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DIY Wheel Alignment
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tjet Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:35 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

That's a great video Cool
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ZsZ
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:00 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

tjet wrote:
That's a great video Cool

I would like to see that in high res. Smile
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tjet Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:32 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

I made these drawings to help people understand the caster better. Not sure if I posted them before.

Let me know if there's any errors.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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?Waldo?
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:38 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Your drawings are good and maybe I'm being overly pedantic, but the pivot point is to the side of the tire, not directly above the middle of the tire. Because of this, it is not so much that the tire tilts, but rather it is pushed downward relative to the body of the vehicle. That effectively lifts the body of the van slightly when turning and the weight of the body pushing downward on the tire is what makes the steering wheel return to center.
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tjet Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:25 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Yeah I think I will do another drawing to show a more accurate depiction as you noted.

It will also show how too much (or too little) wheel backspace/ ET (using spacers & adapters) causes the wheel follow an unfavorable arc pattern during a turn.

Cheers
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T3TRIS
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 12:09 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Yep, I'm quoting myself from this little thread regarding aligning a lifted syncro where someone pointed out that the subframe could be misaligned. That was the case with our rig where I simply couldn't get the driver side camber within spec after our frontend rebuild and lift (I believe that camber was a little off before the lift too). The upper balljoint spacer didn't make a difference and I suspect that, even if the Burley UCA would've been long enough they still would've just hidden the true issue: our subframe was not centered at all.

T3TRIS wrote:
After lifting the front of the van, loosening the subframe bolts and pounding on one side with a 4x4 and a mallet, I was able to shift the subframe about 5.5mm toward the passenger side, and lo and behold, I could get camber within spec without needing the ball joint adapters!! I had to realign everything of course, but yeah, thanks for sharing this little bit of info for alignment! Makes a lot more sense now why our alignment shop a couple years back couldn't get our van within spec (before the lift).

Here you can see how much the front of the subframe moved compared to the marks left from the mounting bolts.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here you can see the back of the subframe with this lip separated from the frame by about 5.5mm.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 9:47 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

T3TRIS wrote:
I'm seriously considering doing this once I'm done with our front end rebuild on our syncro. The information available on this forum has been invaluable and this DIY alignment post from Christopher is no exception. I have wondered though if there were some updates or new tips with other tools available. I was looking for the alignment tool Chris recommended in his original post and couldn't find it. However I found this caster/camber tool that seems to be very useful and would, theoretically, greatly simplify the setup (though I do realize the initial intent was to make it as cheap as possible). In any case, it looks like the FastTrax 91000 Caster Camber Gauge allows for measurements without needing to level out the van, would this be too good to be true?

Link

Bump to ask for caster/camber gauge recommendations/guidance. I have a 2WD van if that matters.

A search shows a wide range of styles and prices. I am fine with a buy once, cry once approach for a tool like this.

It seems like there are two main types: the ones like shown by OP that contacts the rim at two points, and ones that attach magnetically. Can anyone who has used both comment on these approaches?
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 11:17 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

I emailed Chris a while back with a similar question, and several of the inexpensive ones out there, this is his reply:


Hello,

I know it’s a lot more expensive, but I would be inclined to use this tool instead -

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sps-91000?seid=...fgQAvD_BwE

The reason I don’t like the “economy caster camber suspension gauge” is because of how close the contact points are to each other. When the contact points are so close together, the gauge will be a lot less sensitive. With the contact point out at the rim’s edge, the gauge sill be a lot more sensitive giving you much more accurate results.

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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 11:29 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Thank you for sharing that; makes sense.
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 11:38 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Buying the tool at that price should have two asterisks attached:

* it is a tool that will serve more than just a Vanagon

** you can get an alignment from a place that does them for about that same price


Soooooo, either you've got yourself a fine tool and you do it yourself the one time, and that is the same money as you'd have spent and NOT have a tool, or you can figure that you've learned the skill and now you can do your next alignment(s) yourself for your foreseeable future, until you loose/sell/gift the tool to someone else.

Personally, I like cool tools, and I happen to have not just more than one Vanagon, but many other cars as well!! Wink

-bobby
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 12:04 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

bobbyblack wrote:
Buying the tool at that price should have two asterisks attached:

* it is a tool that will serve more than just a Vanagon

** you can get an alignment from a place that does them for about that same price


Soooooo, either you've got yourself a fine tool and you do it yourself the one time, and that is the same money as you'd have spent and NOT have a tool, or you can figure that you've learned the skill and now you can do your next alignment(s) yourself for your foreseeable future, until you loose/sell/gift the tool to someone else.

