Have any of y'all ever aligned a front end without using a rack or paying a shop to do it? I have one car that needs the front end adjusted and another one that will need to be done shortly. I rebuilt the front end of my Porsche 928 and like everything on this car can be a real pain to get done right. I could trailer the car to the Ruf dealership in Dallas and have them do it for a few hundred or try a local shop and hope they get it right. I will also be redoing the front end on my Jetta shortly and it will need to be aligned after that. It will not be hard to do.

I'm thinking about getting something like this


and




and just doing them both myself. Has anyone used these types of tools and how well do they work?

 

You can get a vehicle close with a straight edge and a good protractor. I tried this a couple of years ago when my I lowered my Si. With the tools you're ordering, you should be able to get it VERY close if you're precise. Just make sure you're on a flat and level surface and take your time.

I didn't have time to take mine to the alignment shop until about 2 weeks later. The front end was only out .75 degrees and the rear needed no adjustment. In fact, I actually removed the slight pull to the right that the car had new from the factory.

 

You really would need a set of plates to do caster. I have guages (pretty simple) at home that I can do caster, camber and toe. i did alignment in the shop for a # of years because of such bad luck when we sent 'em out. Couldn't believe that professionals were worse than Pep Boys at what they did. You need to find out what kind of adjustment you even have on what you're gonna work on. A lot of cars don't even have any caster or camber adjustment anymore. Built right into the car when it's jigged up for welding, especially on unitized (pretty much everything now).

 

Which plates? The ones I have linked below or a different set?

The 928 has cams on the lower control arms to dial in the castor and camber and of course the adjustments on the tie rods to control the toe in. The problem with it is the suspension is so complex most shops do not want to touch it and if they do they can struggle to get them right. I have the shop manual for the car and the front alignment section is about 10 pages. You have to drive the car for 5 miles or so after each set of adjustments to get it right. The rear alignment is even worse. It requires a special tool to really get it spot on. However, right now it is ok.

The Jetta is simple McPherson strut front end and a rear beam. There really isn't too much to set up on it.

 

Caster plates that take the friction off of the front wheels when turned to do the caster. They are plates that have roller bearings in the lower for side to side and ball in the upper rotating plate. I'm sure there are different kinds but the friction of the tire to rack has to be eliminated to get a proper alignment. I even give a yank down on the front bumper to make sure it's settled. ALWAYS make sure the tire pressure is equal all around. I haven't ever seen plates like you referenced. I tried to envision how they took the friction off for the toe setting.
(928) Perfect example of German engineering. Why build a car to go from point A to B when you can build a rocket ship, right????

 

This is the type of plate you need for caster adjustment because the friction not only has to be eliminated but you have to turn exactly 45 degrees in each direction to set caster.