Home Alignment Basics for 996 by Mikelly

8 minute read

Home Alignment Basics for 996

Compliments of Mikelly @ www.renntrack.com

With the economy the way it is these days, more and more guys and gals are doing more and more of their own work... However, many folks get nervous when thinking about chewing up expensive tires and adversely effecting the handling of their car... I don't blame you. 

However, the amature racer and weekend warrier must understand how to set up their cars for and at the track. Although I do have a lift, you don't need one to be able to set up your own car for track day fun, and then return it to weekday kid hauler status. A little prep-work is important, and great note taking is a MUST.

The tools required will cost you a few bucks, but will pay for themselves within just one season of use, if you adjust your suspension more than twice per year.

The tools you will need to make changes to your car with are as follows:

Tools to Document with - This is so important and a step many jump past, when getting started... You want to capture all the data on your car's suspension, as it sits right now, and how you want it to sit when done. This is VERY important if you plan to duplicate later.

Longacre sells a book with chassis setup forms, but Excel spreadsheets and a laptop work wonders... Just remember to back up your data and save it to a couple different formats.

Caster-Camber gauge - I had an older setup that used an angle finder and degree wheel. It worked, but was not precise to the level I truly needed. I now have a SMARTCamber tool that is absolutely a must.

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p..._Camber_Gauges

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p..._Camber_Gauges

TOE Measuring Tool - There are a number of tools out there on the market. You can string a car, use lazers, or good old fashion toe plates. I've done string and toe plates in the past, and depending on the car, it really does make a difference which you use.

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/c..._Alignment_Kit

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p...d_Laser_Plates

Turn Tables - Not necessary, but it certainly helps. Thes tables allow you to park the car on them and make the appropriate adjustments without fighting the asphalt or concrete the tires are resting on. Aluminum units are expensive ($500-800). Steel units are cheap, but heavy. Bought mine from a guy for $100 and paid almost as much to ship them (weigh about 25-30# each!).

FACTORY SHOP Manual (FSM) - This little tidbit of info is available in various forms. Typically anyone that visits me leaves with a copy on CD... The FSM has all the specs you need for aligning the car. It also shows you where the proper adjusters are, and how to use them. It also shows you the appropriate spots to measure for ride height from when setting up coil-overs.

Wrenches, Jack and Jackstands - You've got to get the car up in the air to access the various adjusters. So make sure you have these and a variety of metric tools on hand. You'll want 15MM/16MM/17MM/18MM wrenches, both boxed and open to work with.

*Disclaimer* This works for me, and I'm not a professional, only a hack working out of my own private shop. 

Pictures will follow at a later date... I do not have my car at the moment... It's in the shop for a trans rebuild... STILL. 

Those that want to go nuts (and I'm in this category!) will want scales and platforms to do the actual work on their cars with... Beware, this can be a much more slippery slope than "modding" your car.

I'm hoping Jon will chime in, since he's one of few I know who does his own alignments... 

Now you have the basic tools laid out... Next we'll discuss what it is we're adjusting on a STOCK suspension system.

First thing you need to do is confirm where your car sits right now. It should have a recent fresh alignment with no sign of adverse wear on your tires, as in outter or inner edges worn excessively, and not evidence that the car pulls to on side or the other. Truly your best bet is to have the car aligned and get the numbers/printout from the shop, so you can be 100% sure you're working with a good setting from the outset. After reading all the documentation for all those cool tools, and playing around with it a bit, you need to start documenting the current settings with YOUR tools. You want to baseline what you have, compared to what the shop recorded. Do not raise the car with jacks to get these measurements. You want the car to be fully rested on its suspension and you don't want to "relieve" the weight from the suspension. What I mean here is "how the car looks" initially after it has come off its jacks or lift... 

You'll obviously be using your new tools from here on out, and this is why it is critical to buy the best tools you can, especially for caster/camber and toe measuring, and reading the instructions to understand how they work before hand. 

Now, since you've recorded your caster/camber/toe:

CAMBER: Your car has four corners to adjust. At those four corners you have eccentric cam adjusters for CAMBER. The front strut Tower (under the plastic covers where the battery resides) are slotted so you can adjust camber from the top as well. Caster can be adjusted with the upper spring perch cups, by rotating them.

TOE: You also have TIE RODs that control the steering angle of each corner. These are called steering toe links. Since your car has been properly aligned by a good shop, you want to make sure you understand those numbers well from your recording. As you have adjusted your camber, you have pulled toe OUT of alignment. Don't panic. You can return it to its prior numbers by simply returning caster and camber back to the previous numbers, wiping your brow and heading to the fridge for a beer! (Get me one while you're there...) However, you'll have gained nothing, but a full bladder.  Back to adjusting the toe. With the camber and caster adjusted to the numbers that you've been given by some idiot on the internet (stop looking at me that way), you'll want to re-set the toe to the values needed... BUT, you must do this per corner. In other words, if someone gives you the values of "1/8th toe in", make sure you understand them to mean one of two things: 1/8th toe in or out TOTAL (per axle) or 1/8th toe in or out PER CORNER. However you measure your toe, you'll want to understand this from the outset.

Once you have the desired settings for each corner, you'll want to go back and re-check your lock-nuts, bolts/adjusters to make sure they aren't just "snugged down", but rather torqued to the appropriate amount.

Gang, it is really this simple. It till take you better part of 4-5 hours the first time you do this... Every time there after the amount of time will fall rapidly. You'll get to the point of being able to setup your own chassis in 1-2 hours MAX.

Mike