Been just playing around with this... doesn't require much space... I'm just in a residential garage
Vintage Alignment Systems
- Thread starter WV64Signet
- Start date
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I love this old stuff. Good tools never go out of use.
Now you can do the locals Chevy's too with all those shims.
Make back your investments and then some.
Like Charrlie_S, I had the rack and all but no where to set it permanent . After 20 years in storage I gave the drive on ramp to the scrapper. I just set everything up on the level garage floor.
Here is a good one. My buddy back east has a $34,000 wiss-bang computer/digital alignment machine.
The type that you have to down load the car's specific specs.
Know how he does the classic cars ? Yep old school with the bubble gauges.
Now you can do the locals Chevy's too with all those shims.
Make back your investments and then some.
Like Charrlie_S, I had the rack and all but no where to set it permanent . After 20 years in storage I gave the drive on ramp to the scrapper. I just set everything up on the level garage floor.
Here is a good one. My buddy back east has a $34,000 wiss-bang computer/digital alignment machine.
The type that you have to down load the car's specific specs.
Know how he does the classic cars ? Yep old school with the bubble gauges.
That's funny... and why I went after this set.... local garage...20 minutes of how amazing the laser computerized magic machine was by a firm NO when I asked about alignment on the 64
I'd love to get the "Audio Liner" working... that would be the shiznit
I'm away for a few days.... but if it's not already out there, I'll get a scanned copy together. I have the wall chart as well
Dartswinger70
Well-Known Member
I remember setting my Dart up on a Hunter machine 20 years ago or more. I had a chilton manual and had to enter the specs manually. The car drove great. A 70 Dart with a tight front end and properly aligned will handle and corner well IMO.
I made my own toe gauge with square tubing, brackets and 1/2" EMT with some thumbscrews.
WAY easier to use that the side of tire blocks.
Slide it until it hots the inside of the tire, or wheel, tighten the screw.
Measure the front, measure the back, subtract the difference.
If uneasy, jounce and/or roll back and forth, and do it again.
I think I got $16 bucks in it.
HF sells a magnetic digital angle finder gauge for about $35.
Getting it on the wheel is the hard part, but can be done.
WAY easier to use that the side of tire blocks.
Slide it until it hots the inside of the tire, or wheel, tighten the screw.
Measure the front, measure the back, subtract the difference.
If uneasy, jounce and/or roll back and forth, and do it again.
I think I got $16 bucks in it.
HF sells a magnetic digital angle finder gauge for about $35.
Getting it on the wheel is the hard part, but can be done.
1WildRT
Well-Known Member
Well... Maybe... Accept that they rarely are even close to that accurate.. For many reasons..
A) Operator Error
B) Calibration issues
C) Equipment issues
I worked in enough shops, They hire alignment techs based on an interview with the interviewer often having no knowledge of how to tell a tech from a poser.. So throw a guy who's been doing lube work and tune ups for five years into an alignment rack where you need training an experience to have half a chance of doing the job correctly... (BTW in the interview he didn't mention lube rack, it was an alignment rack) Instead you have a guy that's setting the toe & letting it go.... If he even knows how to set the toe... Two months later you have customers complaining about their tires wearing and your "alignment tech" is down the road... Guess who's interviewing a new alignment tech? Think he's gonna find a skilled replacement? or another "Poser"..
Also while in the trade I saw a few alignment heads get bounce tested... Remember what Steve AKA Autoxcuda mentioned about bungy cords? Trust me, you don't want to drop an alignment head.... But you also don't want to want into the office & tell the boss you dropped the alignment head.. So usually it just gets ignored... How accurate is a head that's been bounce tested? Did it pass? Probably not...
The best alignment tech I know still uses his 1970's vintage magnetic snap gauges, He has a test plate that's perfectly vertical that he uses to test his gauges daily Will it read down to .1 degrees, yeah if you focus your eyes real hard... Does it really matter? Probably not...
If this is not too much of a digression, can I ask if turning plates can work just sitting on a level concrete floor? I think they are typically designed to fit on a drive-on rack. I'm thinking about buying some but am concerned that the base might slide on the concrete and turn with the wheels if not hemmed in by the drive-on rack.
25-140 Quality Passenger Mild Steel Turnplates - Red
25-140 Quality Passenger Mild Steel Turnplates - Red
I first used improvised "plates" of two floor tiles with grease between them. Degrees marked out using a protractor and permanent marker.
I use the plates with the system... my floor is level around that area (using a 4' foot level to verify)
autoxcuda
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I have those same ones but with the degree pointer: 25-140-P Quality Passenger Mild Steel Pointer Plate - Black
Mine do not slip.
I'd have a tough time paying $600 for set of them. They are pretty basic tools, but lot of metal $ to them. I see some Chinese ones on Amazon. Easy for me to say, I lucked out on a set for $75.
Both sides look alike but one has more adjustments, both have the sight line
I worked in a shop with a Beam Visualiner. Told the boss several times that they needed a calibration.
Yep, I was told "It don't matter once they hit the first pot hole." Poor excuse in my book.
I was young and wanted to do the job right.
1WildRT
Well-Known Member
When I first got out of the Navy in the early 80's one of the jobs I had was at a gas station... The whole side wall at one end of the shop was glass... They had just installed a brand new Hunter Light Align system... They were proud of their new equipment so they had it installed by the windows.... Only problem is it's a "Light" align system & wouldn't read right if there was to much light.... The old guy who was hired for doing alignments hated that machine... Brought in his personal set of magnetic snap gauges...
The light align system was supposed to replace the old "Line Align" system that used strings.... I saw Line Align systems still on use as recent as five years ago.... Sometimes the old stuff just works....
Cost more to ship it than you paid for yours. (Yes, you did luck out.) Well, I went ahead and ordered them anyway. The ones on Amazon weren't cheap either. Nor is taking a bunch of cars to an alignment shop. Can I learn a new skill at my advanced age? Guess we'll see.
autoxcuda
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Cost more to ship it than you paid for yours. (Yes, you did luck out.) Well, I went ahead and ordered them anyway. The ones on Amazon weren't cheap either. Nor is taking a bunch of cars to an alignment shop. Can I learn a new skill at my advanced age? Guess we'll see.
I lucked out so much they were only a 7 minute drive from my house.
I saw these Chinese specials https://www.amazon.com/8MILELAKE-Truck-Front-Wheel-Alignment/dp/B07JP91QWH/?tag=fabo03-20
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