Personally, I like cool tools, and I happen to have not just more than one Vanagon, but many other cars as well!! Wink

-bobby


For sure, these points also crossed my mind. I am in your camp with regard to cool tools. Plus, I can dial in my loads, take my time, and enjoy the satisfaction of doing a job right vs trusting the shop to know what to do with a 37 year old vehicle.

What a price difference between the original item Chris recommended and this one, though!
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 12:19 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

I use the Fastrax with good results... but I have several vehicles to maintain including two where an alignment done right would cost many times the price of that tool (considerable disassembly to access & change adjustment shims).

To speed the readings (and trial & error adjustments) I snap a photo of each trial with a note card to keep track of where I am (this on a car where some math is involved in figuring the next adjustment).

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:12 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

upper and lower ball joints in, new Powerflex bushings plus camber bolts and washers, new outer tie rod ends, Sachs shocks. a good bit of $1,500 - $2,000 service work for 'free'. once the UBJ was disconnected, i could only move the control arms with the old bushings with a pry bar. with the Powerflex installed, it glides up and down so smoothly. i used enough Bushing Snot to hopefully keep corrosion at bay for years. i could tell the front suspension was way more compliant on bumps and even on acceleration. this of course makes the van seem faster, rearing up like an old muscle car <grin>!

made up a frame to measure camber with. neodymium mags JB Welded to the bolts stick it to the wheel rim, the 3 bolts level with the vertical frame member.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


used one of the free iPhone apps for levels after nearly buying an electronic level at Home Despot but so many had poor reviews. there were a couple studies done by physical therapists to see if the iPhone level was accurate for measuring joint flexion and indeed it was. i just rubber banded the phone to the frame, the phone case i'm using leveled out the control buttons, and set the camber. test drive feels great, kinda think i should have a real alignment as this seemed very simple. dunno. might just see what the tire wear does and call it good. haven't set toe yet.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 2:07 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

After completely rebuilding the front and rear suspensions on the Syncro Westy, I used Chris' DIY alignment technique described above to achieve what feels like a perfect alignment. The process, especially the setting of front toe-in, allowed me to see just how much discretion an alignment technician has in setting vehicle alignment.

In the end, I did not have to use Chris' approach to setting caster or camber and used a digital angle finder ("DAF") for both of those adjustments. The specific DAF I used is this one: iGaging AngleCube 3-in1 Level Sensor Model 35-2268

https://www.amazon.ca/iGaging-35-2269-Electronic-M...&psc=1

My local tool seller had a better price than Amazon:

https://www.kmstools.com/igaging-anglecube-3-in1-level-sensor-44-bevel-gauge-and-tilt-gauge.html

I cut a piece of 1" square tube to the diameter of my 16" Audi A4 rims and that allowed me to stick the DAF to the tube held to the wheel rims when checking and adjusting camber.

The caster adjustment was done by sticking the DAF to the machined area on the steering knuckle after first carefully levelling the four corners of the van using floor tiles and a water level as Chris shows on page one of this thread.

The toe in adjustment was done by first centering the steering rack, and re-positioning the steering wheel accordingly to centre, and then working from that position to adjust each side's toe. The string method turned out to be remarkably accurate, although I worked inside my garage, not outdoors, so there was no wind affecting my gauge strings.


To summarize what I did
:

Order of adjusting is: (a) Caster, (b) Camber. (c) Toe, (d) then recheck camber and recheck toe.

1. Adjust tire pressures to 43 psi front and 48 psi rear (these are Nokian overland tires)

2. Use water level to find highest concrete spot and use tiles to achieve level tire bearing surfaces. (I only needed leveling tiles under the front wheels)

3. Prepare for alignment procedure: (a) Find the centre point of the steering rack per Bentley. (b) Remove steering wheel (24 mm socket) and place in straight-forward position; (c) use a contraption and duct tape (I used a broom handle sticking out the front vent window affixed with duct tape) to hold the steering wheel from moving; (d) Bounce suspension repeatedly to settle it.

4. Measure caster with DAF. The particular DAF that I have allows you to press a button to "hold" a reading that you cannot see. This was handy for checking caster, since the tire is in the way of the view, (although by contorting "just so" under the van, one can see the DAF read-out)

In the pic below from Porter Brown (see the thread here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9481138), you can see the flat spot on the steering knuckle very close to the upper ball joint. That is where you place the DAF to find the caster angle, with the DAF placed, as best you can, plumb (ie straight up and down).

