String method alignment again

budgetzagato

budgetzagato

Administrator
Moderator
Yesterday I used the "string method" to align my '88 Vanagon, what a difference!

I had recently replaced the p/s rack, and despite counting turns on the tie rods the toe was way off. The upper a arm bushings on one side were shot, as I discovered when I tried to have it aligned at a shop. I replaced the bushings, and drove it a while still needing an alignment. It sucked.

I used the string method and was able to correct the camber and toe to the point that it feels like a new car. I know it's probably not perfect, but it is nearly so. I'll have to try it on my Bertone next.
 
There ya go, Greg... probably better than most shops...

... if you factor in the HUMAN element!

I did have my Vette aligned using a very sophisticated computerized printout and they had the car a day and a half messing with it. Cost A LOT of MONEY also... and I know it was a real B***H to work on also... but sure was worth it in the end... which led to more issues.

I then had the tires LOAD or ROAD balanced... using pressure and high speed spinning. That cost A LOT of MONEY also... but again was worth it as the entire car tracks true and handles 200% better than it did before... with a SMOOOOTH ride right up into and over triple digits. (Briefly... very briefly...)

Congrats on your efforts... and I've never had my X professionally aligned, and never felt the need to. Tires all wear fine and evenly and I run big and littles with no rotation.

(I do lead a charmed life though... ask anyone... HA!)
 
Over Triple Digits!

Black-Tooth said:
... with a SMOOOOTH ride right up into and over triple digits. (Briefly... very briefly...)
Click to expand...

That would be > 999 mph... Holy crap Tony - you should have called the Guiness people (the record people, not the beer people) before you did this! :)

Greg I have also played with the string alignment method per Tony's and others instructions - works great! It takes a bit of time, but hey, the alignment shop would have it for that long anyway, and you don't have to worry about what they're doing to your car back there.

Pete
 
New land speed record set by

Tony Natoli, as he blows by the speed of sound in his Corvette crossing TRIPLE DIGITS (1000 MPH?) BUT ONLY BRIEFLY!! :bla:

I want a Corvette just like yours! :D (just kidding)

Ya know we love ya Tony! :grouphug:
 
Magic Strings

We used strings to get wrecked cars back in the ballpark before going to the alignment shop.

Primary drawback is that it will get both sides to match, but it doesn't really set the correct toe. They could still be towing in or out, even though both sides are the same. Eyeballing to see if the string is parallel to the rocker helps.

So, one final home-test: If the steering is heavy, it's toed out. If the steering is really light or twitchy, it's toed in. If the steering jerks around when you drive across slick surfaces, the toe is wrong.
 
HA... I stand corrected... I meant just INTO triple digits...

I was a bit aghast myself as I hit third and let it fly a bit longer than usual and watched as the needle appeared to suddenly LEAP over the century mark...

I really hadn't expected it as before the alignment and balance the car vibrated and shook a bit as it went over 75 or so...

Any yur both right... it might as well be the speed of sound as even at these numbers ya can be just as dead... especially in this plastic car. I actually FEEL safer in an X! Maybe I'm just too old... or have owned the X so long I know its capabilities.

Thanks for the endorsements BTW...
 
The string is only one part of my home alignment method...

eflexter said:
Primary drawback is that it will get both sides to match, but it doesn't really set the correct toe. They could still be towing in or out, even though both sides are the same. Eyeballing to see if the string is parallel to the rocker helps.
Click to expand...

I also use two levels, about 6 inches up, laid across the outside of the tires, and then measure in between, front and back, under the car. So that part ensures the toe is correct, then the strings, passed along the edge of the levels and up to the front hub area, tell the story of whether the toe is equal side-to-side (rear only, of course. Front toe is "self-correcting").

Then I use an electronic angle gauge, mounted magnetically to a steel fixture, to check camber. This is easiest when the car is perfectly level, which I do by stacking up those 12x12 linoleoum floor tiles under each tire. If fact, on my shop floor, I have painted the outline of where each stack needs to go, and in the outline, the number of tiles needed to produce a level car.

The entire setup costs less than one trip to the alignment shop, but yes it is very fiddly and it takes a while to produce correct results. But like I said, I'd spend two hours driving to the alignment shop and sitting in their waiting room.

Pete
 
As a previous Vanagon owner... I thought the only thing that affected Vanagon handling was the direction of the prevailing wind.

:D
 
Many race cars are aligned and set up using "string". Done properly, it can be surprisingly accurate for setting toe and checking general chassis alignment.

