Recommendations on a string alignment setup?

Matt Blehm

Matt Blehm

Moderator
Looks like that's the next item on my tool/toy investment list. It seems there's a number of systems out there- Smart Strings, BG Racing both have the 'hang on the car string type' systems, and a few others have some laser style ones that you place on the floor, but those increase in price quite a bit and I likely won't do much better than the string type anyway.

The Smart Strings are about $100 more for the basic setup than the BG, but they look to be very similar in overall construction and what they come with. So are they "all the same", or is there a particular something to point at that makes one better or easier to use, etc?

Thx
 
Or if you have more time than money you could make your own. I made for a Miata specific for less than $50.00 and worked as well as a $500.00 kit. In past years Iron Canyon sold a Miata specific kit for $200.00. No longer on their site.
 
2 8 ft sections of 1in conduit.;
Measure the width of your car to the rims edges. Add 4 in.
Clamp both tubes together in the vise , Cut string slots at your dimension while the tubes are clamped., so that the slots are at the same width.
Buy 2 sets of identical jackstands. Find a metric steel ruler ,etc.
 
Protech Racing":1mmtlclj said:
2 8 ft sections of 1in conduit.;
Measure the width of your car to the rims edges. Add 4 in.
Clamp both tubes together in the vise , Cut string slots at your dimension while the tubes are clamped., so that the slots are at the same width.
Buy 2 sets of identical jackstands. Find a metric steel ruler ,etc.
Click to expand...

I've done the jackstand method before. takes forever to align when you have to debounce the car after each adjustment. would prefer something mounted to the car so I can debounce the suspension.
 
David Dewhurst":1odm0h7e said:
Or if you have more time than money you could make your own. I made for a Miata specific for less than $50.00 and worked as well as a $500.00 kit. In past years Iron Canyon sold a Miata specific kit for $200.00. No longer on their site.
Click to expand...

Ya.. I have less time than I do money. I also have less precise fab skills to make multiple perfect right angle parts which I could use to replicate the joints I could simply buy. would prefer to buy something I can trust for years vs. spend a day in the garage cobbling something together.
 
Have a friend with one of the camera/computer alignment systems I use when I can get to him. Most times I use a long tow-in gauge made out of 1 inch square aluminum tubing, a 10" pointer on one end and a flat plate slider on the other that can do inside, outside, and marked or treaded tires by marking the plate. With a 3 link rear suspension I use the tubing by itself clamped to a wheel to align with the rockers and measuring down the tube with a ruler. Works well at the track by leaving the mounted tire/wheels on a flat surface and having crew chief hold the tube against the center of the tire while I measure. Have a hundred year old dial degree indicator we lay up against the front wheels for camber setting. Simple but effective.... If I have a phone number I can shoot a couple pictures to you.

Bob
 
Bob, thanks for the ideas. I think I can surmise from your description. I have a camber/caster gauge and some toe plates already, in addition to a toe-stick I made many years ago.. Your method works, but gotta have two people. My crew chief/ financial advisor/ logistics manager/ facility manager may make a great dinner on a campstove at the track and keep the kids in line, but trying to get her to hold anything still and precise is like pushing a rope. Point is, I'd like a 1-man setup since I'm often solo at the track and the wife is wrangling the kids (or they're in bed when I finally get to the garage!)

I don't have access to a computer alignment machine- at least not one that doesn't take me a 1/2 day to get there and suck up the shop owner's space during business hours- so I'm trying to become self-sufficient on this matter. I've also been using Louie Rivera for years for my setups, but his shop is often full and I'm always trying to get something done last-minute. Louie always fit me in, but I don't like putting that burden on others. Thus I'd like to become more self-sufficient and come up with the tools to do a 1-man job.

anviltester":399juhs0 said:
I got some from here; https://www.wheelalignmenttools.com/store/. summit and everyone else sells them. work very good.
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I like the wheel attachment tools. handy so I don't have to hold tape measures all the time. however, not a fan of the strings mounted separate from the chassis. after each debounce you have to realign the strings to the car. Maybe a set of chassis-mounted strings with those wheel mounts would be the nice trick and then I can use grease plates or similar without the car moving around too much. hub stands would also be handy, but that would be on the upgrade plan..

Thanks for the input all. million ways to skin the cat!
 
Matt you can get hub stands from Technotoytuning for $145 for a pair. They also post a video showing their stability. Haven't tried them but have bought products from them before.
Paul.
 
Yes, The B-G is of the kits I was eyeballing along with the Smart Strings. That review helps, as it cleared up a few things I was looking at between the different systems. I was leaning that direction already, but some of the reviews on various websites are not exactly glowing, however you always have to take those with a grain of salt.

The most common problem being that some of the threaded holes need to be chased. that's not a big deal, but a little annoying for a new product. but it has a total of 12 holes per the review- that'll take an extra 5-10 minutes to chase all of the threads before I assemble it the first time.. not a deal breaker.

The SmartStrings kit is the 'old standard', and the BG review lists a couple of the SS cons-- the string bar sits loose on the mounts on each end so even a tiny bump will knock the bar out of place and you start over with measurements. inside a cramped garage, I'm sure that's gonna happen! then again, looking at more pics of the SS system, it's got a setscrew on one side and a cradle/hook it sits in on the second so it'll only bump one way. heh.

seems both will work well, but they have small disadvantages.
 
David Dewhurst":2btcfcoc said:
Or if you have more time than money you could make your own. I made for a Miata specific for less than $50.00 and worked as well as a $500.00 kit. In past years Iron Canyon sold a Miata specific kit for $200.00. No longer on their site.
Click to expand...

