Alignment Explained (+ DIY Guide)
Ever since we bought the Miata, it’s needed an alignment. Then we lowered it, and it needed one even more. Come along as Zach explains what an alignment is, why it matters, and even how to do one in the garage! It’s easier than you might think!
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These are all the tools you'll need to perform your very own alignment!
String
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Calipers
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Camber/Caster/Toe plates
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Camber bubble gauge
www.amazon.com/Hanperal-Unive...
Digital camber caster gauge that we did not use but i mentioned at some point in outro
www.amazon.com/Tenhulzen-Hand...
Wrenches
www.amazon.com/Crescent-CCWS3...
Sockets and ratchet
www.amazon.com/CRAFTSMAN-Mech...
>Watches 20 minute video about how to align your wheels >still takes car to the mechanic At least I know what my mechanic is doing now
i use this information so i dont get ripped off, sometimes people will do that if they see u dont know much
make sure to ask him to replace the blinker fluid, piston return springs and most importantly, install the fart remover
@@rafee9442 Don't forget the floor mat alignment and fuel injector bearings, that stuff is important!
And THAT is how you can prevent getting ripped off. Having Knowledge is quite easy to get! Use it as power!
so true
This video taught me that paying $75 bucks to get the car aligned professionally is a steal and I will continue doing it that way.
Yeah I hear ya. But in my case, my rear axle is installed with modified ladder bar suspension and everything is new and off. I don't even know if my rear axle is straight, or what the pinion angles are or anything. And I don't know if the shop would even know how to adjust that. I need the axle straight with the car first, then at least adjust the toe to my rear axle drive thrust angle (not the car, but they should be the same after adjusting my rear axle). Adjusting the caster is to hard to get right at home so once the cars rear axle and toe is adjusted and the car drives straight, I'll be going to the shop. It is an 81 Camaro Z28.
Same here. Every link is adjustable and most places won't touch it. Custom shop is $250. Im going to need to be able to make changes on my own.
IF they do it to your spec.
Provided that the shop is in a bunch of f****** scam artists! Pep boi got me good, was told to pay for an alignment and heir tech would find it! $100 to be told my shocks were bad(brand new Bilstein adjustables) and the Nitto race tires were overinflated.... I had a bad wheel bearing....
Id like to know where you can get a 4wheel alignment (not just toe adjustment) for under $100. Let alone these shops see non-oem looking parts and they won’t touch it
This series will end with "How to manufacture your own car"
Just starts pumping out Donut miatas
"it's actually pretty easy"
@@jaythomson5942 I'll just get this 15 million dollar mining company
Zach is like a really good professor: He can explain things at the highest level but he also knows how to simplify things so that other people who don't know jack shit about this stuff (like me) can understand.
And when he simplifies things he doesn't leave things out.
I agree he's given me more insight with the humor more so then the rest of the guys at donut, while still holding on to that average joe appeal.
except, he failed to explain how he got from 56.2 in the back to 66 3/4 and also the front track width has nothing to do with squareness of the "box". You are creating box that is square to the rear wheels, so you get 2 parallel lines going all the way to the front wheels. if the car was hit in one of the front quarters and the frame wasn't perfectly pulled, you would have different distances between the lines and left and right wheel.
This dude is the worst teacher I’ve ever seen
Ma boi talking about caster Background sound : [quacking intensified]
those birds are rapidly becoming a central theme of this show 😂
@@Donut what about the cats
Those birds had me freaking out that my speakers were bad lol
@@Lightninghound I had paused the video to make sure I wasn't just tripping out 😂
I posted a comment and didnt even realize this comment was already here guys my bad I thought someone was trying to sand a cat
Me: I'm going to align my car! Me after watching this video: Ok where's the nearest shop
yeah, it needs a lot of tools, expensive and a lot of time consuming.
