So the problem I have is that I can not find anyone that will do my wheel alignment . I went to plume and kwick fit and both of them told me because it is so low they are unable to do it , I asked why and its because they can not fit the wheel clamp tool on the wheels as the wheels sit in the arch.

So all you low riders how do you get on with wheel alignment ?

It need doing at my steering wheel is sits at ten to two , before this problem I replaced the front struts dampers and springs , arb bush , steering arm , ball joint , lower arms ..

Edited 11 June, 201511 yr by 1vw2many

The steering wheel is easy to fix as you just unbolt it and re alight it. however this does nothing for the tracking!

How low are you?

Perhaps fit some lower profile tyres? I'm looking to see how to sort the alignment out with the piece of string method...

Zip tie a Length of 2x4 to each front wheel making sure it is flat against the face.

Make one mark on each at the same level, then a second mark further up roughly the diameter of your wheels.

Take measurements from the first point then the second to compare.

Adjust tracking until the desired alignment it achieved.

You'll be wanting a bit of toe out and I usually go for a couple mm difference between the marks.

You could skip the wood and just measure the distance between the front and back of the wheel using string as Mark suggests. But a helper would be required. My method can be done on your own. Just be wary of neighbours thinking "wtf he has lost the plot".

I would also say once you adjust the tracking rock the car a little (careful of the wood) or you may find the bushes take up some slack and you end up with the tracking being off again after a drive.

Finally, do this at your own risk. Obviously. Proper laser alignment is recommended over this by far.

I was going to say 'Kwik Fit did mine with no problems' but that's not strictly true. They charged me £45 because they apparently had to heat up the tie rods as it was too low, and the tracking was out on it again within a month.

have a look online for diy tracking , its pretty and polos are basic

you can either make a string box around the car with fishing line then use a ruler to suss it out , or mount laser pointers against the rim and mark wheere it shines on a wall and figure it out that way

or

trackace tool

String oh my I only have rope lol. I may try the steering wheel 1st , I am 60mm at front Mark .Kwijibo the neighbours think I'm nuts so I be ok lol..

Only 60mm, you should still have some arch gap on standard tyres. What tyre size are you running? My breadvan is on an 80mm kit and I still have arch gap at the front...

I have 145/80/13

I'm running a H&R 60/40 kit..

I've booked mine in Saturday afternoon so will see what they say

I have 145/80/13

May be worth looking into a lower profile tyre.

Mark your 60/40 kit seems to sit better and just as low as my breadvan on the cheapo TA 80/60 kit.

Mine are the philj kit yellow ones 60/40 , Are you on 14" ? hope all goes ok keep me posted please..

60's maybe ?

I'd go 155/70/13 slightly wider and lower profile...win win :)

155/70/13 goodyear come in at £32 each from mytyres.co.uk

Some garages have the old style drive on gauges instead of the ones that hang from the top of the wheels, I fitted new steering arms at a friends garage, lined the front wheels until they looked straight, and put it on the laser gauges and it was perfect 😜

Its finding the old style garage with the old style gauges

Kwik Fit did my 6n when it was down about 90mm on 195/45/15's.

Sounds like laziness to be honest? This was how the car sat after it was raised slightly.

Maybe so as mark said I can adjust the steering wheel from ten to two by taking it off and refitting it in central position , lets see if I can mess that up

You can do it with a tape measure, it's a piece of piss on a polo because you don't have to ensure both track rods are the same length.

Mark the same place on both tyres, both at the front and rear of each tyre.

Duct tape a tape measure into the tread on one side and measure to the same place on the other side of the tyre.

Do this both front and back, adjusting the track rod, until both measurements are the same or within 1mm of each other.

Obviously tyres vary a little but this has worked for me a few times.

Thank you I might give it ago and I need to make sure steering wheel is on lock ?

Can't beat a bit of string, Tie it round the outside of all four wheels, then ideally to a post or a tree or something behind the car.

Set the offside wheel to dead straight using the steering (ie, both front and back sidewalls touching the string equally).

Loosen the nuts on the steering arm (both inner and outer nuts), then turn the centre of the steering rod backwards to make it toe in, forwards for out.

Check, check and double check, give the steering a wiggle and check again.

Make sure the track rod end is straight, tighten everything up.

Loosen the steering wheel nut, knock it forward on the splines and then undo the nut and remove.

Go for a slow drive down the yard and pull the steering wheel off and put it back on straight.

The 'drive over' gauge mentioned above was made by a company called 'Weaver' - If you see a Weaver Gauge come up in a garage sale, its worth putting a silly bid in for it.

(The same company made a steering geometry gauge, but take care with this, as you also need a pair of 'radius plates' to be able to get the full benefit of it)

Regards

I need to half sort out my tracking temporarily but cant wrap my head around these instructions for the methods. I need pictures lol

Get a polo

Tie some string round the wheels

Look at how the string lies across the front tyre walls.

Take piss out of crap drawings

Okay I get the set up now,

so if I measure toe out do I measure with a rule from the centre of the front wheel to the string in mm?