Do it yourself alignment

[KGB911]

This is the way it is done, Before tackling the project I combed through all the threads on alignment in the ffcars forum to see if anything made sense and I could use any of the data to speed up the process. As those of you that follow my posts on the other forum know I have many years of alignment experience. Back in the day when Dad owned his Indy car we had a garage at the Speedway and we would take the car to the Bear rack on site after we had completed our chassis work in the garage and the technician would say why are you bringing your car here as it was always perfect. We used a similar method to do what I have explained below. So here is the Do It Yourself method that is as good as it gets and if followed there will be no need to waste your time and money at an alignment shop that will most likely scratch your car.
Here is what you will need to complete your alignment.
1 – 12' tape measure
1 – Digital or bubble type inclinometer
16 – 2’- 2 x 4s
4 – jack stands
25’ – string “kite string or thicker is better” Not Rope!
4 – 12” flooring tiles
1 – General duty bearing grease.
1 – Ratchet Tie down strap
Believe it or not you must start at the rear end!
Those of you with the standard 4 Link should verify that the diff is in squarely but since you have no panhard bar there is not much you can do. Because the upper and lower trailing arms are both non adjustable you are at the mercy of Factory Five. Those of you with the 3 link option have the ability to adjust the pinion angle with the upper link and the ability to locate the diff from side to side with the panhard bar. Start with either system by tramming cross wise to common points on the rear of the frame and the diff and adjust as needed to get the diff on center. Once you have got that complete you can now move forward.
Because Factory Five has indeed altered the supplied front suspension parts through the production run you should not assume that cutting of anything is required. The first hundred indeed needed some cutting but they did listen and made corrections. I can tell you that the 33377 and 78 lower control arms should be 13-1/2” from the zerk fitting to the end. Some guy’s that have big front tires and or want to run the car real low might want to cut the arms to 13–3/8” so you can get the camber to spec. The 33467 adjustable tube should be 11” from end to end. Make sure you have installed the 12257 pivot sleeves in the correct orientation as if you install them in the method that makes since they will be Wrong! Look at the pictures, they basically both point outward.
Don’t cut the tie rods yet! I would suggest you adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt to start with and the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt. Your tie rod end should measure 4-3/4” from the zerk to end if not you may need to cut it latter if you have excessive toe in. What I have found is that the tie rods (male threaded part) need to be trimmed by ½” to keep the threads from bottoming out in the tie rod ends. Wow this is getting a little LONG!

OK you have set your suspension to the above specs and you have set your desired ride height I have spelled out on another thread, now your ready to get down to business!
Let’s assume you have a relatively flat garage floor to work on and room to move the car back and forth about two feet. Take the floor tiles and apply an ample amount of grease between a pair of them and put the two greased sets in front of the front tires and roll the car on to them. You now have a set of Polish Turn tables! The grease goes between the tiles! No Mess! Now set the e-brake and now it’s time to center the steering rack. The supplied rack is about 3 ¼ turns if I remember but that makes no difference, just turn your car to the left all the way and then to the right all the way and count as you turn. Return the steering to the halfway point and mark the steering wheel top with some masking tape. Don’t worry about the steering wheel alignment at this time, we will get to that latter. Now take the tie down strap and secure the steering wheel down to the brake pedal so the steering cannot move. It is very important to get the rack on center as it is designed with a slight amount of crown on center giving the car some feel or drag at that point. Now take the jackstands and place one in each corner of the car about three foot back of the rear axle and three foot forward of the front spindles. Tie the string to the stands at 10-12” off the ground and stretch it across the stands down the sides of the car and then take the rear stand and move it towards the centerline of the car until the string touches the rear sidewall of the rear tire. Now take the front stand, with the tight string attached and move it inward till the string touches the front sidewall of the rear tire, be very careful and precise and only get the string to barely touch! Repeat that on the other side and you’re now ready to align the front suspension!
Take your tape measure and measure inward from the string to the front tire sidewall at the front and the rear and adjust the tie rod until that number is the same at both points. Repeat that on the other side and your toe is now set at ZERO. Now take your 2x4 and lay it on the ground crossways in front of your Hot Rod and lay your inclinometer on it and verify the status of your floor and remember if it is not perfect you will need to make that correction to the next procedure. Now take your 2x4 and run it up against the sidewall of the tire on center towards the moon and take a reading with your inclinometer. Taking into consideration some sidewall bulge at the bottom the inclinometer it should read ½ degree or .05. Adjust the rear lower control arm to achieve that number and leave the front tubes set at your original number as they for the most part only set your Caster. You will need to reset your toe as you make adjustments to the camber and keep it square until you have the camber where you want it. Once you have the camber set and the caster set based on the front control arm length your ready to set the toe. You will have 3-6 degrees of caster with this setting, so just make sure and set both at the same length to insure the car goes straight down the road. Now lengthen each tie rod about a 1/6 of a turn and check the toe numbers on each side. The front number should be 1/32” larger per side than the rear off the string. Now remove the steering wheel and center as needed with the splines or if not perfect compensate with the tie rods making sure to keep the toe at spec.
For those of you whom are concerned about Caster measurement we can get into that later.
Believe Me, if you followed these guidelines a local alignment shop will not do a better job!
If it is good enough for Indy it is good enough for your streets!
Dr. Ruth