Like literally me at the current moment 😂 this shit would take me 12 hours to fucking do no thank you I'd rather pay for the convenience
Could probably get my car aligned for the next 15 years and not spend $200
Just in case y'all need: - Caster 10:30 - Camber 12:20 - Toe 15:30
preeshate it
- absolute hottie 4:27
You beautiful beautiful man
Damn damn damn! This was so impressive. I’ve done so many alignments as a tech at the dealership with the rack, but seeing this done "by hand" was super impressive. Nice work!
Zach: it's actually easy Us: * watches the sun go down as Zach works into the night.
The feeling as all hope is lost as the sun starts to go down and you realize you started way to late and worked way to slow
@@whydoihave6neutrals772 Holy shit, this so much, every single damn time I work on my car
Kitsunemimi haha when it switches from fun to suffering
Shaun Meldrum suspension setup takes time just like anything else you are trying to get just right
Garage alignments are pretty easy, but NEVER fast. I plan a whole day for mine.
These online classes are getting pretty fun
Go to UTI and pay a fortune, or sit on your ass and get free learning from KZhead and your own car.. You decide LOL!
Yeah no life for me is an online class pretty much, youtube rocks
@@graphicsgod urinary tract infection?
@@graphicsgod you pay by watching a couple of ads
Anyone: Says camber StanceNation has entered the chat
Before I watched this I had no clue how to do an alignment. Now after watching... I still have no clue, but I learned some new vocab words.
This dude has some seriously good hosting talent and knows a thing or two about diy cat builds. Becoming my favorite series very quickly🤙🏻
“Only about 200 dollars”...I was fully expecting him to say 30
Same. Still better than $13k-$40k for a full professional set up, before installation.
Alignments are usually $60-$100 depending on where u go. I work at a dealership so I get to do it myself for free. Still cool to see a home setup tho but it seems like a lot of work
Yeah for $200 is rather just take it in. My mid west cars bolts are all rusted to shit on top of that.
200 bucks is more than enough to get you a life time alignment from a chain franchise. A mom and pop shop will probably charge you fifty bucks. This has got to be the most pointless diy project ever
@@youtubeisbroken241 😄
There's a moment in every garage alignment where you start adopting the, "Let's go with that" compromise.
An that's why you should do it yourself.....most shop's don't give a shit .
Bro, for fucking real.
Honestly this whole series is what every beginner in tuning/mechanics need to watch. Great series just to watch and enjoy for more experienced watchers too which speaks volumes for the entertainment aspect. Thanks guys
This is an outstanding video. No verbal diarrhea, just entertaining delivery and I appreciate that you stay accurate with technical terms: you don't dumb it down, you bring us up. More videos please!
Some things to add: - aligning worn out loose parts doesn't do anything. Refresh your suspension/steering before you do this. Sometimes that alone will correct your alignment. - make sure all tires are aired up the same and ride height is the same at least left/right, if not front/back - too much caster can make the steering really heavy and in extreme cases wear out your pump and ball joints - too little caster will make the car twitchy and cause bump steer - toe is the biggest factor in tire wear. I wouldn't recommend excess of 1° either direction on a road car where tire life matters. - rear toe does the same thing as the front but in reverse. You can make combinations to get your desired effect without sacrificing tires - make sure you bounce the car after each adjustment to remove any bind and give you a more accurate reading - you can often feel the tire tread with your hand to feel how the alignment is effecting the tire effectiveness after a few thousand miles
and always start with the rear axle..
you sir are a legend!
@@alfo4c489 I literally came to the comments to say that
Thanks for this boss sauce man
ah a fellow mechanic i see
* Me get fresh alignment Pothole* I’m about to end this mans whole career
Baltimore is infamous for destroying axles and suspensions
MarloSoBalJr Gaming ok thanks
Muhammed Q there goes my alignment boyyyys!!!
Houston be like
Same with Ohio. This state itself is a huge pothole
I'd love to see how accurate it was when a shop measures it. Also wish you used a ballast at about your weight. Miatas are so light their alignments (mostly rear camber) change drastically with the driver in.
