Performing my own alignment

Anyone else out there doing their own alignments? I have 33's on my jeep and I just measure it off with a tape measure. It is a DD and seems to be wearing fine on the road. It gets knocked out every time we go wheeling so why not.. Are there any better techniques? I have heard of everything from putting a chalk line on the wheel to wrapping string around them.

search for go jeep xj, don't have the link at work his site has a great explanation

Tape measure works just fine

I've done a few using a tape measure from center to center on the tire and have had good success. Considering how easy it is to do toe-in work on XJ's, we're getting ripped off at the alignment places. Here's the gojeep link if you're interested: http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAlignment.htm

$59.00 to put your XJ on a laser Aligner? and that includes a tow set! I think most would be surprised on how far off your tape measure tow set is without using turn tables.

A tape measure works great as long as you "scribe" the center of the tire and measure that way.Measuring to the inside can lead to some interesting results!

Best way I've found to do it is the way I've done it the last few times I've tried.
I take the tire off and run a nut down to clamp the brake rotor on. Then I'll clamp a piece of 1x1 angle to the rotor and measure off of that. Make sure both pieces of angle are the same length and then just center them on the rotor using the hub nut as a reference.
It ends up being a lot more consistent than measuring off of the tire.

I've done it a few times. Tire treads and the like are unreliable reference points. RCP Phx hints at the correct technique. The best way to do this if you can is to take a big piece of chalk, lift the wheel off the ground just enough to spin, and chalk the tread (it doesn't matter where, just on the flat part). Now take a block of wood with a nail in it, and the head of the nail snipped off, to make a scratching tool. with the tire just off the ground, run the block along the ground so that the nail hits the chalked tread, and rotate the tire so it scribes a sharp line in the chalk. Do the same on the other side, and you now have a precise set of marks to measure from. Back in the old days, garages had a manufactured scratcher with a cast iron stand and the point on a spring-loaded pivot, but the block works if you're careful. If possible, and if you're on a smooth floor, mount a stick on feet, and use that as your measuring device rather than a tape measure, and it will not be subject to as much error from sag and the like. Again, once upon a time, garages had these sticks on feet, with pointers that slid along them, and the closer you get to this kind of setup, the better you'll do.

I've aligned a couple of Jeeps and had even front tire wear for the life of a good set of tires, so I think it's safe to say it can be done.

menos said:

Best way I've found to do it is the way I've done it the last few times I've tried.
I take the tire off and run a nut down to clamp the brake rotor on. Then I'll clamp a piece of 1x1 angle to the rotor and measure off of that. Make sure both pieces of angle are the same length and then just center them on the rotor using the hub nut as a reference.
It ends up being a lot more consistent than measuring off of the tire.

Click to expand...

That's my preferred method as well. It really does get it dead on 0-degrees toe-in. Just because the alignment shop equipment gives you a number out to 1/100th of a degree does not mean its that accurate. A good tech will tell you that. A bad one will claim the equipment is infallible.

lawsoncl said:

That's my preferred method as well. It really does get it dead on 0-degrees toe-in. Just because the alignment shop equipment gives you a number out to 1/100th of a degree does not mean its that accurate. A good tech will tell you that. A bad one will claim the equipment is infallible.

Click to expand...

I'm with you on that. Too many people confuse precision with accuracy.

i used a tape measure to do mine and have been on it a month and a half with no tire cupping and no dw even with no steering stabilizer

lawsoncl said:

That's my preferred method as well. It really does get it dead on 0-degrees toe-in. Just because the alignment shop equipment gives you a number out to 1/100th of a degree does not mean its that accurate. A good tech will tell you that. A bad one will claim the equipment is infallible.

Click to expand...

I have used the same method for several years now and have it down to where the toe in can be accurately set in less than 20 minutes.
A set of jack stands are used, set to hold the front axle at its normal ride height, when the wheels are removed.
I use two 1'' X 1'' x1/8'' x 32 aluminum angles with the axle center lines marked and at 15' on each side of the center mark, showing where to place the dual measuring tapes.
While the wheels are off, you can roughly measure the caster by sitting a level indicator on top of the upper ball joint. I use a digital level and keep it oriented parallell to the XJ's front to back centerline.

Now, if I could figure out a way of quickly re-centering the steering, by adjusting the drag link, after the toe-in has been set.

menos said:

Best way I've found to do it is the way I've done it the last few times I've tried.
I take the tire off and run a nut down to clamp the brake rotor on. Then I'll clamp a piece of 1x1 angle to the rotor and measure off of that. Make sure both pieces of angle are the same length and then just center them on the rotor using the hub nut as a reference.
It ends up being a lot more consistent than measuring off of the tire.

Click to expand...

The problem with this method is that it doesn't take into account the tire size.

How does the tire size have any bearing on the toe measurement. If the toe is set to 0deg it will be 0deg whether the tire is 15" or 45".

Personally I use a piece of angle as long as the diameter of my tires, just for grins.

Tire size has everything to do with toe.Based on any given degree measurement(lets say 1*),a larger tire will have more toe than a smaller one!

FordGuy said:

$59.00 to put your XJ on a laser Aligner? and that includes a tow set! I think most would be surprised on how far off your tape measure tow set is without using turn tables.

Click to expand...

You're making me think and that's usually a bad idea... think some decent turntables could be produced using old unit bearings, a good amount of welding/fab, and some old rims? I'm thinking cut the centers out of the rims (use them just for the bolt pattern and cup shape to hold the tire on the turntable) mount them to the unit bearings and make a "foot" setup for the unit bearings to keep them from tipping over.

RCP Phx said:

Tire size has everything to do with toe.Based on any given degree measurement(lets say 1*),a larger tire will have more toe than a smaller one!

Click to expand...

The spec is given in degrees from the factory... larger vs smaller tires are inaccurate on the "1/8 inch in front" method, not the angle method. If you want to stay true to factory recommendations for toe-in, his method works fine.

A old way that works also is to paint a strip down the middle of the tire all the way around and then scribe a line by spinning the tire. there is your reference for the toe set.

RCP Phx said:

Tire size has everything to do with toe.Based on any given degree measurement(lets say 1*),a larger tire will have more toe than a smaller one!

Click to expand...

True in theory, but since the XJ specs call for zero toe, irrelevant in this instance.

kastein said:

The spec is given in degrees from the factory... larger vs smaller tires are inaccurate on the "1/8 inch in front" method, not the angle method. If you want to stay true to factory recommendations for toe-in, his method works fine.

Click to expand...

Matthew Currie said:

True in theory, but since the XJ specs call for zero toe, irrelevant in this instance.

Click to expand...

The degree method would be great for a stock XJ,but who has one of those.After that "scribe and measure"

:wave: I do, I have two right now.

Also, explain to me why it only applies to stock XJs? I've run everything from 1.5" to 0" of toe, the 1.5" was when I had lifted but not realigned and sucked, but I really did not notice any difference from 1/2" to 0" or so, aside from tread wear.