This puts the suspension tuner in a real pickle: pay $70 for a mystery alignment and get it blessed by the local or cough up a small fortune to get it done the "right way."
Fed up with the results of the chain-store alignments, and unable to get an appointment with a pro, we decided to do something revolutionary-do it ourselves. Yes, you read that correctly. And no, it doesn't require fancy equipment or a degree in trigonometry, either. In fact, for less than the cost of a Big-O 4-wheel alignment, you can purchase all the tools and supplies you need to do it at home.
Intrigued, we ordered up a caster/camber gauge for under $40 dollars and hit up the local hardware store for the rest of the supplies, intent on seeing just how accurate a DIY alignment can be. We chose a car that allows for adjustment of caster, camber and toe in the front, and camber and toe in the rear. We did this because it provided a greater challenge than almost any factory suspension out there, and to really put this budget equipment to the test, we needed a good challenge. Obviously, addressing individual platforms and alignment specs and effects is well beyond the scope of this article. We will simply show you how to set everything up level and square, and show you how to measure caster, camber and toe. Because cars can vary in the way each of these things are adjusted, consult a repair manual for OEM specs and adjustment methods.
The process of adjusting the alignment is fairly simple-but be warned, your first attempt will consume an entire day. It can be done more quickly, but remember that the whole point of doing it yourself is to achieve the highest degree of accuracy possible. So take your time, double- and triple-check everything, ensuring you have everything as perfect as possible.
We talked with some people familiar with the subject of our experiment and came up with what we felt was a good alignment for this particular car and driver. After checking, setting, and double-checking the alignment ourselves, we took the car to Darin Nishimura at West End Alignment, in Gardena, California, to have a pro check the our handiwork and see how close our ghetto alignment would be. West End is one of the few shops around that appreciates the lost art of alignment. And people have taken notice-Darin's a busy man. Thankfully, he took the time to check our specs one morning before an 8 a.m. appointment. The results were pretty impressive, and even he was impressed.
All in all it was a huge success, but it cost an entire day of labor. In fact, we were aware that our left-front caster was a little high, as was the left-rear camber setting. But mental and physical exhaustion (crawling around under a car for hours on end sucks) had prompted us to say it was "close enough" at about 1 a.m. Interestingly enough, West End confirmed that these two specs were dead-on with what we measured. The bottom line is that the measurements synced to theirs to within a tenth of a degree. This means that with a little practice, we could get it right. After the third or fourth time, it should only take a few hours and with this kind of accuracy, this really is a viable new option. The question is: Are you man (or woman) enough to do it yourself?