Ok I am sure this is overboard but I have never really liked the string alignment method.
I have been using a Craftsman Scrolling Laser that I bought a few years ago when I was doing an alignment on my Harley. I use a 36 inch and 60 inch straight edge along with a carpenters square.
Here are the steps I took to do this:
First, I had to find the center of the steering travel. So, I turned the wheel all the way one way then went back the other way until it stopped while counting the turns it took to get there and go back half that. I usually drive with my left hand when I am driving straight, if you notice your steering rack has some backlash in it depending on how worn it is. So, for the wheel to line up straight when I am driving with my left hand I turned it all the way to the right and then back to the left to the center point of travel. What this did was make the steering wheel straight when I am driving with my left hand from holding a slight bit of left pressure on the steering wheel.
Next, (and this may not be necessary) but I jacked up the machine and removed the shocks and then used a ratchet strap or bungee cord to set the suspension to about what it would be when setting on the ground.
Next, I took the Laser and attached it to the front brake disk and pointed it at the rear tire, (take note of which knobby on the tire it lines up with). Then, I went to the other side and did the same thing. Finally, I adjusted one or both tie rods to point at the same knobby's on each rear tire.
I took the laser and started on the drivers side and shot a line across the floor, I then took the 36 inch straight edge and lined it up with the laser line. This gave me a fixed datum that I could measure from. I then took the laser to the passenger side and attached it to the rotor and shot a line. After that, I took my carpenter square towards the front (right under the rotor) and squared it up with the laser line then squared up my 60 inch straight edge with the square and the laser line. I was then able to go to the other side and take note to what the measurement was from the previous datum I set with the other straight edge.
Finally, I moved the square and 60 inch straight edge towards the back of the machine about 2ft and took note of the measurement and compared it too the first measurement. I did these steps over to see whether the toe was positive or negative and adjusted both tie rods the same amount to add or subtract toe. (I set mine at 0).
It's not a bad idea once you get it all set to go back to the start and check everything again. I did this a couple of times and the repeatably was very good. So, I put the wheels and shocks on and tried it out. It was dead nuts for me.
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