I'm with Dewhurst on this. Super EZ to make your own. I built one for my sprite for almost nothing and one for my SM. Just try to attach it to the chassis somewhere that minor taps (think Spec Miata) will not affect the mounting location. Be sure to precisely locate and drill front and rear chassis centerlines under the car to drop plumb bobs front and rear to establish and reestablish a chassis centerline. You don't want the car "crabbing" its way down the straights. I had no such bumping problems as I used a spring in series with the line so if I did touch it the spring extended and went back to its original location

The best thing of all is that you know it is set up and calibrated properly. With commercial stuff you can never be sure they did it right. I will however admit that I have a tendency to over complicate things.


Jay
 
I have the BG system. To be fair, I have used it exactly one time for aligning my summer daily driver Miata. Based on my recollection, here is what I remember:

1) All of the parts were present and had no real issues going together.
2) Instructions were not great, but most of it was intuitive.
3) Figuring out what goes where and what points to mount the system to can take some figuring out. Remembering it for next time is even more difficult as leaving the parts together takes up WAY more space.
4) The strings are thin and, when coupled with a steel rule and old(er) eyes, it can be a challenge to read the numbers. Light helps as well as switching to the close-up glasses (stupid bi-focals)
5) I experienced no problems with the bar moving. I do not remember if there was a way to secure it.
6) I did this outside to maximize space so that I didn't accidentally bump into anything.
7) Overall, I was satisfied. I wasn't overly happy about it, but I attributed this to a learning curve vs. using this regularly. I am hopeful that the next time it will be easier.
 
I use shiny newspaper flyers for turn plates, or the plastic body stuff with grease between two sheets set up on 4 wheels.
The string bars work fine set on the jack stands. Mark some reference points on each end of the car and bars. easy .
Bouncing the car without touching the strings will not change the string points.
AS long as the string slots are cut equal distance apart, in the vise, the strings are true.

If you have a RX7 this is way overkill. Same as my Toyota. String it on the stands at the shop, set it down and measure the toe with toe plates for reference.
Use the toe plates at the track .
The VW needs a lot of love as it is crucial for the rear to be where I like it .
 
I use smart strings on my car and every car I align with great results. Super adjustable for any car you might want to align in the future.
 
Protech Racing":hbdzz8cx said:
I use shiny newspaper flyers for turn plates, or the plastic body stuff with grease between two sheets set up on 4 wheels.
The string bars work fine set on the jack stands. Mark some reference points on each end of the car and bars. easy .
Bouncing the car without touching the strings will not change the string points.
AS long as the string slots are cut equal distance apart, in the vise, the strings are true.

If you have a RX7 this is way overkill. Same as my Toyota. String it on the stands at the shop, set it down and measure the toe with toe plates for reference.
Use the toe plates at the track .
The VW needs a lot of love as it is crucial for the rear to be where I like it .
Click to expand...

On the RX7, I would square the rear axle to the chassis and use toe plates + camber gauge on the front. pretty easy. Said RX7 is mothballed in the garage looking for a buyer..

Current toy is an FR-S, and its RWD with a multi-link IRS... You can adjust toe, camber, anti/squat, bump steer, etc on the rear, plus the standard Mcstrut front end adjustments. Lots of knobs to turn and of course one adjustment affects all of the others on the rear. Toe and camber require adjustment of two arms simultaneously- bit of an iterative process. Last time I did it, I put the car on some harbor freight rollers and slid under the car while waiting for my impatient wife to learn how to juggle a camber gauge and toe plates simultaneously while I could not breathe without bumping into the tape measures under the car. yelling was involved, alcohol and apologies came later.

I also align the fleet of daily drivers myself, so there's 3 more cars in the driveway that get periodic checks. Thus I'd like something I can somewhat quickly set up when necessary. The BG seems like a good choice for that part.

I recently renewed my SCCA license and there was a 10% coupon in there to Summit. They sell the BG kit, so it winds up being almost $150 less than the Smart Strings setup. sounds like an easy button...
While trying to apply the coupon online, I had errors and called Summit's customer service. "Are you calling about your normal account or the pro shop account?" (wait wut?!)... turns out the SCCA membership pro-shop discount had not been applied as I had two customer numbers tied to my name. apply the pro shop pricing and the 10% member renewal coupon and this wound up being $200 less than the SS kit.

Will let you guys know how it goes once it shows up. :)
 
I've thought about building my own. At work, we build a lot of ancillary equipment using 80/20 Products. It's a modular extruded aluminum "erector set" kind of product, and they make all kinds of brackets, adapters, hinges, handles, etc... I haven't really priced it out yet, but I'm really familiar with using it and it's really versatile. Might be worth a look.

https://8020.net/
 
I started to build my own (not with 80/20, but just with square tubing) and found that, for the time and effort, it was just cheaper to buy the kit. I found my on e-Bay from a reputable seller for something like $300.
 
jcspiegel":3vbdwq34 said:
I've thought about building my own. At work, we build a lot of ancillary equipment using 80/20 Products. It's a modular extruded aluminum "erector set" kind of product, and they make all kinds of brackets, adapters, hinges, handles, etc... I haven't really priced it out yet, but I'm really familiar with using it and it's really versatile. Might be worth a look.

https://8020.net/
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have seen that stuff before. I have a kart racing friend that works in medical device manufacturing as a CNC guy, and he said he has bins of that stuff at his disposal. built all of his kart stands and some other stuff with it. For me to buy it at retail would cost just as much as the prefab kits, plus the time- similar to Bill's experience.
 
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