donsrods
Well-known member
Once you build a car you need to make sure the front and rear axles are perfectly square to the centerline of the frame. If you don't, the car will never track correctly.
Last night we decided to align Don's car. I always just triangulated them with a tape measure and string, but someone posted on another forum how the circle track guys do it, so I decided to give that a try.
What it involves is taping or painting a perfectly square box on the floor of the garage that is slightly longer and wider than the car. I used masking tape and we laid out a very square box pattern, and then ran one more piece of tape down the very center of the box. This is the centerline, and you position the centerline of the car directly over this line. To do it, we measured the exact center of the rear, and the exact center of the front and used a plumb bob to move the car right over the tape centerline.
Now the car is square to the box. Next, you simply drop the plumb bob down from the exact center of each rear axle and mark where it touches the tape on the sides. You then measure how far each side is from the back edge of the box, and it will tell you if you are in alignment or not. By adjusting the radius rods in and out you can get the rear axle square to the frame.
Then we moved on to the front, after blocking the rear wheels so they couldn't move. First we corrected his caster from the initial 10 degrees to a more acceptable 6 degrees. After that we did the same plumb bob routine from the kingpins down and adjusted the radius rods to get the front axle square to the frame. Finally, we ran a tape measure between each kingpin to the rear axle housing and got exactly 97 inches on each side. Toe in was set next at 1/16, and we were done.
I know the explanation is a little confusing, but this method really works well. I am going to put my T on the box to make sure it is square too. The picture below shows his car sitting squarely on the taped box pattern.
I thought this might be helpful to anyone who has never done this.
Don
Last night we decided to align Don's car. I always just triangulated them with a tape measure and string, but someone posted on another forum how the circle track guys do it, so I decided to give that a try.
What it involves is taping or painting a perfectly square box on the floor of the garage that is slightly longer and wider than the car. I used masking tape and we laid out a very square box pattern, and then ran one more piece of tape down the very center of the box. This is the centerline, and you position the centerline of the car directly over this line. To do it, we measured the exact center of the rear, and the exact center of the front and used a plumb bob to move the car right over the tape centerline.
Now the car is square to the box. Next, you simply drop the plumb bob down from the exact center of each rear axle and mark where it touches the tape on the sides. You then measure how far each side is from the back edge of the box, and it will tell you if you are in alignment or not. By adjusting the radius rods in and out you can get the rear axle square to the frame.
Then we moved on to the front, after blocking the rear wheels so they couldn't move. First we corrected his caster from the initial 10 degrees to a more acceptable 6 degrees. After that we did the same plumb bob routine from the kingpins down and adjusted the radius rods to get the front axle square to the frame. Finally, we ran a tape measure between each kingpin to the rear axle housing and got exactly 97 inches on each side. Toe in was set next at 1/16, and we were done.
I know the explanation is a little confusing, but this method really works well. I am going to put my T on the box to make sure it is square too. The picture below shows his car sitting squarely on the taped box pattern.
I thought this might be helpful to anyone who has never done this.
Don