At $200-250 per alignment at Audi which is actually the best price around Edmonton. The plates are a great deal plus you know exactly what you end up with and not have to accept the dealers "fix". Also having 6 Audi's and 2 VW's in the family will save us a ton. Fantastic video, wonderfully simplified and show we can work at it until they are perfect.
The Miata community needed this. Thank you for your service 💂 🔧
Thanks Creg!
Love to Donut, but my favourite Canadian car culture site did a 10 Best Fun Cars Under $30k vid today. It might be something you like seeing. Check out Throttle House it you are into it. I never gave Miatas much thought, but since discovering Donut, I've been made aware of how great and fun those little suckers can be. If I'm ever in a spot to do a project car, I think I'll test the adage that "Miata is always the answer."
ayee
Thanks Graige
Gang gang🤘
I love this series. Straightforward, simple, to the point, and beneficial for anyone with their own vehicle. Good job Donut. Mo instructionals, babeh!
Completely agree! Great to see all of these pieces illustrated, whether or not most people ever go to this point :)
I don't even have a car and i like this series
@Aditya Jha not that good imo
Grant Carr plus it’s a Miata!
Whenever you are working under a car it's always wise to throw another wheel under there too. It might give you enough room if it falls to not get hurt. Could be life or death depending on the situation. Great video!
great explanation, most people overexplain things to the point where they just raise more questions but you kept it simple and informative, I'm sure lots of others as well as myself finished this video feeling more confident in our understanding, so thanks for keeping it straightforward for the laymen!
“They’re only about 200 bucks” Aight imma head out
I feel like you can make those things out of 1/2" OSB or Plywood & it looks like it has a saw Blade angle thing from Harbor Freight
do you know how much an alignment costs... About 100 bucks. Take it somewhere for some high school nut job to do it or do it yourself forever for the cost of two alignments.
@Aditya Jha ? the funny thing is It's more expensive than Home Depot's one from a well known Name Brand KLEIN
Zak Bouhaddou that’s why it’s called money pit 😆
BadBeaver how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood
Couple of tips left out of the video: 1. Make sure the steering wheel is perfectly level when taking your measurements and when adjusting all aspects of your alignment, not just toe. (You can use a "leveler" tool from your local hardware store, usually under $10) 2. Alignment adjustment hardware usually gets pretty rusty and stuck in place, you can combat this by: A) Stacking wrenches like seen in this video at 12:17 - 12:21 B) Using penetrating fluid on all adjustment hardware everyday for 1 week before the alignment takes place C) Purchasing an inexpensive butane torch from, once again, your local hardware store to help heat up nuts, or the area around bolts, to help them break free easier. (Under $30) 3. Always always always take into account that when locking down hardware to set in place your adjustments, the adjustments tend to move around when doing so. Try and keep the adjustment from moving by keeping the tool that is holding on to the adjustment perfectly still, this can be done with the "leveler" tool once again. Love you Donut, keep up these awesome vids PS If you ever take your car to a shop, make sure they actually do the alignment by making paint marks on your eccentric bolts where they are located before the alignment, and counting the amount of threads visible on your toe adjustment, also remember to take pictures. Once the alignment is done, ask the technician if the alignment was off, then ask what aspects they adjusted. If they say they adjusted everything, but clearly your precautions beforehand say otherwise, you know not to go to that shop anymore. One of the shops that I used to work at would just spray all the adjustments with penetrating fluid and then take the car for a ride, if it drove straight, they wouldn't do the alignment but still charge for it. If you ever find that a shop charged you for a service that was never done, always take the necessary steps to report the shop for fraudulent business practices.
