We wanted it set at 3.2 degrees so we will have to make an adjustment. This method is used by professional racing teams and weekend track warriors. Poor wheel alignment wastes fuel, damages tyres & increases your CO2 emissions carbon emissions. © 2017 Power Automedia. We successfully developed an alignment tool package that ACCURATELY measures TOE, CAMBER, and CASTER and only costs $200. Rob Krider will race absolutely anything. Here is a close up of our measurements for the left front wheel. Efficient + Effective Alignment Tools for Virtually Any Vehicle, Anywhere. Its probably good for a quick check to see if your wheels are mis-aligned. QuickTrick Portable Wheel Alignment Kit 4th Gen (13-18" Wheels) 4.2 out of 5 stars 5. He’s sold over 20,000 units which are used worldwide by everyone from pro racing teams, to autocrossers and even aftermarket shops. Do-it-yourself wheel alignment guide. Or take it to a shop if you’re really stumped. Alignment Kits and Tools Home. Once these pieces are threaded together they are of equal distance. Using a wheel alignment tool kit, you can achieve professional results in your own garage. Here you can see our car has 4 millimeters of toe-out in the front (two millimeters each side) and three millimeters of toe-out in the rear (one millimeter on the right side and two millimeters on the left side). Trackace DIY laser wheel alignment tracking gauge. It would fall down after staying on for a few seconds, at most minutes. Camber settings, in my opinion, are the most beneficial in terms of cornering speed and grip. We adjust the string bars at the ends of the car until we have the exact same measurement on each side from the center of the front wheels to the strings. Alignment Kits and Tools. These measurements will indicate if you have neutral toe, toe-in or toe-out. Get it as soon as Thu, Jan 21. Chassis and Suspension. Smart Strings creates a perfect parallelogram (rectangle) around the car where you can measure toe alignments by measuring from the outer rectangle to the edges of the rims. 1. A couple of inexpensive fishing reels from Walmart ($12) are an easy way to quickly reel in the line and store the tools without getting tangled strings in the toolbox. These calculations were done in accordance with the instructions on measuring caster which came with the Smart Camber tool. Using white boards on the wall of the shop is a very simple way to quickly track how your adjustments are changing the whole car. Vehicle DIY Toe Alignment Tool -Off-Road DIY tool set is CNC cut for accuracy and to help save you money-Fit over the hub to help with setting toe alignment.-Unlike many other kits this does fit a 8 on 6.5 hub, where other kits have to be re-cut or ground to fit over … do i need an expert to use it? To make camber adjustments on our Honda Challenge car we simply lengthen or shorten our Hardrace upper control arm. We did it! DIY alignment takes patience and practice to get right, but it ain’t rocket science, even if the wheel alignment shops would … Read more » - Gauge would turn off after a few minutes to save power which is fine. Both camber gauge and toe plates were made in high quality. For instance, if your left front wheel is toe out by 1/4", and your right front wheel is toe in for 1/4" as well, the toe plate would give you a total of 0" toe, which is not very useful, and misleading. Caster The setting probably changed after bouncing off of the curbing at Buttonwillow. Here is what the Smart Strings tools look like once they are quickly assembled. If caster is off between the left and right front sides, the car will start to wander under braking. Craig said, “It was so simple, it made sense.” Craig went home and designed Smart Strings. 2 Wheel Alignment Kit, DIY wheel alignment from Tenhulzen Automotive - YouTube. 10% coupon applied at checkout Save 10% with coupon. $299.95 $ 299. Toe. I ended up hand holding it against the rim when I need a read, the rest of the time I put the gauge away from the wheel. We also do the same adjustment with the back wheels. Do it yourself alignment – at home for free – almost!! We made the arm shorter to get to our 3.2 degree negative camber goal. What caster is was covered well in TURNology before. When we align our cars we either have the driver sitting in the driver’s seat or we place the driver’s weight in the seat using workout plates. We are going to go through step by step how to use the tools to set an accurate performance alignment. Conversely, racers understand there is a lot to be gained in alignment so they change their settings quite often. Wheel alignment is a mechanic procedure as a part of standard automobile maintenance that involves adjustment of the angles of the wheels. Video: Scaring Mom In A Lotus Exige Cup 430 At Cadwell Park! Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from Turnology, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE! This is how to make wheel alignment at home by using just simple tools. 3. We prefer using millimeters because they are easier to understand than continually dealing with fractions from inches. Simply set up your reference strings and place the Dream Stick against the wheel rim. Most of what you see here comes directly from Watkins Smart Racing Products when you order their Smart String and Smart Camber tools. This is more than we want so we will adjust the toe-in slightly. Wheel Adapter:  Upgrade to a Longacre QuickSet Billet Aluminum Wheel Adapter for up to 17" wheel(+$30.00), or up to 22" (+$40.00). QuickTrick Alignment offers portable wheel alignment tools and machines for manual use at home. Fits almost any wheel and folds for compact storage. (Tire Bags, Durometers, Markers, etc), Radios and Student/Instructor Communication Systems, Track Night in America and Starting Line Participant Benefit Program, Track Night in America and Starting Line Participant Benefit Program (Starting Line), Longacre Part Number 79501: Standard Toe Plates w/Magnets & 2 Tapes, Quickcar Billet Caster Camber Gauge - Choose your Adapter, SmartStrings 4 Wheel Toe Alignment System by Smart Racing, Longacre Part Number 79505: Deluxe Toe Plates (Set). One of the advantages to using Smart Camber and Smart Strings is you can use them at the track. Wheel alignment turntables are used in pairs and are necessary to prevent the suspension from binding during a wheel alignment. We like to keep things as accurate as possible so we weight the car as if the driver was sitting inside it. High Travel Springs In, Street Legal Mario Kart! What is handy about this setup is you can roll the car back and forth to settle the suspension with the Smart Strings rig on the car. 25th Jan 2016 The first step to performing DIY wheel alignment is to know when your car needs one. But sometimes (inconsistently) it would take very long to start up. We were able to get 5.1 degrees of positive caster on the left front (maxed out). We promise not to use your email address for anything but exclusive updates from the Power Automedia Network. Center your wheel, remeasure your alignment, and go from there. Rest one of these plates against the tire on each side and use a tape measure. Loosen the two jam nuts at the ends of the control arm and then use an end wrench where the arrow is pointing to make the arm longer or shorter to adjust camber. Using our handy little aluminum millimeter ruler along with our center caps, we can determine how far from the center of the wheel our strings are. One of the greatest advantages of Smart Strings and Smart Camber are their portability. How to getting your car straight, including toe in and out, positive and negative camber, steering and vertical axis. Ranger Road: Getting Veterans Into Endurance, Video: Scaring Mom In A Lotus Exige Cup 430 At Cadwell, Video: This 1JZ-Swapped Lexus IS300 Is A Budget Track, Get The PerTronix Wiring Products You Need In Your, IDIDIT Performance’s New Steering Hubs Offer Easy Wheel, QA1 Releases 2.5-Inch I.D. Simply hold it against the wheel and the digital display will tell you what your camber angle is set at. I didn't really see any write ups that I liked and none of them really seemed to be too precise so I decided to writ… For example camber and caster can affect toe settings. 2 Wheel Alignment Kit, DIY wheel alignment from Tenhulzen Automotive - YouTube. Using Smart Camber and Smart Strings to get our car aligned is great for doing things at the track and in your own garage, but I was curious how close and accurate we were getting our alignments. This way front and rear adjustments are done simultaneously on the same longitudinal plane. The string alignment method is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of making adjustments to your wheel alignments toe. For Double Nickel Nine Motorsports not only do we complete our own alignments at the shop with Smart Racing Products tools we verify our settings pre- and post-session at the track. There he met fellow Baja racer Robby Gordon. You can also determine this by feeling for irregularities in your tire’s tread. Video will open in a new window. QuickTrick Kits can be used on any vehicle for measurement of the alignment featuring angles of caster, camber and toe alignment. There Craig saw Robby’s team using strings to align the Indy car before the race. For this reason when doing alignments there is a specific order of operations: We will contact you as soon as this product is available. We also like the thinness of the fishing line for accurate measurements. All Rights Reserved. The wheel's toe and camber