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



5. Adjust radius rod nut accordingly to achieve specified caster angle. This adjustment is easy, but slow. The movement of the retaining nuts on the radius rods is large for each degree (or portion of a degree) caster adjustment actually achieved. (Note that increasing caster angle gives a faster/stronger return of the steering wheel to centre and a stronger tendency of the vehicle to go straight down the highway as opposed to wandering. Since there is discretion in this adjustment, you can go the the furthest degree within the specification to increase this straightening tendency.)

6. Now check camber and adjust using the eccentric adjuster holding the upper control arm in place. (This is a bit trickier in that small movements of the eccentric bolt yield large changes in camber.)

7. Now scooch under the alignment string apparatus with your 22 mm wrench, 13 mm wrench and a vise grip. Adjust the driver side toe to spec. You have to get out from under the van to check and re-check the toe reading (measuring from the wheel rim at front of the rim at 9 o'clock and to the string and then from the rear of the rim at 3 o'clock) to the string and adjusting until the difference between hose two measurements is 2 mm or 2.5 mm, with the front distance measurement from the string being greater than the rear measurement for toe in. The tie rod adjustment is very forgiving in that an entire revolution appears to move the wheel only 1mm or less.

8. Re-check that your steering-wheel holding apparatus has NOT COME LOOSE while adjusting toe. If so, start over with toe adjustment.

9. If the driver's side adjustment is complete and the steering wheel has not moved, adjust the passenger side toe.

10. Ensure that you tighten the tie rod locking nut and also ensure that the steering rack bellows on each side of the rack are not twisted and if so, untwist them.

11. Since the adjustment of the rear trailing arms for toe and camber require using a fair bit of force, they should be done last. The adjustment procedure is set out in the Bentley and in the thread above also. In my case, the camber and toe just happened to be perfect on measurement of the camber with my DAF and measuring the toe using the alignment strings.

Since I installed new springs, shocks and all suspension wear items, I fully expect to have to re-adjust soon as the springs settle and the new bushings and ball joints wear in.

I have never done an actual alignment before - - just the "close enough to drive to the alignment shop" adjustment which we are all familiar with. I can honestly say that it was worth the effort and I am glad to have applied another, new, skill set. FWIW, the last alignment this vehicle had had (before we got it in 2008), set the steering rack badly off centre, meaning the full-lock steering angle on one side was significantly more than the other side. It's also nice to know that I can dial in a bit more caster and a bit more toe if I want better straight-line tracking. More caster does not wear the tires, but too much toe-in can increase tire wear, so I will see how the settling in goes.

Note that the toe-in adjustment for the Syncro is dependent on ride height and the Bentley has a sliding-scale graph correlating the ride height measurement to the toe adjustment.

Note also: When the Bentley manual or your other source for alignment specs describes angles in degrees and minutes, you can convert minutes to decimal fractions of a degree for the use of your DAF. My DAF did not use minutes, but a decimal fraction of degrees instead. For a spec of 5 degrees, 15' (ie 15 minutes), the 15 minutes spec is one quarter of 60 minutes (15/ 60 = 0.25) which is 0.25 degrees. Similarly, 40 minutes is 0.333 degrees.

As with all new-to-me procedures, I expect the next go-round to be a lot faster since I won't have to cobble together any tools, have marked the garage floor already for location and height adjustment with floor tiles, etc etc.

Thanks, Chris!!!
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DanHoug
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2023 6:46 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

well, i just set the toe on my 87 Westy using a 4' level bungie'd to each front wheel as a straight edge plus two measuring tapes and the wheels resting on folded garbage bags for easy slippage. it worked great and corrected an alignment shop's MIS-alignment that was toe'd out about 5/8" too much. it had scrubbed off a brand new set of RA18s between AZ and MN, right down to the cords.

here's the back story... i'd put tens of thousands of miles on the van previously, no bad tire wear. prior to a trip to AZ this spring, i replaced UCA bushings, upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and shocks on. i set camber but did NOT check toe, electing to set it exactly to the previous length before tie rod end changes using a mark on the inner tie rod as a reference, not the tie rod end itself.

1,000 miles into the trip in Nebraska, i'm scrubbing off the outside of my tires incredibly fast. get an alignment in NB, and continue on to AZ. tire wear still seems to be happening. order new RA18s, put them on in AZ and by the time we reach MN, the INSIDE of the new RA18s are down to the cords. i was watching tire wear like you watch a gas gauge as you are running on empty. crap.

i have no idea what the alignment shop did to set the toe so poorly. my printout shows it out of spec before alignment and then in spec, very close to zero after alignment. i DID have to correct them after they'd setup the Hunter rack that they'd entered my van as a Syncro, which it is not, and they reset the rack. dunno. but with the 4' levels strapped to the wheels, you could visually see the wheels were toe'd out. we were able to set the toe closer than the shop just by eye-balling the straight edges but did use a tape. funny thing was, the van didn't drive terribly with the extreme toe EXCEPT on icy roads, then it was skiddish.
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2023 11:10 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Dan, I feel your pain. I had a pair of General Grabbers that were horribly worn down at way too quick a rate due to an alignment shop's inadequacy.

