DIY Alignment Guide - Align Your Car At Home

The final adjustment is toe. Again, the car must be at ride height. We used toe plates and two tape measures to compare the distance between the trailing edge and the leading edge of the front tires. We discovered a significant amount of toe-out in our El Camino, which explained the car's tendency to wander.

The final adjustment is toe. Again, the car must be at ride height. We used toe plates and

Once you've established the camber, caster is the next angle to check. With the bubble gauge installed on the hub, turn the tire inboard 20 degrees and level the gauge. Using the center caster adjustment knob underneath the gauge, zero the caster reading. Now turn the tire 20 degrees out and the gauge will read the amount of positive or negative caster. A safe starting point for caster is 2 to 3 degrees of positive caster. Positive caster is achieved by either adding shims to the rear bolt or removing shims from the front attachment point for the upper control arm. This will probably affect camber, so you will want to check it again after modifying the caster. On early Mustangs, for example, Ford employed a strut rod attached to the lower control arm that can be moved either in or out to adjust the caster. Shortening the rod (moving the lower control arm forward) increases positive caster by moving the bottom of the spindle forward.

An interesting point is that the 20-degree turn-in and turn-out figure is not critical. The 20-degree figure is popular because the more degrees the wheel moves, the more accurate the measurement. What is important is moving the tire the same number of degrees in and out.

Once you have set the camber and caster, you can adjust the toe. When we did our first home alignment, this was where we screwed up. We learned that every time you adjust the toe (without turn plates), you must push the car backward and then forward roughly 10 feet. This loads the front tires to produce the most accurate readings. Toe is always set last because adjusting camber or caster moves the control arms, and that changes the toe. Most domestic cars use left- and righthand threads with a threaded sleeve and locking nuts to prevent the adjustment from changing. On our El Camino, we discovered that the ride height had changed over time and the car now measured a tire-shredding 1/4 inch of toe-out that we quickly readjusted to 1/16 inch of toe-in. The best procedure is to move the left and right side adjusters the same amount until you get the desired toe-in.

Our El Camino is equipped with heavy-duty Global West tie rod sleeves that have a nice hex, which allows for easy adjustment. We turned both sleeves roughly 1/2 turn to eliminate the toe-out. After adjusting the toe, always push the car backward and then forward about 10 feet to simulate load. This is only necessary when not using turn plates.

Our El Camino is equipped with heavy-duty Global West tie rod sleeves that have a nice hex

After adjusting all three settings, take the car out for a leisurely testdrive and pay attention to how it reacts to different pavement and driving situations. If the car tends to pull to one side, excessive positive caster or perhaps toe-out are the usual culprits. If the car still pulls with accurate alignments, try switching tires side to side to eliminate a bad tire as a possible cause. Once you've done your first alignment, you'll realize how easy it is and that you've now climbed another rung on the gearhead master mechanic's ladder.

Front-End Alignment Specs
Since this story is not aimed at a specific vehicle, we'll fling you a set of generic alignment specs that will work for most '60s street-driven vehicles. We've also included typical specs for a single-purpose drag car. Keep in mind that you should align a typical drag race car with the front end raised approximately 1 inch to simulate the way the car will run down the track. A 2-inch front-end rise changed the camber by almost 2 degrees on our Chevelle, which would also affect the toe and can cause tire scrub. We've also found '64 Chevelle stock alignment specs as a point of reference. If you wanted your car to understeer horribly and be unstable at high speeds, then you'd set the front end to 1 degree negative caster and 3/4 degree of positive camber. Ugh!

By Jeff Smith

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