There are many that will tell you that you can't do a good job with a home alignment.
If you set it up carefully and take your time you can do a good job. (at least as far ar toe)
Since there is limited adjustment for camber and caster adjustment while doable should not changed unless there has been damage, toe is the main adjustment most should have to worry about.

On my way to work this morning I hit some ice and lot of gravel dumped on it in a turn. Of course was going a little faster than I should have been. (no one else ever does that right?)
Anyway slid into and on top of the island with a good bump. My toe had been off and pulling a little bit to the left. Was going to check it out when I replaced the lower bushing in a month of so. Now of course if was off a little more. Well actually a lot more then I liked.
So knowing the toe was way off, when I got home today I decided to set it right.

Here is the method I use and done right I bet you can set toe every bit as well as a shop can. Since toe is the biggest setting that makes a difference in your alignment this can save you a lot. The other thing about doing it this way it does not matter if the car does not have the same wheel width track in the front and back and you can check the toe of both the front and back at the same time.

Update note 12-5: I didn't recheck the adjustment until after driving the next day. I had over adjusted the toe on the LH wheel just a bit so needed to take a little toe out. Many say this way takes to long to setup. Since I knew the distance from the hub to the string after doing it the first time, the setup and adjustment took me a total of 10min. from start to finish. There is no way a shop could do it that quick on a machine.

So here we go.

I start out by taking two 2x4's and put two nails in each at a distance that is wider than the car wheel width by a couple inches. Be sure that in both boards the nails are exactly the same distance apart. (I use a square and set the boards next to each other to place the nails but you could measure carefully.)

You then set the 2x4's on blocks, Jack stands, whatever in front and back of the car that will set them as high as the middle of the wheels and square to the bumpers.(parallel to each other in front and back but not touching the car.)

You run a string around the nails so that you end up with two strings parallel to the car body.



Now you have to take your time and carefully adjusting the boards so that the string is exactly the same distance from the center hub of the back wheels on both sides and the front wheels on both sides. This requires going back and forth from the front and back until the distances are exactly the same. If the wheel track between the front and back wheels are different just make sure you keep the distance of the left and right sides are the same. Take your time here. This step done right is what makes it the most accurate.
It just so happens that the front and back track of the Fiero is almost exactly the same.

All the below pictures are taken on the left side of the car since that is the side that needed adjustment. The front of the wheel will be on the left in all pictures. The left and right front and rear distance from the string to the hub where the same at all wheels.

Front



Back




When you have the strings set, you can then measure the distance from the string to the front and back lip of each wheel to get the toe reading. For standard "toe in" or slightly positive toe the distance from the string to the front of the wheel lip should be greater than the distance from the string to the rear of the lip.

Here is what the rear wheel measured. Right at zero toe.



And here is the front one that is out of wack. As you can see the front measurment was almost 3/8" less than the rear.



On a 14" rim the measurement for 1° or toe would be 1/4" or .25" ....so really just want to shoot for 0 difference or a very small greater amount on the front measurment. Since the Fiero spec is .15° (I believe that is correct) you just want a tiny bit of toe in....

I have used this method for years to set my toe and get great life out of my tires all the time.
If you have to make adjustments to anything you have to be sure and recheck the centering distances to keep the measurement accurate.
Your wheels have to be true and not bent or damaged of course.
After making adjustment to the alignment I take the car for a drive and then setup again to verify or re-adjust.

It is also a good way to quickly set the toe close if you want to drive to a align shop after changing parts and don't want to speed a lot of time getting it right on. Or set it right on and see what the shop says the toe looks like before they start!


UPDATE: Drove the car to work this morning. Steering wheel was perfectly centered once again... Life is good.! Keep the painted side up ya hear!

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 01-20-2009).]

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 12-05-2007).]

Great write up and much better than the scribe a line on the tire method I have used in the past.

For camber I made myself this tool



It consists of a 30-inch pendulum fastened to a piece of wood, with two long wood screws in the side of the wood. I made the pendulum by brazing the long rod into a smaller piece for the pivot, and drilling a hole through the smaller piece. It is fastened to the wood with a small nail so that it can swing freely.

The two screws are at exactly the diameter of the outer lip of the wheel rims.

The important thing about the pendulum being 30 inches long is that ½ inch of movement at the pendulum end represents an arc of 1 degree.

This is the bottom end of the tool. I have marked the center and intervals of ¼ inch (1/2 degree) and ½ inch (1 degree).



The first thing to do is calibrate the tool. Basically this involves holding to heads of the two screws against a vertical surface, I used the garage door frame after checking it was in fact vertical, and screwing them in or out until the end of the pendulum, which is hanging vertically, aligns with the center mark.

To use the tool, you place it against the side of the wheel so that each screw head rests on the lip of the rim. Here you can see my lovely assistant holding the tool in the wrong place, because the top screw is on the tire and the bottom one is on the side of the lip, rather than the lip itself. The reason for using the lip of the rim rather than the sides is that the sides slope in on my rims, so that by positioning the tool on different parts of the rim you can get different camber readings. Obviously that is not good. By using the lip of the rim you ensure that you get a consistent reading each time.

------------------
Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

quote Originally posted by avengador1: Here is another write up someone did that is in the archives. http://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...020511-2-017287.html

Yes, that is the one I read a couple years ago. I enjoyed the discussion of the which is it 1/8 or 1/4 for 1*....

The question I have is on most cars it seems to get caster you measure the camber with the wheel turned in and out 20* from straight and subtract the camber angles to get the caster angle value. I have never seen a writeup of what the Fiero or GM method is.

Anyone know for sure?

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 12-05-2007).]