Baby Ruth 1911 Indy.jpg

[geoffav]

You could post the same thing somewhere else. I could add it to the topic sticky.

Fyi - I used 1/8" thick "on clearance" tiles but because my floor had a low spot I needed some for the rear to level the car. I think my tile investment was about $6 but they have many uses.

[skullandbones]

Thanks, KGB911!. I printed the procedure and attached it to my "to do board" in the garage (I believe I will have to refer to it a lot). I was getting ready to put the roadster on the floor for the first time this week. So checking the alignment was coming up any time. WEK.

[mhrobichaud58]

I have a box of them, use them for mixing Bondo on

[ehansen007]

If you've painted your garage floor or maybe even if you haven't, in a pinch, some basic cardboard will allow the tires enough room to slide as well.

[Kai-Rod]

I tried to get started on this, but my english is not that good that I am sure to understand everything. Let's get started with the first steps. Here's what Dan wrote:

Quote.
Don’t cut the tie rods yet! I would suggest you adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt to start with and the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt. Your tie rod end should measure 4-3/4” from the zerk to end if not you may need to cut it latter if you have excessive toe in. What I have found is that the tie rods (male threaded part) need to be trimmed by ½” to keep the threads from bottoming out in the tie rod ends. Wow this is getting a little LONG!
Unquote.

My first question: when saying "adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt", does this mean from bolt center to bolt center ?

My second question: what is a zerk ?

My third question is similar to my first question: when saying "the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt", does this mean to the center of the 1/2" attachment bolt ?

Having answers to this will help to get me started.

Thanx !!!

Kai

[Kai-Rod]

I tried to get started on this, but my english is not that good that I am sure to understand everything. Let's get started with the first steps. Here's what Dan wrote:

Quote.
Don’t cut the tie rods yet! I would suggest you adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt to start with and the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt. Your tie rod end should measure 4-3/4” from the zerk to end if not you may need to cut it latter if you have excessive toe in. What I have found is that the tie rods (male threaded part) need to be trimmed by ½” to keep the threads from bottoming out in the tie rod ends. Wow this is getting a little LONG!
Unquote.

My first question: when saying "adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt", does this mean from bolt center to bolt center ?

Here is what it looks like when doing center to center of the two bolts. Looks OK ??? Enough thread left inside the tube ???



My second question: what is a zerk ?

My third question is similar to my first question: when saying "the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt", does this mean to the center of the 1/2" attachment bolt ?

Having answers to this will help to get me started.

Thanx !!!

Kai

[ehansen007]

Answers in line

I tried to get started on this, but my english is not that good that I am sure to understand everything. Let's get started with the first steps. Here's what Dan wrote:

Quote.
Don’t cut the tie rods yet! I would suggest you adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt to start with and the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt. Your tie rod end should measure 4-3/4” from the zerk to end if not you may need to cut it latter if you have excessive toe in. What I have found is that the tie rods (male threaded part) need to be trimmed by ½” to keep the threads from bottoming out in the tie rod ends. Wow this is getting a little LONG!
Unquote.