Add a caster/camber gauge and that should get most of what is needed done.

Bernice

budgetzagato said:
Yesterday I used the "string method" to align my '88 Vanagon, what a difference!
Click to expand...
 
So true...

But mine is usually loaded to the gills, er grills with tools and materials. Load range C tires and high tire pressures are required for good handling (and a ballpark alignment helps). :bla:
 
Hey Gregory-Just a thought but-

On your Vanagon, when you changed the P/S rack, did you change the p/s filter located in the resivoir in the back? If you don't know about this, there is a small filter insert that can be replaced when you separate the resivoir. Most people don't know about this and need another rack soon after because the filter breaks down and sends it's broken self and all the other crud it's been filtering over the years up to the fresh rack.:eek:mg: The filter is cheap and very easy to replace.
Rolf.:)
 
Thanks...

Replaced a leaking pump with a good used one which killed the old rack (though it may have been leaking for while). New filter on the workbench, just gotta do it, will do it today. Thanks for the reminder!

Another thing to finish (more boring Vanagon content) is repairing the front seat armrests. Some previous owner or his idiot Italian car mechanic down the road replaced the roll-pin with a too-small bolt. Hilarity ensued.
 
....

Not trying to beat a dead horse, but some cars, especially front-wheel-drive are actually designed with toe-in. So making the front wheels parallel is a bad thing.

Check the specs on toe angle before you do this on your Honda Accord.

But it works great on most rear-wheel-drive cars.

One final note, to be SUPER precise, spin the tires, find the wobble, then put the wobble spot at the extreme top or bottom. Tires have bulges and valleys where they are molded and the belts come together. Putting the low or high spots at the top gets it away from the measurement area.
 
You mean toe out?

Most if not all FWD cars I've had have had toe-out specs for the front wheels.

FWIW, I measured my toe by measuring to the rim, not trusting the tire. Then a test drive to see how it felt, added a smidge more toe in to the right wheel to center the steering wheel and increase "self-centering" feel. Drives great now.
 
COOL!

"Toe-in" is just a term that means there's an angle involved. Maybe that's not an official term, just an old hick bodyshop term!!! Maybe I'll start calling it "toe-around".
 
fancy computer stuff

Tony,
"Fancy computerized' is not saying much in todays world. But just like anything you need to know how to interpret the readings. A lot of cars will run faster with more toe or camaber, at the expense of tires or ride. The best alignment guys know what is needed , mostly from track testing.
I too had a vette like yours and sold it because it drove so bad. Didn't even take it to Sunday breakfast. With that said I now know you are truly a risk taker by going over 100 in that thing. I didn't think you were that foolhardy.

Bob T.
 
Well... A coupla things...

1. It is against the law... but a car can be driven at speed in relative safety... but I make no excuses. Its just that its almost a miniscule issue when yur on the 210 and arseholes are wizzin' by ya at 85 and texting... I selected an almost abandoned stretch with no intersections and ran it up between them, conscious, sober and concentrating.

2. I really didn't expect it to leap that fast... that fast! It indeed got away from me in that regard... especially since it ran true and with little of the commotion that it useta make.

And I agree wholeheartedly... this old suspension design PLUS the out of whack alignment PLUS the out of balanced tires really made this car squirrely... so much so, I'm sure that I felt exactly as you did... it was indeed dangerous to apply gas.

The computerized printout and the technicians at R&S Automotive in Newhall knew what they were doing though, tookk the time to show me their readings and plans on how to make it right. And they were right.

I can now drive he car with some confidence ann know what to expect out of it. I am still rather green... but now the car exceeds my limitations, rather than visa versa.

Mostly now... I baby the damn thing and cruise it now that I have so much time and dollars invested... its becoming to valuable too mess with.

Thanks for your input... hope to see ya soon...
 
Oh nooooo, I'm becoming BOB!

Actually... still a LOOOOONG ways to go before I catch up with you.

This car has been driven all its life and it too has about 167,000 on it.

You gotta let me take ya for a spin some day... make a new man outta ya!
 
Remember, this method works best on cars with similar front and rear tracks, as the string measurement is based upon distance from the tire, not from the absolute center of the vehicle.

Probably not an issue for a vanagon, but this won't work if you run wider rear tires or on cars that don't have almost exact front and rear widths.

Also, I think the X is slightly wider in the back, not enough to throw tow off in a big way using this method...but for the race car I use steel supported off the car with markings from the midpoint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top