true you can breath on the car & that is enough to read a "fixed" car or lie to get the very sensitive computer to say that it's off a shop tried to pull that on my mom with one of those free result quote things & I know how to operate the Hunter alignment machine since High school; they said that it was bad but I looked at the tire wear and it was dead even and the tires dried out long before it got to the wire weave & it's her primary car. They also wanted a custom alignment kit but I have access to AllData and Mitchell on demand Online Subscription service Manuel & it turns out they were continuing to lie to get more money out of my mom So yeah contact the Better Business Bureau for their service licence to be taken away like they take away unsuspecting people's money I hope the guy in the top comments didn't get screwed or not in the case of his car go to the shop any ways even after seeing this video on how to do it yourself it sucks that the cheaper shops under cut the people & the real shops
Your steering wheel doesn't need to be level my guy... Having your toe split yes (steering wheel straight) but level? No
@@shneaky187 level = straight
@@mkfoxtrot8822 just made it sound like you had a level for the steering wheel. My b
If you're 'up in their face' about what they adjusted and such, they'll likely take offense and come up with excuses not to align the car, when you bring it to them again. Hell, a new car dealership gave me a hard time, when I simply asked for the digital measurements, of the alignment, after it was done.
Holy Hell, thanks for teaching me that I never want to attempt doing my own alignment. This video really makes me appreciate the value I get at my local tire shop.
A couple things you got wrong: 1. Normally zero caster will reduce the steering effort, but will remove the “steering wheel return” feature that the positive caster has. 2. Typically you want Camber->Caster->Toe order not Caster->Camber->Toe (probably depends on suspension. 3. You want to start aligning rear first and only the the front with respect to rear. This is still a very impressive video. Thank you!
Last time I was this early Bart was doing science garage
Damn! I miss him
@@navrajsingh9719 I miss that guy so much
Dont tell my wife I miss bart.
@@KimberUs I won't if you don't tell mine
Midnight Runners KimburUs Pray she doesn’t find out about the dildos...
"You can these for 200 bucks" Me: Mechanic it is.
Doesn't end alignment shop charges you like $100
@@hacatan24 Firestone lifetime is 200
@@Demonslayer20111 but you cant get lifetime alignments if you're on aftermarket parts. just found this out yesterday
@@FishieUwU good thing I'm not on aftermarket parts then
I rather do it myself. So that way I can change it how many times I want to fit the track condition
I love this DIY series. I just recently started learning about cars properly, and this series has been a blessing. So thank you, it actually is teaching me a lot 😊
Pre-war race cars used to run excessive positive camber because they would use a dual leaf spring that runs longitudinally tying the left to right sides together. The positive camber would run negative during turning then would provide less rolling resistance in a straightaway. So that being said, positive camber does have performance value IF you are driving a 100 year old grand Prix car. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I don't have a car but i love this show :D
Don’t even is old enough to have a license but still love the show
Same
Same I would have one but I’m only 15
@@jackcowan8318 yeah same, 15 here: minimum age for driving in my country is 18 ; - ;
Sameee I want a WRX as my daily and a 240z as my project car
"Set the Toe and let it go" That's the alignment Moto I learned at Firestone 😂 I don't work there anymore
Toe-n-go is what I heard at the Mavis Tire I used to work at. "hey, the is Bimmer needs front and rear camber and toe" "just front toe-n-go. Send it"
Most of my cars have had the lifetime alignments from them, typically they where good at making the adjustments on mine, but had a nasty habit of leaving all the hardware loose. got to the point where I would have to check either before I left or once I got home. Luckily the shops where only a couple miles from my house or work, depending on which one I went to
Thanks for confirming what I've always suspected. Yet more ammo to fuel my hatred for slacking mechanics and crooked shops, and why I'll continue to rebuild and repair ALL of my own stuff as long as it doesn't require an alignment rack...
Some cars don’t have adjustable camber and caster. You might have to replace upper/lower control arms or ball joints in order to get your camber and caster in spec
@David Wang it’s not a heavy claim, you just need to know what the fuck you’re doing. I been working on cars for 6 years and I also went to tech school. Obviously if you work on cars for a living you start picking up on shit. I’m not claiming I know it all I’m just not dumb, also the hunter alignment machines will tell you if the camber or caster is adjustable fyi. But if you really want examples, I’ll give a common one, GM vehicles there’s an adjuster on the upper control arms where you can adjust the camber and caster or another one is buick where you loosen the bolts for the strut and push the wheel either in or out and that will adjust the camber/caster.
