how to do a wheel alighnment in your garage or front lawn or whereever!

[ben]

the cheap way to wheel alighnment i learnt from a beddy mate:)

please note! all suspension parts must be in good working order for an accurate wheel alignment.
 
A. adjusting toe in
1. take wheels off
2. bolt on 2 bits of straight poles/ bar/ timber/cardboard anything perfectly straight!
3. measure distance between bars at disc brake.
4. measure out 1m exactly both sides and mark.
5. measure distance at 1metre park. for 2degrees (standard) toe in it should be 30mm narrower than at the disc brake.
6. adjust as nessesary by undoing nut off tie rod end and twisting tie rod.
7. bolt wheels back on.

B. Castor control
1. get a big shifter or 2.
2. drive down the centre of the road.
3. if it pulls to the left adjust left side of crossmember forward. same with right.
4. adjust until van pulls either side in the centre of the (unused) road

C. camber control
1. Dont worry about cause bedfords are not technical enough for an adjustment!!!


wahoo just saved $50! to put toward you $800 QLD rego george!

ben

[MaTTe]

Ben, i've been meaning to tell you this for AGES..


My Haynes manual states the following in regards to camber.. :
Lower suspension arm removal:
Remove 4 nuts (and washers if applicable) securing fulcrum shaft to crossmember. Take out bolts and locking plates, then withdraw complete suspension arm. If spacers are fitted between the shaft and crossmember, remove these also but do not mix them up; they must eventually be installed in their original positions to prevent altering the camber angle.

then goes on to continue telling of how to remove the rest of the suspension...
a bit of food for thought

EDIT: I should comment on your post too.. they're a good list of techniques.. with the toe in/out I cant stress enough that the beams need to be perfectly straight otherwise you're kicking shit up hill..
We use a similar technique, however we measure the same distance along the beam behind the wheel, and infront of the wheel, the difference in length is how many mm toe in/out you have, on the race cars we operate within 1mm not 1degree.

We use lengths of square tube hard up against the wheel at a fairly central height propped up on bricks or similar. when you have the settings right, you should be able to sight the tube against the position on the rear wheels(unless you have flares like mine.. hahah)

But all in all, well put ben!

[ben]

cool thanks matte!