2-wheel front alignment.
Just finished replacing control arms and tie rods. Time for an alignment! Even with measuring and trying to keep the new tie rods the same length as the old ones, the toe-in was still almost an inch on each side. This is not drive-able, so I found a great method on the U-Tubes to get it done myself.
The typical
flawed method is to extend the rear wheel alignment to the front with a string and use that as your reference. That method will get you close and make the car drive-able, but it's not a long term solution and can cause tire wear.
This guy knows how to do it right. You can too.
View attachment 225301
To start with,
this better method starts with keeping the wheels on the ground and parking the front tires on folded plastic bags so they can pivot while you adjust the tie rods.
Genius! It also uses 2 parallel strings on each side of the car, and then the centering of both axles is measured off of the string and not the other axle. This is important!
You'll need a
steady handed helper to hold the tape measure between the strings and at least 10 minutes to get the 2 strings parallel with both axles centered between them. There are 6 points of measurement that all effect the others. With lots of progressively small adjustments and measuring,
eventually it all lines up!
After the strings were set, I dialed in 1/16 inch of toe out, and it is great over bumps and on the highway too. I'm not sure if I'll ever pay for an alignment again.