IF I was to attempt my own alignment...

After I make a change to the geometry, would I have to roll the car back and forth before making measurements after I put it back on the floor?

Would it level out by just turning the steering wheel back and forth a few times?

Maybe cat litter under the front wheels?

Any suggestions?

Want to keep the garage door closed because it is 34 degrees out and I have space heaters going. But would like to get the alignment a bit closer to spec.

 

I would bring it too a reputable alignment shop and have them do it. With right equipment you know you will be in the specs you want with taking out the guess work. I have done alignments on dirt track race cars and I can tell you that I don't believe they were as close as the alignments I used to do at work on a machine.

 

I did my own alignments during my stock car days - I have a Longacre unit that spins onto the end of the spindle - everytime I made any adjustment, I would roll the car back and forth to relaxe the tie rods ( I didn't use a rack back then ) - the camber was easy on the guage as long as the gauge was level across the side plane of the car - I hope my memory is still good on the caster - I needed to steer the car to the right 20 degrees - "0" out the gauge and then turn it back past center to 20 degrees left to read what the caster was - cat litter really came in handy because we were using 10 inch Hoosier slicks all around the car - I'm going give by best shot at doing my own alignment when the time comes

 

Miy cars were built for pavement but I fully agree with your statement - half a bubble off usually was good enough on tires that were destined to last only a few weeks

 

I just want to get it close. Not sure if I will get all the little BS things I need done before tomorrow, so I can take it in for a professional alignment. Might need to do short drives for another week or two, and currently WAY out, and feels dangerous.

I don't have special tools. I have a pinion angle degreeing doohicky, which should get me within a degree or two of where I need to be.

Like this one...

 

Too bad you don't have a couple of wheel dolly's to set it down on, I have heard of people taking some 2 X 12 pieces of wood and putting something through the middle to hold them together after smearing grease between them, that way they turn, it's just inward and outward movement then you need, maybe that setup with cat litter under them, I don't know, I did most of mine (enough to get it to the shop 12 miles away) on car dolly's.

 

What mine looks like - your angle finder method is usually good enough to be able to drive it to an alignment shop

http://www.longacreracing.com/catalog/item.asp?id=131&catid=5

 

Toe-in is the biggie that wears tires, combine that with camber issues and you can ruin tires in a hurry(caster has little effect on tire wear)...

You can pump up the tires to around 45 psi then run a plumb down sidewall to get camber close, roll it back and forth, bounce it a few times, then check again... If you run the twisties, a little negative will improve handling... Without equipment caster is the tough one, but after setting camber, check how each tire sets in the wheel well and measure, if one is ahead of the other, pull it back till they are even... Positive caster improves handling(stability), especially if they are already negative(that is suspect in your case)... More caster on one side than other will cause a pull to the side with most positive, either increase the opposite side or decrease the side it pulls to...Toe is easily set with a tape as long as you measure from same point on tire in front and rear...

No you won't get it perfect, but you can get it close enough to drive and maybe impress the guys at the alignment shop with your work...

 

I have wheel dollies...somewhere in storage.

That is all I am asking for. If I have to put 20 miles on it before I get to the alignment shop, I don't want to eat a decent set of tires up.

 

Just eyeball the camber and set the toe with a good old tape measure front and back of tire. That will get you to the shop no problems. If camber is out enough to chew a tire that fast you can see it.

 

If you play with the caster be sure to recheck toe-in, pulling the wheels back to gain positive will increase toe-in... Of course that is on a rear steer vehicle, if arms are on front of spindle opposite is true...

 

Well, I had around 2 degrees camber, and way negative caster. I now have shored up the camber and have positive caster (not sure how much, cannot measure it).

Working on toe now. I will just get it to zero, and then crank in a touch on each tie rod end. Shooting for around 1/16"

 

You could set the fronts down on some sheet metal to help them slide some, will only work on smooth concrete though... But looks like you're already done. Just make sure you go positive on the caster when it's done, and close to 0 on the camber. My specs were negative caster, but that was for old bias tires, and normal driving... I went positive on mine and it drives great. After 20 years of doing alignments, it sure sucks to not have a place to do them anymore! Changed careers...

 

Toe will change very fast moving both adjusters - just move them ever so slightly or move only 1 and see what you gained - this is where the car needs to be rolled to neutralize any tire binds

 

I think I have it close enough for government work. Pulled both tires out about 3 full turns.