Wheel Alignment Guide - DIY Alignment

Most gearheads accept the basal definitions of caster, camber, and toe, but if it comes to in actuality barometer or ambience these wheel-alignment specs, the simple Band-Aid is to accompany the car to a able shop. For cruisers area a wheel alignment is a set-it-and-forget-it proposition, that's apparently OK. But if you adore the achievement of alive how to do wheel alignment yourself, or if you apprehend to be authoritative abundant alignment changes that demography your car to a boutique every time would be big-ticket and impractical, you'll account from abacus alignment abilities to your brainy toolbox.
Aligning a car may assume like one of those allure sciences that makes no faculty if you've never in actuality apparent it done, but as we abstruse by accomplishing in advancing this article, the action is absolutely aboveboard if approached logically. The lot of difficult and time-consuming allotment of the action is ambience up your auto equipment to get accurate, repeatable results. A lot of analytical is accepting a flat, akin atom to plan from, and as you'll read, we've appear up with a simple way to achieve that so you can set alignment in your garage, shop, or even at the racetrack.

Although a bit added avant-garde and acute added big-ticket accoutrement than a basal, we've as well included advice on barometer and adjusting bump steer and ascent and corner-weighting a car-techniques that are analytical to appropriately ambience up any chase car or high-performance artery apparatus for optimum handling.
Even if you're not racing, accepting all your car's auto acicular in the appropriate admonition is an acceptable idea, and your ability be afraid at how abundant bigger your car drives afterwards getting aligned, not to acknowledgment the actuality that your tires will apparently endure best already you apprentice how to do your own car alignments. Even if you just wish to set it and overlook wheel alignment.
When to Use a Four Post Car Lift
This type of car lift gets its name from its four support posts. However, the defining feature of these lifts is the bridge jacks. Vehicles can drive on and off of these long metal supports, and as long as all the wheels are on the supports, the weight is balanced. This skips the arm adjustment involved with two post lifts, greatly reducing the time it takes to get the vehicle on and off the rack. However, this setup keeps the vehicle on its wheels, restricting access to suspension, brake and drivetrain components.
What are they used for?
There is enough space between the bridge jacks to access most underbody parts, including exhaust, drivetrain and fuel systems. Sometimes these are used for lube service in place of pits. Heavy-duty truck lifts have a catwalk for access to the engine while the truck is in the air.
Alignment racks are a variation on this design: They add rollers and measuring equipment to the rack, but can still be used like a regular four post car lift when needed.
Jack tracks between the bridges can hold jacks, trays and other accessories. This makes transmission work easier, because the gearbox can be rolled forward and backwards along with being moved up and down, making it easier to line up with mounts and bolt holes. In some cases the transmission can be fixed on the jack.
New lightweight models have entered the market, aimed at consumers who need to get the most of their garage space. One car is held on the rack, leaving space underneath for a second vehicle. High lift versions leave enough room underneath to park an RV or conversion van.
What are the disadvantages of these lifts?
A four post car lift takes up far more space than a two post design. Expect a four post version to be three to four feet wider than the equivalent two post lift. Four post lifts may have a lower quoted minimum height than a two post lift, but this doesn't take into account the height of the vehicle. In practice, the usable height will be about the same.