Who here does their own alignment?

[Pussy30]

Ever since I bought this car as a project from the PO it has never got an alignment. I have a bunchhhh of toe in that its almost so bad you can help but say "both your front tires are pointing in". Should I grab a tape measure and try my hand at it or should I take it in to the pro's?


Thanks!

[dirty thirty]

Take it to a pro but if you don't have any cash do as you please! Wouldn't hurt Tory the tape measure would like to see how it turns out.

[jlevie]

Since the only thing you can adjust of a stock E30 is front toe, it is pretty easy to do an alignment yourself. On a street car I'd aim for 1/16-3/32" of total toe in. You need toe plates to get accurate measurements, but they can be nothing more than a couple of pieces of plywood about 6" tall.

[nrubenstein]

Yes, toe plates are very convenient. Even on cars with real suspensions, I still use toe plates to determine if I need to set the strings up.

[Pussy30]

Thanks guys. Yeah I was getting some really bad tire wear when I finnaly got fresh tires. At first I thought it was the positive camber (which also was a problem) from the 5 lug conversion without proper camber plates. But then I realized it was the toe. Anyone have a write up on the proper way to adjust it?

Thanks again.

[Bearmw]

Not sure what the 6" high plywood entails. Raise just the front 6" and the measure?

[bimmerteck]

I set the suspension up on the scales first and then align them using strings and a camber gauge. I found some pics of home alignment setups like I use in the thread below.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...alignment.html

[bimmerteck]

Not sure what the 6" high plywood entails. Raise just the front 6" and the measure?

think 4 6"x6" pieces of 3/8" plywood,1 placed under each tire. Just enough to allow the tire to move as adjustments are made.

[nrubenstein]

think 4 6"x6" pieces of 3/8" plywood,1 placed under each tire. Just enough to allow the tire to move as adjustments are made.

Oy. No, not at all. That would be a turn plate.

These are toe plates:

http://www.amazon.com/Longacre-Toe-Plates-Set-Tapes/dp/B000VAOHB2

And you can easily make your own with some plywood, although you'll probably give up a little precision.

[M-technik-3]

Since the only thing you can adjust of a stock E30 is front toe, it is pretty easy to do an alignment yourself. On a street car I'd aim for 1/16-3/32" of total toe in. You need toe plates to get accurate measurements, but they can be nothing more than a couple of pieces of plywood about 6" tall.

It's E36 5 lug conversion guys. I have some older IE plates that will be for sale soon.

[bimmerteck]

Sorry I may have the terminology mixed up it's been I while since I was officially "taught" to align vehicles and I only do mine once a year or so unless I'm doing suspension work.

[nrubenstein]

It's E36 5 lug conversion guys. I have some older IE plates that will be for sale soon.

What does 5-lug conversion have to do with anything here? Even if you mean that he has one, it changes absolutely nothing. Unless of course, he has welded in E36 trailing arms (and no, Z3 doesn't count).

[nrubenstein]

Sorry I may have the terminology mixed up it's been I while since I was officially "taught" to align vehicles and I only do mine once a year or so unless I'm doing suspension work.

On a stock E30, since all you can really adjust is front toe, toe plates suffice. It's easier to get the wheel centered by a little trial and error than it is to set up the strings.

[M-technik-3]

What does 5-lug conversion have to do with anything here? Even if you mean that he has one, it changes absolutely nothing. Unless of course, he has welded in E36 trailing arms (and no, Z3 doesn't count).

What arms were used? is the wheel placement off so it can't be set in proper placement will make a difference.

[bimmerteck]

On a stock E30, since all you can really adjust is front toe, toe plates suffice. It's easier to get the wheel centered by a little trial and error than it is to set up the strings.

OK, that explains it, the only "Stock" vehicle I have is my wife's, the e30 gets everything adjusted since it's running a GC setup.