This video was so informative I almost pressed the LIKE button twice.
I love the realistic portion of this. Sometimes things just dont work the way its supposed to. This is good to see because it helps the DIYer keep their head up and forging on!
I just can't wait for this Miata to finish. And be proud that i was here when he built his garage project
at first i thought the backround noises were outside my house .... lmao 🤣
Ok good im not the only one😂👌
For sure one of the best videos about cars all around! Even if you don't try this ,this is all very great information all car owners should know! Great job guys! There is also another quicker method that doesn't quite get it like this method but string and Jack stands are used and it will improve your cars tires if they're really bad.
You guys are my heroes. I've tried finding videos on DIY alignments and most are fair, but this was amazing. Wow.
"there's no caster adjustment at the rear, so lets move on" *cries in 4WS Honda Prelude that needs alignment*
Worst case you can replace control arm bushes with ones that have an offset to compensate for camber and caster.
& GTR
The Lad nice car dude
Carve on a literal dime man.... king of the cones
Last time I was this early, I still can go out.
I look forwards to this show every week. Always love learning something new every week with y'all.
Mom can we have Chrisfix? Mom: We have Chrisfix at home. ChrisFix at home: these are fantastic videos. :)
JT_Pro ngl this is a lot better than Chris fix
I prefer a guy to tell me that i bought endless money pit and that I should of just bought a Toyota so I watch Scotty Kilmer vids.🤣😂🤣
The quality and info chrisfix provides in his videos is amazing. There's a reason he's the #2 automotive channel in KZhead. Not bad at all considering that there doesn't seem to be too many people involved in the production of his videos.
@@nite82hawk Who is number one ?
@@alexisknows6513 Top Gear.
Day 103 of asking James to do an Up to speed on his Dad
Lol, ur still going
Godspeed, my friend.
He’s is man of sheer will and fucking commitment
James will hopefully do it if he is ready
I never realized that using imperial means you have to work with awkward measurements like 1/32 or 3/16 of an inch. Makes me appreciate metric so much more.
Imperial uses a base 12 numbering system which kind of makes it special. But other than that, yeah I'll stick with metric whenever its available.
Imperial is super duper easy to do fractions in your head with, and thus division and multiplication. In construction and carpentry where you need to do endless calculations on measurements, in your head, all day long, this becomes important.
@@jbrimm Just as having 10 mm being 1cm, 100cm being 1mt, and 1000m being 1km. Half of everything is .5 of 50 or 500 So parting from there is pretty easy. I think is just about getting used to ot
Watching attempt after attempt to get things right as the sunlight faded in the background reminded me why I _hate_ doing my own alignments. It just takes so...much...time. This is one of the few jobs I prefer to take to a shop.
1st. Excellent video. Good step by step (thank you for giving the right order, and explaining why!), good lighting, very good description of what each adjustment does! I had to figure these out on my own. Yours is the best description I've seen on KZhead so far! 1. Can you add a note to the video for people to check for absolutely any looseness. I once took my car to a shop, and they aligned it without recognizing that I had a worn ball joint. I wore out a set of expensive tires in just three weeks! 2. When adjusting the toe in, 1 side always affects the other side for me. The steering wheel turns just slightly to the left or to the right during the adjustment and I end up out of toe. I have tried locking the steering. But there's enough play even then did I don't get a satisfactory toe. The last time I tried it I clamped two vice grips directly to the steering column in such a way as to lock it in place. This was the easiest tow-in I have ever done. The steering mechanism literally did not move and I could adjust one side without affecting the other! It's saved me a bunch of time going back and forth.