I did the DIY alignment and everything feels so much better and so far the tire wear is excellent.

I think you can tell the alignment shop guys to weigh the vehicle down and they just don't. You can tell them until you're blue in the face and they will just smile and say "yeah, I'll do that" and proceed to not do so. I hate being placated and ignored.

Now I happily don't give them my money.
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2023 11:50 am    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

i watched them do this, much to the chagrin of the shop manager but also caught that they were setup for a Syncro. the tech threaded the inner tie rod out so far i thought it was going to come out of the threads on the outer tie rod. i said, "That's a crazy amount to move it." and he acknowledged but the computer screen said it was what was needed. SOMETHING was wrong in the setup, with the attaching of the sensors to the wheels likely.

i returned it far closer to where it had been. having done this now once, i wouldn't hesitate to do it on the road if i knew the lock nuts and tie rod threads were moveable. literally, all one would need to do this alone is:

- 2 straight edges, cheap 4' levels work great
- 2 bungy cords
- 2 tape measures
- 2 small C clamps to hold the stupid end of the tape measure on the level

mind you, this error was NOTHING vanagon specific that required special knowledge, tools, or techniques. it was just an error in setting simple toe via a threaded rod on the inner tie rods.
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:23 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

So, I've got an '84 Westy with 105,000 miles. I've owned it for 26 years and I've never had it aligned. I know that sounds crazy but it's always tracked straight, had even tire wear and steered fine, though it was a little sloppy. Suspension bushings are all original, as are the ball joints, except for one upper ball joint that a shop replaced maybe 10 years ago.

A couple of years ago I installed Whiteline steering rack and sway bar bushings, which definitely improved the steering response. About the same time I replaced the original shocks with Koni reds, and went to CLK rims with 205/65/16 tires (which are not much larger than the original 14" tire diameter). All these changes made the van handle much better than it did.

I recently noticed some light feathering on the outside of the front right tire, with the raised edge on the trailing side of the tread. So I figured something must be off with the alignment, probably toe-in. Digging around here I found this thread, and decided to check my alignment myself to at least get some idea of what's out of spec.

Here's what I found: Camber is within spec (-.5 degrees on the left and 0 degrees on the right). Both wheels have a bit too much toe (3mm on the left and 2.5mm on the right, with spec being 1 to 1.75mm per wheel). The real surprise was caster, which I measured multiple times with a digital angle finder using the flats on the steering knuckle. Right wheel was +9.5 degrees and left wheel was +10.5 degrees!

Seeing as how caster can affect the other settings, I figured I'd adjust the caster, see how that affected things, and go from there. So here's where things got weird. In order to decrease the caster angle, I presumed I needed to push the LCA (and wheel) back by "lengthening" the radius rod. The problem is that I only have two threads showing to the end of the radius rod on the right side and seven threads on the left. So I cannot move the radius rod any further back on the right side, and very little on the left. No way do I have the 3+ degrees of adjustment that I need. So, first, am I right that the radius rod (and LCA) need to move back to slacken the caster angle?

Second, I also noticed that the LCA sits very forward in its mounting space in the frame. The bushing is compressed against the frame at the front and there is a gap at the rear. They also appear to be "racked," tilting downward at the front. Could that be part of the problem? I've been planning to replace the UCA and LCA bushings with Whiteline bushings at some point, but will that help or make it worse? It seems like that will move the LCAs back further, which would decrease the caster, but will the radius rods then be too short?

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure all the relevant facts were on the table. I've attached some photos to show the radius rod ends and the positions of both LCAs in the mounting space. Other than the feathering on one front tire, the van tracks, steers and handles really well. Given that, should I even worry about the excessive caster and instead just focus on correcting the camber and toe-in?

I'm flummoxed. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:30 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

When I did that adjustment, I was surprised by how much the caster angle would change just by moving those nuts a half turn. I assume the side with the 10.5° Castor is the side that has more threads showing? If I was you I would try adjusting it to see how close to spec you could get it before running out of threads.
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:31 pm    Post subject: Re: DIY Wheel Alignment Reply with quote

Also make sure that you have your van properly loaded down.
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