Frontend Alignment Tools and Procedures
Just the thought of aligning the front of your street rod yourself can seem intimidating, which is exactly why specialty alignment shops are getting paid high dollar to do the job instead. But the truth is you can actually do it yourself in your own garage. Once you know the basics of camber, caster, and toe, with the right tools a front end alignment can actually be very simple and straight forward to accomplish. You might actually be surprised with how smooth your car drives down the road after you're done, not to mention receiving the longest life out of your tires.
For anyone who’s built their car from scratch or even the DIY guy on a budget, Speedway offers a range of precision alignment tools. The equipment required for the job is a camber/caster gauge and something to measure toe. Depending on the budget, Speedway supplies a variety of camber/caster gauges from an economy bubble gauge to a fully digital gauge that measures down to the tenth degree.
After you remove the dust cap, the camber/caster gauge will attach to your hub with a heavy duty magnet. Then you follow the instructions to calibrate the gauge and adjust your camber and caster according to your specifications. Following your camber/caster adjustments the only thing you’ll need is a way to set the toe adjustment. As an alternative to the string or tape measure method, Speedway supplies a hi-tech precision toe gauge with measurements built in. It measures down to 1/16-inch increments and its built from lightweight aluminum. You simply mark the tires and set your toe accordingly.