My first question: when saying "adjust the front links to 15-1/4” from bolt to bolt", does this mean from bolt center to bolt center ? Yes it does. Always.

Here is what it looks like when doing center to center of the two bolts. Looks OK ??? Enough thread left inside the tube ??? Yes, plenty of thread in there.



My second question: what is a zerk ? A Zerk fitting is the small grease fitting that you attach the grease gun to.

My third question is similar to my first question: when saying "the rear lower control arm to 18-1/2” from the zerk to the ½” attachment bolt", does this mean to the center of the 1/2" attachment bolt ? Yes it does.

Having answers to this will help to get me started.

Thanx !!!

Kai

[Kai-Rod]

Thanx a lot Erik. I did now part of this and the car handles already much better. Will do the whole enchilada the next few days.

I have temp tags for the weekend and will do another smaller US Car and Harley meeting today. The next two weeks will bring twice to your side of the pond. Off to Chicago, Miami and Atlanta tomorrow. Then home for the weekend and then over to Charlotte, NC. Will have a flat butt after this. At least my trip to Atlanta will pay back with the visit to Summit's store there.

Kai

[ehansen007]

I'll actually be south of your neighborhood staring this Thursday for Cruise to Spain, France, and Italy! I'm actually looking at this Ferrari experience tour in Monaco that looks pretty cool. How far is Germany from Italy?

[Jay Mann]

Dan,
How can I measure castor? I have done an alignment as per your instructions and the result was just a slight pull to the right, which is not bad for my first attempt. I am installing power steering on my next trip and will be doing another alignment to fine tune the pull. I need to measure and reset the castor for the power steering.

[Jay Mann]

I have purchased a caster/camber gauge that I use for measuring these settings. As an alternative to the string, I have two laser levels ($20 each) that I strap to the rear wheels. Using a framing square on the front wheels I am able to set toe-in very quickly. To lock the steering, I simply use a piece of duct tape across the wheel adapter and the column. This holds the wheel even more secure than a strap.

[rponfick]

Dr. Ruth, I am working on an early model of the '35 pickup (chassis #15), which I understand has a frame similar to the '33 HR.
I have been using your alignment procedure outlined at the beginning above, and have a question. When I stretch the string from the rear tires up to the front, should the distance from the string to the front tire (toe adjustment) be somewhat close on each side of the car? I am getting 3 7/8" on the left side, and 5 3/8" on the right side. I realize the rear axle on the pickup is quite a bit wider than the '33HR, but I would think the same principals apply.
I have a 3 link, centered the axle with the panhard rod, and checked the distance from rear cabin bulkhead to axle (same on both rear sides).
My simple mind thinks this is not right. I would think my rear axle is cocked to one side to achieve these results?

Any comments?

Thanks, Ralph

[sread]

not sure if you noticed, but this thread is about 5 years old - Dan may not see this. It sounds like your rear end is not centered in the chassis. What did you use for a reference point on the chassis as well as the rear axle for the centerline?

[rponfick]

The axle is centered side to side in the chassis (with the panhard rod), and is the issue the settings on the lower control arms cocking the axle.
I measured from the edge of the bed frame to the brake rotor on each side to center axle side to side.
I set the lower control arms as the spec. in the manual, jam nut to center of rod end, at 1 1/2". They appear to be the same on both sides.

I noticed the age of the post, but could not find anything later, better.

Thanks, Ralph

[sread]

Setting the length on the lower control arms is only going to give you a starting point. To be sure the rear axle is perpendicular to the chassis centerline you should try to measure from each end of the axle to a point as far forward as possible (say for example the firewall). Adjust the control arms as needed to get that distance equal.
As Naz pointed out on the other thread, a fraction of an inch difference at the rear will become greatly magnified by the time you extend it out to the front end.
Then, you still need a way to determine if the front wheels are equidistant from center to get a correct measurement. Best way is to establish a centerline down the chassis and use that as the reference point for all measurements

[rponfick]

I think I found my problem. I attempted the alignment before driving the truck. After driving the car around the block a few times, the suspension must have "normalized".
So, lesson to learn, drive around the block a few times before attempting alignment. I was able to then get the wheel to string distances consistent on both sides of the vehicle.
Thanks, Ralph