DIY Alignment Plates?

[SeeingSpots]

Flores was very kind and let me borrow his Caster gauges so I can finally align my rig. Problem is, I tried building my own slide plates out of 16" greased ceramic tiles and they instantly shattered underneath the weight.

Have any of you guys built your own or know where I can rent a set of these? My Caster is at 0* which explains why it's been unruly on the road.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Good lord. Just use floor jacks under the LBJ's. Just enough to take a bit of weight off.

Or just grease the floor........ :looney:

 

[jdbwrx]

Get the 12" square pieces of linoleum (vinyl) from Home Depot or Lowes. Super cheap. Then grease them in between.

 

[Fred]

I've never had a problem adjusting control arm length with the wheels on the ground?

 

[jdbwrx]

I've never had a problem adjusting control arm length with the wheels on the ground?

Agreed, but I think he was talking about making turning plates. With a real caster measuring tool you can check through the turning.

 

[Fred]

Castor is measured through the line going throught the center of the balljoints in the knuckle on the axle. This does not change when turning with a solid axle. The wheels only have to move forward or backward. At least that's my understanding. :dunno:

 

[Fred]

Must be using one of these.

http://www.circletrack.com/howto/138_0306_how_to_measure_caster_and_camber/

 

[eflores]

as a matter of fact those look like the exact ones....he borrowed from me lol

 

[SeeingSpots]

The Snap-On gauges require a 20* L/R turn to determine your baseline caster degree for each side. From there, you can make adjustments. I didn't feel like whipping out the old protractor and making another set. That's why I was asking to borrow some.

I borrowed a set with adjustable feet for the day from my buddy. Made everything so much quicker and easier by making adjustments while the tires sat on the plates.

My baseline caster started out at 1.9* and I was able to get it to 4.5* without it eating my pinion for lunch. The difference was night and day on the road. Install a swaybar and I'll be hitting road courses in no time

 

[xj-grin]

I ran 4.5* on my XJ for years (5ish lift), it is the bare minimum, but it works fine.

 

[Gunter]

there are also off set upper ball joints available to help you get your angles like you want them/