I HATED doing alignments on racks at my shop😂 Especially on trucks
jakob pisel why on trucks?
red dragon gamer11029 trucks SUCK because in some it controls toe and camber at the same time so for some it takes forever
Which rack does your shop have?
front adjustments on trucks suck because half the time your eccentric is messing with the camber and caster at the same time
Some trucks have 'toe only' adjustment unless you get into special bushings, at least on solid axles it's that way.
This is the math that should be taught at school
@@guyontheinternet8891 i have learned to do this at school, im a dutch mechanic student
Geometry/trigonometry actually teaches this stuff, but in the form of SINe/COSine/TANgent (SohCahToa).
Lmao basic arithmetic and geometry/trigonometry is taught in school you probably wasnt paying attention tho
@@slimshim1467 we we're taught SOL/CAL/TOA
Money Pit is hands down the best online learning resource available for shade tree guys and gals. Well done.
Installed lowering springs on my Porsche 944 a decade ago in my parents gravel driveway.... Adjusted the alignment by hand with no tools other than some wrenches and it's still perfect to this day. Thumbs up to Porsche engineering and thoughtfulness in design.
"Squirrely," "Darty" Sound like words my mother uses to describe the car when she took it to the shop
i watch this for 2 reasons. 1) popup headlights 2) because of this, i might consider getting an mx5 myself, since dude is pumping out all types of videos to maintain this specific car anyways :D
PuhpuhPpPUHOHP UP UPN'DOWN HEEADLIIIGGHHTTSSSS
Man, I love Money Pit! Zach has taught me so much. Thank you Donut
I’m starting to watch these as much as I watch up to speed, some of these I’ve been able to do so great job! Keep it up
My dads friend did it for me but he forgot to look at the wheel for the final adjustments so my steering wheel is out of alignment
Take the steering wheel off, throw it out the window at 70mph. Job done
I did my alignment, I did a great job other than my actual steering box is off center now.
@Swampy steering wheel must have gotten moved at some point, it WASN'T intentional I swear
@Swampy I am still new to doing all the repairs myself. I intend on fixing it sooner than later. Luckily my wheels are straight. Only problem is the self locking makes the wheel crooked. LOL
In your future car before you do it remove your steering wheel and put a line using a marker on your steering smth
Damn birds chipping.. 😂😂 Damn those legs walking across the frame at 4:28.. Man.. I wish I have legs like that.. I mean my missus..
@BlackieDog 86 slightly bigger than those but still nice to see and nice to hold.. 🙊😂
I don't think I've ever subscribed to a channel so quickly! All of your videos are great! Thanks again for helping us all at home!!
these illustrations are a blessing. Really helping me understand the basics in my steering and suspension class , especially since everything is mostly online and its hard to grasp the concept with just a textbook!
hands on is the best way to learn this stuff
Donut media is the sooo dope !!!! They have motivated me to start my own channel and start vlogging !! Keep up the good work !!!
Start your own youtube channel
josh Bautista I did I uploaded my 1vlog ! Go check it out if you time ! Thanks brother !
Meanwhile.... At Firestone, "Sir, you're car is ready." What do I owe ya? "Nothing. You have lifetime alignment."
Firestone still offers lifetime alignment??
Evergreen King so for your whole life they align your car?
@@zac.bolin01 if that's the case then they have a new customer
After they cooked the clutch to get it on the machine and half-assed the job because there's no reason for them to actually care. They also won't do custom numbers like they did in the video. Firestone also only adjusts the toe, not the caster or camber...
I can guarantee you if you have lifetime alignment, you car is not getting aligned. I worked at Sear auto when they sold lifetime alignment.
Just bought an NA miata to learn stick shift its super fun so far thanks for the inspiration on getting my first project car zach. loving money pit !
i've got a 2000 BMW E46 that needs an alignment in the front... i've been putting that and also watching this video off because i know how just frustrating it can be.... watching them go through like 5 attempts, going to far... or not far enough... has confirmed this, thank you. ps: i will not be doing diy alignments on my E46... thats the one thing i'll take it to a shop for... luckily i know a really good person that does them.
