Is it possible at all to do your own at home alignment?
 

Or do you have to take your car to a shop so it can be computer aligned? How did they align cars back in the 50s and 60s when computer alignment wasnt around?

Before lasers, they had huge alignment contraptions they attached to your car. You can use snap lines and plumb bobs to get it close, but not down to the fractions of a degree.

^^^WHS







I am considering building a home alignment rack in my garage. If you're going to be frequently f*cking around with your suspension, it'd be worth your while. If you're looking for a conservative "zero everything" alignment for a high miling family car... get it done at a shop.

I've got a kit that does camber and toe. It works well enough but it takes me forever to get it right. There's a fair amount of trial and error and without years of experience knowing how much of an adjustment to make it's skewed more to the side of error. I've successfully aligned everything I worked on, but it took many times longer than at a shop.

The last time I had an alignment it took hours for an alignment shop to do, and ended after the close of business with two guys (one was the manager) hanging on a wheel and one guy under the car being cursed at that he should tighten a fastener at a certain moment. Maybe being T-boned isn't so good for alignment. :hahaspit:



I don't think I'll be trying it at home anytime soon.

For what a proper alignment cost's, why would you even bother trying?

For a commuter, it's not worth the effort if you have the money. For a car that is raced AND commuted-in, you will want to change the suspension setup often. For a car that is frequently modified likewise. If you have just done some drastic changes to the suspension and don't want to kill your tires before a proper alignment is performed, a "quick" DIY job can be much better than nothing.