Sujet : Basic front wheel alignment at home for free with the right tools
De : Ivano.Rossi (at) *nospam* nospam.tin.it (Ivano Rossi)
Groupes : alt.home.repair rec.autos.techDate : 31. May 2025, 20:20:02
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <101fkp1$1dcv6$1@dont-email.me>
User-Agent : tin/2.4.1-20161224 ("Daill") (UNIX) (OpenBSD/6.1 (amd64))
What basic tools are needed to do a simple alignment check at home?
I'm aware you can't easily do a comprehensive four-wheel alignment check at
home (e.g., to check if a vehicle has been in an accident) but at home you
generally are checking your own vehicles which you know the history of.
All you really need to check, I think, is caster, camber & toe, right?
And caster is a mathematical function of camber, right?
So do I only need to accurately check camber and toe?
If so, what tools do I need to check that at home, and what basic methods
are needed? For example, on Amazon are these $50 toe alignment plates.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1XZ6H8DBut those toe alignment plates bolt to the axle? Really?
Don't we want to perform toe measurements with the vehicle on the ground in
the normal sprung geometry? On a turning plate perhaps?
Since those toe alignment plates have a strap, can they be used with the
wheel on (I realize the tire pushes the alignment plate out about an inch).
For camber, this $100 camber angle gauge seems to be a magnetic mount.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PB7V3SU/ Is that sufficient to measure camber & toe (caster can be calculated)?
Or do I also need this wheel clamp contraption to get the camber right?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07532CB8M/