doing tracking at home

[hipwell]

what tools will i need to do the tracking myself?

i recently changed both track rod ends and went to the local tyre place to get the tracking done, set off home and it was miles out, so took it back twice for them to do it properly, second time my steering wheel was aiming right when going straight, 3rd time it was aiming left.

So i gave that garage up as a bad job and tried somewhere else, who i watched do it with laser tools and still ive been back as when going straight my steering wheel is now aiming left a tad.

Is it really such a hard job to do?

Is there anything simple i can make at home to do it my self? Ive got a 21mm spanner and a 13mm spanner, so moving the track end up and down the rod is no issue, its just making sure both wheels are aiming forward when the steering wheel is.

 

[NorthloopCup]

Try looking here. Extremely accurate way to set your tracking if you don't have access to alignment equipment.

[FONT=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://www.circletrack.com/chassistech/ctrp_1204_determining_wheel_alignment_string_your_car/[/FONT]

 

[Thrill]

Try looking here. Extremely accurate way to set your tracking if you don't have access to alignment equipment.

[FONT=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://www.circletrack.com/chassistech/ctrp_1204_determining_wheel_alignment_string_your_car/[/FONT]

​Very handy link

 

[JezzaMac]

I think it's clubgti.com (or maybe .uk) and a guy called nigep's project thread there is a big section about how to set tracking up at home.

Me and my mate did it after I did all my ball joints/TRE's etc before getting it properly tracked and camber set up and tbh it wasn't miles away from what we set it to at home, if we spent a bit longer it would of been spot on.

It's easy enough to do just quite time consuming.

 

[hipwell]

ok no worries, ill take a look at some of those threads and see what i can do.

​i just want my steering wheel to be center when going forward!

 

[ekaJ]

Garage couldn't get mine straight so I've given up for now.

 

[NorthloopCup]

I don't understand how some people/garages fail in such an epic proportion to get a steering wheel straight!! If the wheel is off to the left say, you need to wind in the n/s track rod to shorten it and do the opposite on the o/s to lengthen it!!! Obviously only turn it a qtr at a time, but remember to do exactly the same thing on the opposite side. Its just a quick road test after each adjustment to see if you've gone to far or not enough.

It really couldn't be any simpler.

 

[hipwell]

North loop,I get that mate so I'm going to do that to straighten the wheel, but what I cant do is make sure both wheels are facing the same way without doing what has been mentioned in the above links.

 

[NorthloopCup]

North loop,I get that mate so I'm going to do that to straighten the wheel, but what I cant do is make sure both wheels are facing the same way without doing what has been mentioned in the above links.

​Yeah no worries mate. It wasn't directed at you either btw.

 

[McGherkin]

Fred does it by eye.

 

[hipwell]

​Yeah no worries mate. It wasn't directed at you either btw.

no worries mate, just been out and got the wheel striaght now anyway, just going to have to use the string method or similar to check if the wheels are both facing the same way.

​