-wrap, I happen to have the insulation stuff that’s particularly useful as it has both sides the same, foil-covered and flat. Just make sure the smooth sides are together, otherwise. I cut two pieces for each side, basically about the diameter of the tyre or wheel say, and square ish. You need a pair for each side. Ordinary grease, smear one side only cos it’s easier, of the mating faces, plop the two pieces together with the grease sandwiched, on the ground, where the front wheels can be rolled over it. NOTE…I have a front wheel drive car, and a small slope on my drive, so I drove the car forward of where I wanted it and let it roll back, then applied the handbrake only, to stop the car in position, with the front tyres as close to the middle of the greased bubble wrap squares as possible. I then shoved a couple of bricks hard under the rear wheels, because only the handbrake and rear wheels are holding the car locked in position now. That’s it. The steering will turn free as a bird. It meant for power steering fluid replacement, I could easily spin the wheels fully to lock right and left as the fluid gurgled through, but I will now be digging out this almost-free couple of devices, to help with the alignment. I swear, I expected the bubbles to pop, not a single one did. Weird, no?! Thanks for this vid, take care all.
This is great! I did something similar at home, but yours is better for sure. I’m getting the stuff to do this.
I found this to be very informative and very well presented……great job.
I agree that it's more accurate than shop alignment, much cheaper in the long run too, and you can do whatever you want, no risk of someone disagreeing with your decisions etc.
Excellent presentation. Loved your detailed explanation of the estimated turns needed on tie rod vs the typical "give it a 1/2 turn and retest".
very good explanation. easy to understand.... thanks a lot!!!
Thank you for taking the time to do this valuable video. I don't have a level surface in sight though lol. I managed to do a toe adjustment anyway.
You are very good at these, thanks for a great presentation and explanation!
This is a great video, exactly what I needed
Thank you very much! Subbed
Fantastic vid. Thanks, and regards from the south side of the sound...
great video, thanks for this
A really excellent explanation on how to set toe and camber, which I shall follow. Thank you.
Good information, thanks
It is very helpful. Thank you.
This is one of the best tutorial videos on the art of aligning the wheels on the car. Best of all, you don't need fancy equipment to do it either, just simple PVC pipes, strings, and angle finder from HomeDepot and the rest of the tools most people would already have it. Best of all, this method works even for a high precision race car like the VW R36, it will work for every cars, with the exception of the actual mechanisms to make the adjustments on the actual camber and toe in in each model. I had always had my cars aligned at the dealer because they have the factory specs for camber and toe in but I will likely use the procedure outlined here to check and adjust if necessary in the future. I could even use the method to check if the dealer actually did their job correctly on my cars. Great video and very well done!
How is the angle finder used?
To measure camber.
How I learned on the frame rack was woth string alignment. Then the new laser system frame rack came out! Thank you for this video
Amazing video!
I LOVE THIS!
Well done!
Thank you soo much for this video
Boy, I've watch A LOT of videos about toe lately and, after finally *getting it*, can't get over how many 'experts' and even expensive tools out there that aren't taking into account the possibility that one wheel's toe may be very different than the one opposite it. Those methods and tools just assume to measure the total distance between both tires and split that difference as the target. Sigh.🙄
Good job with the vid, and thanks for redeeming my faith in humanity.
very cool... thanks!!
Fantastic Video just what I needed to watch! Thanks lot appreciated it! thumbs up!
Glad to be of some help!
Great video
You almost lost me a couple times but i think i got it! Very well done!
This is definitely one that is worth a second watch to help better understand or catch some of the finite details Nate goes over. Hopefully you know more now than before watching it though!
very helpful thankyou
I've been doing this for 20 years! 👍
Thank you so much! Subscribed🤙
Thanks for the sub juSTIn Turner!
Really nice video on race car alignment ..
Fantastic, I'll be doing that...
What a great video! Easy to follow and likely very accurate. I'm a bit dyslexic so some things are hard for me. This one wasn't Thank you
Just subscribed awesome video
Best diy alignment video!
Appreciate it motofan16 !
i agree!
I like this!
This is a very comprehensive, well done description of the toe alignment process. I would, however, always do the camber adjustment first, as it will effect the toe. I know this is mentioned in the video, but should be stressed more highly, even to 5he point of showing the camber adjustment first.
Thanks for a great video.
Appreciate the note Arnold; much appreciated!
Good video! Thanks!
Thanks for watching filmeseverin, glad you liked it!
I like it :) this is the old school and it always works
very good video THX
You are an excellent teacher❤️👍 subscribed!
Welcome aboard!
This was awesome thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
AWSOME VIDEO
Excelent video many thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
gracias por presentar ese método , con la tubería de pvc , no lo había visto.
Great. I like to do realignment after beginners.
Amazing video, thank you so much! The only thing is that on the spec it should be 0" 12' toe-in and then you setup 0" 12' toe-out
Very nice video!
Glad you liked it bildillamagasin! We appreciate the support.
I understood about half of it, thanks.
Awesome video. The last 3 seconds of the video were the best part hahahaha
Awesome. I do all my own work to my car and have just eyeballing it enough to drive it somewhere. Almost lost me for the reasoning on the front with the tierod position at “about 60 to 70%” compared to the outside of the wheel
Awesome impressive superb very scientific the best alignment!
Great video on alignment! I to am a suspension mechanic (old school) and started in the late 70's. To be honest I've never been in the racing type of alignment and like your explanation of different angle adjustments for different types of racing, suspensions and tires.
One thing I noticed about almost all alignment videos is that there is very little talk about SAI (KPI for us old timers) and Scrub Radius. One easy visual way to see it is a beginner DYI mechanic will tend to mount deep dish or heavily outer off set rims (tires sticking way out of fenders) but the pro mechanics keep more of a stock look meaning wheel assembly stays tucked in more under supervision and bearing load.
Basically that's Scrub Radius as you know.
Your thoughts or do you feel it's worth making a video on subject.
Aloha Zac
Same method I used with the PVC pipes except I didn’t use fishing line, which is a really good idea. I will do that next time.
This is going to save me some money. Two sports cars and multiple alignments a year. That’s almost a free set of tires! 🤙🏻
Its' sooo much helpfulll ...👍
Vry mch TQ...🙏
Hey y’all got it goin on y’all’s videos. VERY WELL EXPLAINED you should have one of them supermarket mags Wheel Alingment for dummies. Thanks for all the info which Is spot on. Y’all are Top Shelf in my opinion 2 thumbs up RN4L