Before you start something like this though, make sure to: - Guesstimate the approximate amount of time needed for you just to figure out how to do that - Add to it the time you think will realistically take you to actually do it - Add the time it will take you to test-drive afterwards and ending up doing the alignment all over again - Multiply the total amount of hours by your current job's hourly rate - Add the cost of tools - Maybe just pay the mechanic his damn $100 to do it instead?
@LUCAS KELLY You align once a year? And plan on still doing your own alignment after the age of 60?
@LUCAS KELLY $4000 over 40 years is very cheap for someone to provide an actual service. You'll spend more on a "standard" edition Netflix subscription in that time span than you would on alignments. Edit: spelling
@LUCAS KELLY an hour. Lol. Right. Sure. It's gonna take longer than an hour bud
or you could, you know.. learn how to work on your project car at home and then make changes to see how different setting feel. you know, learn about suspension tuning. or fuck it, just pay a guy a 100$ to set the toe and go.
@Swampy I get it. But he's the exception, not the norm. Not everyone has the passion to be as awesome as others. The flames die down and other priorities take over
when you set the camber and then change the toe in at the back then you have to recheck camber again because the one affects the other. ideally the camber and toe-in should be set at the same time though using this DIY method its not possible but at least you can go and recheck the camber after the toe-in adjustment is done.
I like how it was so realistic. He set this up thinking, no problem, I can do this in an hour. (Like most of us) Then you can see it slowly getting darker and darker and into the late hour of the night. Good job man. Keep it up!
picked up a miata this weekend and this serious is really helping me out with deciding which mods to do. cheers bro lovin the miata
This looks time consuming and tedious. I’m just gonna take it to the mechanic and have it done in an hour. Great video. I’ve always wondered how alignments worked. That’s gonna be one I don’t feel like messing with.
Yep, learning how to do this is only useful if you're going to be doing it on a regular basis. It's a great skill for guys who mod their cars.
@@thequietkiwi it also helps you identify when a tech is telling you something that's not true. I've saved my wife tons of money because I could call Bullshit on a lying tech that was wanting so much that wasn't really required.
I generally think that most cars should have a little bit of toe in on the front. While a little bit of toe out can help with cornering, a little bit of toe in will help the car straighten out and is usually "safer." On some cars, like my 2g DSM, lowering it will cause it to have toe out. This will chew up the insides of your tires FAR worse than negative camber. This is a common misconception: if you're getting severe wear on the inside tires, check the toe! Don't mess with the camber assuming that it's the cause! Too much toe out will cause the car to tramline, ie follow grooves in the road. So if you find that your steering is a bit squirrelly over rough roads, especially after you just lowered it, chances are your front end is now toeing out and you need to get that shit adjusted!
I've learned so much just from watching your videos, you honestly make it so easy to understand.
For anyone with modded vehicles, or offroaders, this couldnt be more important to learn. I cant get any shops near my house to correctly align my truck due to the modded suspension (they take the easy way out by saying its modded so itll never be perfect). One thing to note is that caster doesnt affect tire wear. I typically set alignment came roughly the same on both, use a magnetic level on the brake rotor for camber, and string method for toe. All in maybe $25 for the kevel and string, cheap money if you have the patience.
6:18 *SLAV* *SQUAT*
Boris approves
DZ FORCE wat? He’s on a stool. You can literally see it in the next two shots
@@Vacated204 my bad it's 6:18
I love learning even tho I’m not going to do it 🥺
I don't know if you mentioned it but before you do the alignment you have to check that all your suspension joints and bushings and steering linkage is all in order. Also check the wheel bearings for play if they are loose. If not its pointless. By the way you did an amazing job. I have enjoyed watching you make upgrades on your car. Thanks and I hope to see more.
I appreciate your willingness to tackle and explain very difficult topics.
"I Love it when a plan comes together" A-Team Refrence
While great info to know how this works ( love this channel), I'm still going to spend the $80 with 2yr free adjustments from my local shop, which is in and out within a couple hours.