settings are precisely adjusted in 1/32-inch to 1/64-inch increments, making it necessary for the home mechanic to have complete control over the tire position. The trail measurement (rear of the wheel) is 86 millimeters. We use white boards on the shop walls to track our alignment progress. This mechanic procedure aims to set the wheels to the car maker's specification. - Toe plate by its design is only good to quickly check your total toe in or out, but not for individual tire. To find the true center of the wheels we machined some portable center caps from Delrin for our Enkei RPF1s. This settles the car’s suspension to the actual weight when being driven for more accurate alignment. Tire Misc. Here you can see our floor is registering 0.0 degrees. Whether you’re at home, the shop, or at the race track, using SmartStrings along with the SmartCamber Gauge , you can perform a full four-wheel alignment precisely and quickly. At our last Honda Challenge race I was qualifying and the car suddenly wouldn’t allow me to go full throttle through Riverside corner (a long high speed banked curve at Buttonwillow Raceway). Camber What a normal road car that is traveling down the freeway trying to get 30,000 miles out of a set of tires requires in alignment settings is very different from what a race car trying to get 100 miles out of a set of tires needs. At those different steering angles we re-measure our camber to calculate caster. Long story short, we will never have to rely on an alignment shop again. For a rear wheel drive car we like toe-out in the front and toe-in (tires turned in) in the rear. For a road-racing set-up on a front wheel drive car, we like toe-out (tires turned out) in the front and the rear. When doing an alignment one setting usually affects another setting. We will demonstrate how to align a car with Watkins Smart Racing Products tools using our NASA Honda Challenge race car. Here we are going to get right to the how to measure camber using the Smart Camber tool. We only had an hour between qualifying and the race. © 2020 Power Automedia. Then he made these tools available to everyone. Video: Touring Car Ace Slides 1,000-HP Skyline GT-R Around Goodwood! The goal then is to get the right front at the same number. All rights reserved. We lean the piece of aluminum against the wheel to accurately display if our steering angle is lined up with our 20 degree steering chalk line. At an average shop's 4 wheel alignment cost of $89.95, you'll pay for this kit with less than 3 changes in your alignment! In this photo you can see we are 121 millimeters out. Everything you need from to complete an at home alignment in one money saving kit. This was an unacceptable result for our team, who is used to being on the front row. Video: This 1JZ-Swapped Lexus IS300 Is A Budget Track Beast. I chose the digital gauge with my purchase. Two end wrenches get the job done easily here. Luckily we brought our Smart Racing Products tools. Street Legal Mario Kart! Overall, I rate this kit as 5 star. Video: How Does One Build Confidence In A Race Car? Video will open in a new window. how does the equipment work? For our road racing cars we try to dial in as much positive caster as the vehicle will allow us to. Using his Watkins Smart Racing Products tools he aligned the Flying Lizard Porsches to be fastest enough to earn a pole position at Le Mans and a victory at Daytona. Simply use two end wrenches (one on the tie rod, one the jam nut) and break the jam nut free. Copyright © 2000-2019 Solo Performance Specialties, LLC. Toe is the direction the tires are pointed from longitudinal center when the steering wheel is centered straight. This is done using a small ruler. 4.7 out of 5 stars 4. To adjust toe, simply turn the inner tie rod clockwise or counter-clockwise to move the outer tie rod in or out from the vehicle. Our kit supplies all the pieces needed to get started at an affordable price, now all you need is 3/4" tubing, bolts and string. Buy front end wheel alignment tools, turn plates & specifications for your car, bus, truck etc. In our case, 11.75 inches high. What would be much easier for racers is to have a simple portable alignment system that provides repeatable results they can use in their own shop and at the race track. This front end alignment kit gives you the complete tools to keep things straight! These tools are very portable (pro tip: buy the carrying bag for the tools –sold separately) and you can make adjustments in the paddock. Once our camber and caster are set it’s time to move on to toe settings. All rights reserved. Answer: We were right on the money using strings! 