Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Paul in Houston TX Newsgroups: alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech Subject: Re: Basic front wheel alignment at home for free with the right tools Date: Sat, 31 May 2025 23:07:59 -0500 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 26 Message-ID: <101gjni$1pm16$1@dont-email.me> References: <101fkp1$1dcv6$1@dont-email.me> <101g9m4$1j2ns$1@dont-email.me> <101giu5$1pelq$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2025 06:08:19 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="46f5ab8a8d7512550032677d18422f99"; logging-data="1890342"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/cEKB703MPeZE+o9p6fkid" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:136) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/136.0.3 SeaMonkey/2.53.8 Cancel-Lock: sha1:WqFTruAdknUgwqSMN9uJFhNsy7o= In-Reply-To: <101giu5$1pelq$1@dont-email.me> Ivano Rossi wrote: > On Sat, 31 May 2025 20:16:34 -0500, Paul in Houston TX wrote: > >> A board with nails or clamps will work for toe. > > The problem is getting UNDER the engine so you need a "U" shape which I was > able to fabricate with a board with two swinging arms and a nail in the > tip. But the toe plates seem, to me, to be easier. > > But my main question was don't you measure toe with the vehicle weighted? > The to plates I references seem to go on the calipers which is unsprung??? > >> A simple mechanical incline gauge works for C/C. >> Johnson Level & Tool 700 Magnetic Angle Locator. > > That looks neat, and it's inexpensive! > https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Level-Tool-700-Magnetic/dp/B00004T807 > > Do you place it against the hub with the vehicle on the ground weighted? Always on the ground or simulated ground level. Weighted would be ideal but getting someone to sit in the driver's seat while you work on the car may be difficult. Placing bags of sand in the driver's seat might work. Remember, there is a specified settings _range_. When I was working at the Ford and Chevy dealerships the alignment specialists would ask one of us to sit in the vehicle for a few min while he did the final check. He was fast.