At home allignment?

[Ferris Bueller]

Newly installed on my 2004 2wd: rebuilt steering rack, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, lower ball joints. I've driven the truck about 20 miles and the steering feels close and it doesn't handle or steer funny. One shop told me it could take 2+hours on the allignment rack since so many parts have been replaced. Anyone ever do their allignment at home?

 

[pillen140]

that sounds fishy, an alignment should cost the same regardless! take it somewhere else! you can make toe plates and use measuring tapes to do the toe, but would have to get a caster gauge to do castor. its cheaper usually around $80 to get it done somewhere legit.

 

[doorgunner]

Newly installed on my 2004 2wd: rebuilt steering rack, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, lower ball joints. I've driven the truck about 20 miles and the steering feels close and it doesn't handle or steer funny. One shop told me it could take 2+hours on the allignment rack since so many parts have been replaced. Anyone ever do their allignment at home?

Yep.....I used the Tech Library info.....first, I lowered the front suspension 3 " by (don't try this at home) cutting the coil springs.

That caused the wheels to look like this \---------/ & it put the tie-rods in a bind.

I installed adjustable bushings (which you shouldn't have to do).

I put a pair of flat metal plates with grease between them under each front wheel.

I used the string-alignment & carpenter's level to get the driver's side wheel parallel with the truck frame as I adjusted the bushing & tie-rod.

Then I adjusted the passenger side wheel & used a tape measure to get the toe -in correct on the passenger's wheel.

It took less than 2 hours, and that was my first time at aligning a vehicle after making major changes.

After about 2,000 of driving, I had the front end checked at a reputable shop....they found no tire wear & tweaked the toe-in .030".

High-five to the Tech Library

 

[TwoTrackMind]

that sounds fishy, an alignment should cost the same regardless! take it somewhere else! you can make toe plates and use measuring tapes to do the toe, but would have to get a caster gauge to do castor. its cheaper usually around $80 to get it done somewhere legit.

I agree. All shops I've ever used have a set price for alignment, regardless of time. And it should not take longer unless they need to replace parts.

My dad and another guy I know always do their own and only use a tape measure for toe-in and "eyeball" the rest. Of course they been doing it a while. I drive my dads trucks a bit and they seem fine. He never seems to have tire problems. I guess I go to the shops to get free coffee...

 

[4x4junkie]

Done at-home here too.
A big huge machine certainly makes aligning a vehicle much quicker and easier by giving you direct numbers for your measurements, but it's not absolutely required to be able to do a proper alignment.

Like has been said, a tape measure (a telescoping rod can work too if you have machined alloy rims), a camber gauge (or even a small level) and some knowledge on how everything works (such as how caster affects your return-to-center, etc.) is really all that's necessary. After a little bit of trial-n-error, you should eventually have it.