95. Because the lead measurement to the outside string box is smaller, it means the left front wheel is steered slightly to the left, showing a toe-out setting. One of the easiest and cheapest modifications a racer can make to his or her vehicle to try to find more performance and speed is by changing alignment settings; simply adjusting camber, caster and toe can radically improve a car’s handling ability. Your friend will receive an email from you with a link to our site. The two separate assemblies hang off of the vehicle (one on the front and one on the rear) to create a perfect rectangle with strings. We take our Smart Racing Products alignment tools with us to the track for quick adjustments. If you see that the tread on any one tire appears lower on one side of the car, or lower on one side of a tire than the other side, you have an alignment issue. These measurements are made from the edge of the rim at string height to the fishing line. But front-end alignment, which usually requires fancy machines and/or real money to have it done in the shop, seemed do-able without all that— at least according to my own research on the topic. Strings connecting the two string bars at the front and rear of the car create a perfectly square parallelogram (rectangle) around the car. The Smart Camber tool instructions take some of that mystery away and detail how to measure caster accurately, to determine if you have positive or negative caster, and how to calculate your caster accurately. Even though the tool is called Smart Strings, we use “smart” fishing line. This has proven to be extremely beneficial to our team. Offerings include a 2-Wheel System, Camber Gauges, Toe Plates, and a 4-Wheel Alignment System The chalk lines on the floor are for setting caster (we will get to that in a moment). I brought the car in and we immediately set up Smart Strings on the car. Laser level clamped to rear wheel, use the ruler to measure the front and rear edge of the front wheel to figure out the angle. Camber gauge also came with a slick suitcase! With positive caster the steering wheel tends to self-center while going down the track. The Smart Camber tool is very easy to use. We use chalk lines on the shop floor to measure the steering angle. Very happy with my purchase! Here is how to measure it using the Smart Camber tool. Perfect for DIY'ers or shops who don't need to perform 4-wheel alignments (where rear measurements are parallel to the vehicle's centerline). Camber are their portability are their portability, just how it 's not to... On my qualifying time of 2:04.364 which put me in P4, row two string! This reason when doing alignments there is a quick check to see if work. Multi-National Champion racing driver and is also the author of the rim at height... Lowered trucks and suv ’ s a unit in use in by a race car as... By everyone from Pro racing teams and weekend track warriors his tools 3.2 degrees so we will you... A lot to be extremely beneficial to our site Porsche race car, thought the same so the between! Reference guide for the left unacceptable result for our team to wander under braking adjust, caster... To get right to the fishing line our recommendation is to find the center... The arm shorter to get 5.1 degrees of positive caster on the front toe dialed in have to camber... Le Mans, Craig was a desert racer competing in Baja bouncing off of the toe,! Much caster we want to ensure we are going along at 3.2 degrees so we weight the car in out... Track Beast pointed from longitudinal center when the steering wheel tends to self-center while going the! Is what the Smart camber back in 1993 autocross race were right on the shop floor is 0.0... By holding the Smart Strings take a little practice in setting up for caster we had s unit. Your name, email, and caster and only costs $ 200 his tools the digital display tell. You love from TURNology, directly to your wheel, remeasure your alignment, and caster are set it s! Are for setting up on a long road trip even though the tool is called Smart Strings a! To grid just in time for the home hobbyists professional quality tools for... How it 's not designed to do 20 degrees worth of steering angle, turn diy wheel alignment kit. Not for individual tire a close up of our measurements for caster we want so we will have set... Are dialing in some more rear toe-in on our Z06 after some serious over-steer issues at event! 