How can I do a front end alignment at home to get or make sure things are generally ok? The car seems to pull a little to the right, and I recently lowered the front suspension about 2 inches to stock height. It's a 1970 Challenger.

not sure if changing the ride height 2" is enough to change the camber but it might be tho I ain't sure if that would make it pull to one side. there are some good vids on youtube for this. Me I would get it on some tiles with string around the perimeter on all 4 sides between the top tile and the bottom of the tire & add/subtract tiles till the 4 sections of string are parallel/level (half tank of gas/tires aired up/your wt in barbells in dr seat. #1 get the ride height where you want it (& the tires look right in the wheelwells) & even on both sides then 1/16 to 1/8 toe in and turn the cams for max positive caster then bring the rear cam out till a 2ft carpenters' level vertical on the tire sidewall(s) shows the tire is vertical (camber) no matter what that lets the caster end up being (even if diff from side to side) from tolerances. there is an order for doing the above but ride height comes first. I had a significant caster diff from side to side (slight frame tolerance issue evidently) & it rode fine with the toe in & camber where I wanted it

I just switched over to the string method too. I set a pair of jackstands in front of the car and wrap string around the rear of the car on the rear tires, and set the jackstands in front of the car. I adjust the stands so the string is ever so lightly touching the front sidewall of the rear tires. The string runs parallel to the car terminating at the jackstands positioned at the front of the car.

Make sure the ride height is where you want it and equal on each side. I measure from the front well well opening to the ground.

Then I adjust the upper control arm's rear eccentric all the way in and use the front eccentric to get the front tire plumb using a small bubble level on the rim (camber). Some people like to tilt the top of the wheel in ever so slightly, which makes it handle a bit better in corners. I adjust mine so the bubble ever so slightly is off level to allow for a very slight amount of negative camber.

Once your string is in position(watch Youtube for a video of the string method), I measure the tow by taking two measurements using a ruler from the string to the sidewall of the front and rear of the front tire. I shoot for 1/16" toe in.

Make sure you center your steering wheel first and tie it off with a rope. I wrap it around the wheel and hold it with my vent window.

If you don't have two greased plates under the front tires, you will have to roll the car back and forth after you start making changes in the eccentrics or toe settings to allow the front end to settle. It is time consuming, but my cars have never driven as well as they do now after "professional" alignments.

What JBC said, the string and the jackstands would be the best way to get the toe in dead on & that is different string than what is between the tiles and the bottom of the tires to get/confirm the car is level. EDIT But JBC are you having the string level with the center of the front spindles and rear hub centers to get the car level?? new territory for me too

Link

I park on the flattest part of my driveway. I have already set my ride height by measuring from the center of the wheel openings to the ground.

I don't worry if the string is perfectly level. I just make sure the two sides of the string are parallel with each other and just touching the front edge of the rear tire. The string also contacts the rear sidewall of the tire and connects to the other rear tire under the back of the car.

Because of interference with the car's body, I have to put the string down a few inches below the hub centerline.

I use a 10 inch long level to set the camber on the front wheels. it fits nicely on the rim bulge that goes around the lug nuts.

You have to do the toe last after you get your camber set.

Don't take for granite that the rear is centered and not off to one side, by as much as 1/2" on some Chrysler's.

I have used the string method to set toe... also carpenters rule on the tires (consistent tread feature, front and rear of front tires).

Either way will get the toe close enough to drive it to the shop without damage... but I like s capable shop to do the final alignment.

This!

I adjust each tire's toe setting so it has a nearly equal distance to the string on one side of the car and then the other, so combined, there is 1/8" to 1/16" toe in(the front measurement is slightly smaller).

The measurements from the left and right side tires to their individual strings has yet to be the same distance, but as long as they are in line with the rear tires, plumb with a very slight tilt-in at the top and very slightly toed in, my car drives like a dream.