Alignment has been the most common issue I’ve had with vehicles and the most expensive maintenance issue I’ve dealt with over the years. Alignment really is SO important.
Fantastic... this is something every so-called car enthusiast should understand, even if they don't necessarily do the job themselves...
Thanks for posting this AFTER I just spent $150 in the shop to align...
2 MILL 150$? Dude you got straight up robbed
shit cost 60 max
Bro $150? Geez man that’s rough
Still 50 bucks less than these plates costs😅
@@flipflop7577 yeah but you can use it to align more cars
My favorite way to do an alignment myself is with a hunter alignment rack
I love my Hunter rack. Toe and go in like 20 mins, still get paid for the hour.
Forget all the sly ass comments. You are doing a great job and we all appreciate you as a member of the team at Donut who keeps us all up to date and in the loop when it comes to automobiles! ...and that set of legs at 4:27, yeah, uh, nice!
Digging the creativity with the content here since everyone is locked down - hell ya Zach/Donut. Doing an at-home alignment with home-made tools has to be one of the most tedious processes ever...
When you don’t have a car but you have a good car game: Well I never knew I could actually use this.
This stuff could probably work wonders in GT Sport
And NFS Prostreet
Mooskii and need for speed shift on the iPad
Who else watching this even though they know how to do a alignment
*Judgement eyes spotted*
Doing one professionally with all the proper rigs and setup is one thing, seeing someone tackle this on the floor of their garage like this... WELL worth the watch!
Lucore Auto and LucoreRacing honestly yeah props to people who have the patience for that I have access to a alignment machine so I don’t have to go through that
I know I knew how. I’ve done a lot more detailed alignment than this on race cars. There are a lot of things he didn’t cover. Some of the things he did cover he didn’t cover thoroughly.
@@yepyepyepyep1407 kind of one of those "I did it once, I know how to do it, will NEVER do it again!"
Nothing like a free KZhead automotive mechanics class. I have so much appreciation for this channel.
They should use these videos more and mechanic classes because these explain a lot and they're always really f****** helpful
What I learnt from this video: Take it to a professional
Always align the rear wheels first. Rear adjustment always affects the front
Thank you! this is only thing ive ever taken my car to a garage for, now i feel comfortable doing it!
Thanks for the knowledge , Zach !!!!!!! Awesome video on how to aline your cars alignment , on your own.
Nice video instructions but all alignments I have ever done you start in the rear of the car first.
This is fun to learn, but you need a $200 piece of sheet metal, when you can just go get a laser alignment for
Ibrahim Salem can’t beat computers
1 time payment of 200 how many times u have to do an alignment on ur car at least 1x a year
I have 6 cars. $200 once is cheaper than $600 each year ^_^. Especially if I'm just doing an annual check. Plus my last two alignments required me to do it anyway, since they couldn't free tie rod ends and aren't used to working on old-ass bolts like I am...
vikachan19 if you have 6 cars then you ain’t worried about money, you got that money money lol
3 cars were less than $6k total. One was a freebe. One's my fiance's ($20k), one's a cheap daily I've had for 12 yrs ($20k 12 yrs ago). $46k over 12 yrs for two people to have cars is hardly outside of normal. So yeah, still have to worry about money, don't make assumptions ;)
Good job! This has been on my list of videos to make. Not an easy subject to cover. You did great. 👍
When he was measuring at 4:20 were there chickens in the background??
Parrots
No the were wild parakeets
@@RisknBizkits same differences
in the first part of the video, it sounded like parrots or some similar exotic birds. Could be someone's pet, could be wild, since LA is temperate enough for them and is habitat to about a dozen types.
Me: mom can we have science garage? Mom: no we have science garage at home *This whole new series*
Man I love these videos and it's perfect timing. I''m so glad you chose a miata!
I really like this series! I want my own project car after I pay off my student loans so this is a great way for me to see what I will be getting into. Thanks Donut!
Nobody: The birds: “A A A A A A A A A A A A A!” Gee lol 😂