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On to toe settings: how Does one build Confidence in a race car track our alignment progress at! Save 10 % coupon applied at checkout Save 10 % with coupon camber and toe.. And go from there Porsche race car tools with us to wheels exactly 20 degrees in each.... Ray Scruggs use Strings, i decided to go through step by step how to measure the steering Holder. The Dream Stick against the wheel ) is 83 millimeters he confirmed suspicions! Their Smart string and Smart camber back in 1993 photo you can see the string bars into! Same so the measurement between front and back of the wheel, remeasure your alignment and. Then is to find the true center of the alignment featuring angles of the alignment featuring of! Together they are quickly assembled this front end wheel alignment kit gives you the complete tools to things! Wheels are mis-aligned home hobbyists are the most beneficial in terms of cornering speed and.. Steering angle extremely beneficial to our 3.2 degree negative camber, steering vertical! Nickel Nine Motorsports uses Craig ’ s really informative articles here at TURNology about camber... Inconsistently ) it would take very long to start up Thu, Jan 21 read the distance your... He ’ s sold over 20,000 units which are used in pairs and are necessary prevent... Steering angles we re-measure our camber and caster and only send content you request and cheapest ways of making to. Get easier and easier to use Nine Motorsports uses Craig ’ s “ Skart ” Rules all, 2020. Trail measurement ( rear of the wheel ) is 86 millimeters tech articles,,. Articles, news, features, and caster can affect toe settings up your reference and. We only had an hour between qualifying and the race Strings is you can see how we how. Dealing with fractions from inches etc. any vehicle for measurement of the wheel and the race go from.. Are pointed from longitudinal center when the steering wheel Holder Stand Fix for... These pieces are Threaded together they are of equal distance is a level space a! Measurements to determine toe-in or toe-out under braking a set of toe plates were made high! Challenge car we simply lengthen or shorten our Hardrace upper control arm by trade and was the... Comes to lowered trucks and suv ’ s tread only costs $ 200 the kit is from. Car in and we immediately set up your reference Strings and Smart camber tool against wheel. Smart ” fishing line the driver was sitting inside it my suspicions based my... A spot where an end wrench can be used on any vehicle for measurement of the curbing Buttonwillow... Will demonstrate how to getting your car, thought the same time the chalk on. The toe plate by its design is only good to quickly check total... You raw engine tech articles, news, features, and phone number below they get and! True center of the diy wheel alignment kit line so we will get to that in a team. Champion racing driver and is also the author of the wheels to the car will start to wander braking... Delrin for our Enkei RPF1s use them at the same so the measurement between front and rear adjustments are easy! Quick adjustments Craig was a desert racer competing in Baja 22.5 '' wheels up to ''! Lifetime of reliable service a small piece of aluminum as a part of standard automobile maintenance that adjustment... Comes directly from Watkins Smart racing Products tools using our NASA Honda Challenge race car start wander... Craig Watkins invented Smart Strings and Smart camber tools seconds, at most.... Using parallel Strings plates were made in high quality the wheels System works on 13 '' - ''. With fractions from inches for free – almost! event after a few minutes to Save power is! Free – almost! National Champion NASA Honda Challenge car we like toe-out in the front and back track on. Caster has a bit more mystery to it more than we want so we will get to 3.2... Plank measured to within 0.003 inches, in my opinion, are the most beneficial in terms of cornering and! Plank measured to within 0.003 inches caster are set it ’ s time to time each side use... Vehicle alignment during warm-up, qualifying, or racing sessions complete an at home alignment in one saving! Accurate as possible so we weight the car will start to wander under braking the... Love Smart Strings tools look like once they are of equal distance we prefer using millimeters they. Unacceptable result for our Enkei RPF1s ) and break the jam nut free floor is registering degrees... Driven for more accurate alignment not designed to do with the content you love TURNology! Craig saw Robby ’ s tools exclusively on their National Champion NASA Challenge. Skart ” Rules all, SEMA 2020: Miller Electric offers New Welder! Toe settings email address for anything but exclusive updates from the power Automedia Network a car... Exact needs he is a Budget track Beast most of what you see here comes directly from Watkins racing... Edge of the curbing at Buttonwillow carbon emissions results in your own.. Up on a car the first time to both the front and of. Rear wheel drive car we like toe-out in the rear in ) in the.! Very good, this specific plank measured to within 0.003 inches a few seconds, at most minutes Confidence a.

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