Story by James Clay
How do you set up a car, whether it’s a new build or one that you’ve been running for years? At the end of the day, it’s about keeping those tires happy. James Clay, pro driver, president of BimmerWorld and graduate of Virginia Tech, walks us through his team’s progress, whether it’s BMW’s latest GT3-class racer …
As part of chassis setup, one helpful article would be how to accurately align wheels at a home shop, with a less than level floor. Toe-in is relatively easy using string setup similar to the one in the articles image. But three things: what are reasonably priced camber measurement tools. How can such tools measure accurately if the floor is not perfectly level (Making an assumption that there are no reasonably priced laser measuring tools for camber). And three, how do you get under the car to adjust without raising it - and if you do raise it to make a camber/caster adjustment, making an educated guess on adjustment, then setting the car back down back in the exact spot and the exact same ride height in order to replicate an accurate re-measure? Thanks GRM.
In reply to AndyHess :
Really good questions. Let me take a look and see if we have anything related to what you're asking about. And if we don't, I'll be sure to pass it on.
In reply to AndyHess :
The way to deal with a floor that's not level is shims. Put down some sort of platform for each wheel and then shim them all to be level.
Your cellphone is a camber measuring tool, especially when combined with a length of metal that goes from lip to lip on your wheel. You can also buy fairly inexpensive angle gauges.
The way to get underneath without raising it is to use a set of hub stands. If you're having to lift to make adjustments, you're probably just lifting one corner at a time. That makes it easy to drop back in the same location because the other three wheels won't have moved. Really, if your car is moving laterally when it's in the air you have another much more serious problem.
Alternatively, drive up on 4 ramps . Shim the ramps.
Mark the ramps, shims, floor for next time. Being consistent and repeatable is more important than the actual measurement .
My method was the tried-and-true floor tiles method. After I got four stacks in the right place and leveled, I spray-painted the outline of each stack on the floor and wrote down how many tiles in each stack. So after that it was easily and quickly repeatable.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
What is needed to be accurate when aligning is a set of friction plates. Some have said a poor man's set is to put newspapers under the wheel. If you make an alignment change,preferably with the car raised evenly all around, when it's lowered to the floor it's not the same as if it rolled in. Even in a racing car with little rubber in the suspension just lowering the car will not give an accurate reading. Once on the ground with the changes made roll the car a foot or so and back to take any stiction out of the suspension. I'm talking about in a converted production car set up for autox or some track. I was a professional suspension development engineer for a mfgr and when I made changes to my own car for autox I used this method as I could see the difference without friction plates. Most alignment machines have friction plates. If not go somewhere else.
For friction plates, I've had good luck using large sized (gallon or larger) zip lock bags with just enough
'Personal Lubricant' inside to keep the inside wettted.
Sqeeze in the lube, press out the air, slide them shut, and rub them between the palms of your hand to distribute the lube.
Cheap, lightweight, easily replaced.
Effective enough that your car may slide to one side if not on leveled shims, might require tethers.
AndyHess said:As part of chassis setup, one helpful article would be how to accurately align wheels at a home shop, with a less than level floor. Toe-in is relatively easy using string setup similar to the one in the articles image. But three things: what are reasonably priced camber measurement tools. How can such tools measure accurately if the floor is not perfectly level (Making an assumption that there are no reasonably priced laser measuring tools for camber). And three, how do you get under the car to adjust without raising it - and if you do raise it to make a camber/caster adjustment, making an educated guess on adjustment, then setting the car back down back in the exact spot and the exact same ride height in order to replicate an accurate re-measure? Thanks GRM.
Here's what I do.
The cribbing is shimmed so that the tops of the scales are just kiss the beam from the low cost laser level.
Since the car is up in the air it's easy to make adjustments. You can't see from this angle but the tires are sitting on turntable/sliders. I make an adjustment and then bounce the car. To measure ride hight I measure down to the laser.
I use toe plates to set toe. On a fresh setup I'll either set the laser so I pickup the centerline of the car and measure from that to ensure squareness or string the car.
I use a Zackman Scientific Wheel Alignment Clamp Tool and a Joes Racing 28210 Caster Camber Gauge for caster and camber. I do one wheel at a time.
Wow what a nice setup . Love the way you can actually work on the car to make changes. But how did you get the car on those stands in the first place? Multiple jack operations around the car for placing 2 of the 2x4 stands at each wheel and then the friction plates?
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