Don't forget to keep the rear upper control arm eccentrics as far inboard as you can get away with for the maximum amount of caster.

that is what I needed refreshing on (& some of the stringing stuff). thank you! I think if a person (1) got it level (2) set ride height (3) set cams to max caster then brought em (rear then front if needed) out to zero or a skosh neg camber (2ft carpenters level vertical) then toe in that you wouldn't even need the alignment shop. After they set my camber they said the caster was significantly different from side to side (frame sag), nothing they could do & it rode/handled like a dream which I attributed to me rebuilding the front suspension & the 003/003 SS springs it came with as a roller (65 dart) & I used some stiff circle trck tbars I had on hand (all I had ex for some /6 bars) & I was orig gonna put the 451 in there & iirc I used the offset bushings

Caster and Camber both need to be set in conjunction with one another. Toe should always be set lastly.
A straight edge 3 1/2" up on each side of the outside of the front tires and a tape measure front and rear against the tread is the most accurate.
Outside of a digital machine and a professional alignment.

Toe-alignment with a string only works if front and rear wheel-track is exactly the same and equally sized wheels and tires are used.

So measure track-width front and rear seperatly. If they differ, don't use a string because you'll end up with a tire-scrubbing toe-in or toe-out.

Every smartphone these days has apps that can measure angles in degrees, so setting camber is easier than ever.
Some apps can also help in setting caster.
You'll just have to fab a setup where you can securely mount the phone to the wheel properly so you can adjust the cam-bolts.

would this work for the toe in: get the front tires parallel to each other irregardless if the rears are square or not then move the front of each front tire in a skosh with the sleeves.

I am looking to get a nice tool like one of the one's you guys showed here to do my alignments at home also. All my life since before I got out of highschool I have worked as a tech and could use the shop front end alignment machine and always did my own alignments. But now I am retired on disability and dont have the ability to use a shop anymore. The dealer I worked at the last 24 years I worked at has since closed or I would have still been able to use that machine as I was the shop fireman there and was good friends with the service manager as he also has a hot rod and we still cruise together sometimes. We both miss that shop. Ron

"Toe-alignment with a string only works if front and rear wheel-track is exactly the same and equally sized wheels and tires are used.

So measure track-width front and rear seperatly. If they differ, don't use a string because you'll end up with a tire-scrubbing toe-in or toe-out."

Not sure where you are getting this information, but the strings are only parallel lines to measure from. My front tires are considerably smaller than the rears, and sit inboard about 1/2" to 3/4" from the stringline taken off the rear tires.

It is critical to place the stings so they just barely touch the front edge of the rear tires. The back edge of the string wraps from behind rear tires and along the rear edge of the rear tires. Once positioned correctly, the distance from the string is measured at the front and rear side of the front tire with a tape measure. The front measurement is a bit less to allow for toe-in.

When I was wrenching on open wheel sprint cars. We made one of these for toe measurements. easy to use and only needs one person to operate. http://www.longacreracing.com/products.aspx?itemid=2445&prodid=7237&pagetitle=Toe+Gauge

Digger73 (Mike)

Ron, The cas/cam gauge I used is similar to one posted in the link above. It always seemed better to take the bearing cap off of the hub and use the magnet adaptor. There are decent toe gauges out there that can be used by one person for not a lot of money.

I bought this Longacre setup and it worked good.

Lots of other ideas/equiptment here: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1898331/diy-alignment-ideas.html

First hand info, but... most folks (like me at first I admit) will put the string from the back of the rear tire to front of the front tire, per side.
If done this way while the car's front/rear trackwidth differ, the frontwheel toe-in will be wrong.



You'll have to find a fixed point in front of the front tires to mount the strings on, with left and right being equal.




Agree with that. But I would focus on the front tires being (almost) parallel to each other, by either placing a string/tapemeasure between the front and rear of the front tires.

Ah, I understand what you are referring to now. When setting up the string, I don't use the front wheels at all. Once it is set up using this technique,

"I set a pair of jackstands in front of the car and wrap string around the rear of the car on the rear tires, and set the jackstands in front of the car. I adjust the stands so the string is ever so lightly touching the front sidewall of the rear tires. The string runs parallel to the car terminating at the jackstands positioned at the front of the car".

I measure off from the string to the front and back sidewall of the front tires and adjust the tie rods so that I have 1/8 to 1/16 of toe-in.

I have done the string on jack stands on a couple of my daily drivers after putting new tire rods on. Has worked well for setting toe in.