Re: Basic front wheel alignment at home for free with the right tools

On Sun, 01 Jun 2025 05:03:17 -0400, hubops@ccanoemail.com wrote:

  On my recent visit to the dealer for routine service,  I happened to
notice my car's details - year, model, plate, -  on a large overhead
 display screen  near the service mgr.'s desk  with a  green "OK" .. -
upon asking about it  I learned that -  as I drove into the reception
bay a laser sensor at the entrance door scanned my car
 and checked alignment  < ! >  He said the machine was dead accurate
when compared with their alignment bay measurements.
   It would be nice if they would provide a printout of the scan
results   < I didn't ask >  but I think they would lose alignment
jobs if they did that.

Any time anyone asks about alignment on this group someone tells them that
they should use a 100K dollar Hunter machine, which is designed for getting
every car completely aligned in the shortest amount of time possible.

The same weirdness happens when they ask about mounting & balancing, simply
because people think that a 100K dollar machine is the only way to do it.

Comparing a 100K machine with $100 home tools is like comparing a fighter
jet to a Cessna in terms of they're each designed for completely different
things that have almost nothing except the obvious in common.

Home alignment checks should take only basic measuring tools, whether
that's string and a bubble level or a tape measure and turn plates,
although the hardest part of the job is rolling the vehicle back & forth to
settle the suspension after changes to the camber or toe.

Therefore the most important tools are the turn plates, imho.