Who's done their own alignment?

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DurocShark
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Who's done their own alignment?

Post by DurocShark » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:56 am

Anybody? How did it go?

I need one and I'm debating whether to try to do it myself, or find a local shop.

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Sluggo
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Post by Sluggo » Wed Sep 13, 2006 10:50 am

I plan on doing this with Colin on the 26th. I'll let you know how it goes.
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1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
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Amskeptic
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Re: Who's done their own alignment?

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Sep 13, 2006 9:56 pm

DurocShark wrote: Anybody? How did it go?
If you can read your tire treads, you can do your own alignment. There is a little trial-and-error.
Colin
(I'll do a write-up at some point)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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spiffy
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Post by spiffy » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:52 pm

So I have a slight pull to the right at highway speed.....very slight. Is this an alignment problem?
78 Riviera "Spiffy"
67 Riviera "Bill"

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:25 pm

spiffy wrote:So I have a slight pull to the right at highway speed.....very slight. Is this an alignment problem?
So I'm ten days late to the party. . . .
Yes, alignment problem. Usually it is a slight camber issue. Please make sure that your tire pressures are equal. Make sure your calipers are equally dragging on the rotors, they do drag to keep pads dry.
Make sure that your wheel bearings are adjusted equally.
If test drive shows pull still, find an empty section of road where you can ride the crown of the road. Drag go away?
Last alignment technician did not put in automatic bias for road crown.
Add a little positive camber on left wheel. Eccentric should go to the left maybe 1/16th turn. Or take it to an alignment rack.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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spiffy
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Post by spiffy » Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:41 am

Amskeptic wrote:
spiffy wrote:So I have a slight pull to the right at highway speed.....very slight. Is this an alignment problem?
So I'm ten days late to the party. . . .
Yes, alignment problem. Usually it is a slight camber issue. Please make sure that your tire pressures are equal. Make sure your calipers are equally dragging on the rotors, they do drag to keep pads dry.
Make sure that your wheel bearings are adjusted equally.
If test drive shows pull still, find an empty section of road where you can ride the crown of the road. Drag go away?
Last alignment technician did not put in automatic bias for road crown.
Add a little positive camber on left wheel. Eccentric should go to the left maybe 1/16th turn. Or take it to an alignment rack.
Colin
Thanks, I just brought my tire pressure down 5 psi all around and I want to see if I still get the pull, I think I thunk :geek: that the tire pressures could be higher then what was on the steering column...I tired it for a few thousand miles and noticed the ride to be a bit jarring for my tastes. Brought them down to 40psi in the rear and 30psi up front and the initial around town ride was much softer.

Any of you folks that have the reinforced tires ( I have the Hankooks) it is fun to play with the pressures and see how much it effects ride and handling, I took my rear tires up to 50psi and my fronts up to 40psi and the bus was stable as a bullet in high winds but potholes or abrupt bumps would knock your teeth out.
78 Riviera "Spiffy"
67 Riviera "Bill"

vdubyah73
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Post by vdubyah73 » Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:29 pm

A good way to find the correct pressure for your Bus, or any car for that matter. Get a tire crayon and make a line across the tread. Then take a ride stopping frequently to check the wear on the line. If it wears out in the middle first you have to much pressure, If it wears out on the edges you need more pressure. You can also do a fully loaded going camping test vs a normal run around town test so you know how much to put in for road trips. It would also probably show abnormal wear due to misalignment. Just guessing on that last one.

Bill

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