Eyeball alingment

[Charles Freeborn]

Is it possible to do an eyeball alignment to get it close enough to drive 20 miles at 45 mph max to the alignment shop. The entire front suspension has been rebuilt (bushings, tie rods, etc) Rear spring plates changed too.
I have laser levels (2) straight edges, etc. I'm figuring on essentially "centering" things like upper struts and rear spring plates - but toe in eludes me.
Thanks.

[dufer]

Charles:


I'm in the same boat as you as I dismantled my '87 Carrera suspension this winter for swapping out parts (camber plates, de-cambered ball joints, sway bars, bump steering kit, lowered splines, etc.). Now I need to get my car to my mechanic. Regarding my front toe in/out, I used two long, straight boards and with the help of others placed those boards against my front tires with the long ends pointing in front of the car. I measured the distance between the boards so that the distance was equal out to the ends (while turning the tie-rod connections accordingly to toe in or out). This should at least have both front wheels reasonable pointed in the same direction. Since all the new parts are torqued, I think the worst that can happen while commuting to my mechanic is that I'll wear the tires a little bit more than a proper alignment. I have to think that close counts and you'll get to your mechanic just fine (as I hope to do the same).

Dan

[Steve]

Just get it close and drive carefully.

[Charles Freeborn]

Set the toe-in with a couple of straight edges to a tad under 0º and who knows what caster camber are. Drives remarkably straight considering, but definitely wanders a bit above 40 mph. Good enough to get to Marque when I'm back in the saddle after surgery on Monday.
-C

[winders]

Do you have AAA or some other similar service?

Scott