RazMan
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:23 PM |
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Does this work?
Gunsons Wheel Alignment Gauge
Looks interesting but has anyone used one?
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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stevec
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:26 PM |
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Reminds me of the things they used to use in tyre centres, They were not always reliable.
Steve.
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UncleFista
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:36 PM |
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I have one, I've set the tracking on 3 vehicles (including the Locost) and as long as you set it up on perfectly flat and level ground, it seems
pretty accurate.
I've not checked it out for accuracy, but there's been no weird tyre wear or wandering steering (which there was before setting) 
I'm pretty sure they're available cheaper elsewhere though....
Edited to say; actually, I've just had a look and that ebay link is the cheapest by far
[Edited on 5/10/07 by UncleFista]
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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whitestu
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:53 PM |
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I made my own tracking tool using one of these
 
Description
a mirror and some square section steel.
It seems to work, but I haven't checked it for accuracy.
The car steers and handles as it should though.
Stu
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Fred W B
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:56 PM |
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Raz, I wouldn't spend that money
You can do a much better job with 4 jackstands, 2 lengths of string, some weights and a steel rule + a bit of schoolboy trig.
Or if you want to be really swish buy two 3 metre alumimium builders staight edges
Cheers
Fred W B
You can do it quickly. You can do it cheap. You can do it right. – Pick any two.
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mitch2b
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:56 PM |
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Hi
mate has one and has set up loads of cars with it, as said, you must do it on a level surface.
i have had mine checked on a laser machine since and it didnt need any adjusting
Mitch
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Scoob
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:57 PM |
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Had to use one in college, twice actually, personally i dont like them, but its cos im a new age kid.. prefer the more modern way
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AdrianH
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 05:59 PM |
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I would be interested in knowing how accurate that Rolson thing is, if at all possible. I can see many uses for two of them together fastened to a
straight steel tube.
Adrian
scanning flebay now.
Cheapest seen at around £7.60 delivered, worth a try. I doubt if the 0.05 degree !!! accuracy would be possible, my optical rotary table is quoting
figures around that area, and it needs vernier dials and eyepieces to do that.
[Edited on 5-10-07 by AdrianH]
Why do I have to make the tools to finish the job? More time then money.
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NS Dev
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 06:19 PM |
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not sure about the rolson thing or the gunson thing either.
Bit of fine steel wire and some trig works a treat, as do decent laser spirit levels.
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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NS Dev
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 06:29 PM |
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Come to that, my TOE gauge is simply a piece if steel with two arms on it, one fixed, one grubscrewed in place, with two bolts on the eds of the arms
(imagine a giant sash cramp or g clamp)
I put it across the rear of the wheels, adjust the bolt till its just touching the rims that side, then count the threads on the bolt (always use M6
then 1 thread is 1mm), slacken it off to clear the tyre and refit it to the front of the wheel rim and adjust and count etc.
Knowing the rim dia and difference in no. of exposed threads, you know the toe in both mm and degrees with a smidge of scientific calculator use.
I have a camber gauge which is a piece of bright drawn steel square bar, same length as the diameter across my wheel rims, with a tapped M6 hole at
one end level with the rim.
I stick a magnetic spirit level to it, get the car dead level (with the same spirit level so if its a touch out it makes no odds) then put the steel
vertically on the wheel, and count how many turns of the M6 screw it takes to get the vial level on the spirit level.
This gives the mm camber angle at the wheel rim diamater which again gives the degrees using a tad of trig (not exactly tricky, just inverse tangent
of the visible threads on the screw divided by the length of the bar from one end to the centre of the screw.
Just a couple of cheap tricks that I have used to set up various cars, both race and road, and the dunlop optical gauges have always agreed to within
0.25 of a degree when I have borrowed them to compare.
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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NS Dev
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 06:31 PM |
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PS the magnetic laser spirit level, on the same steel bar, is great to set the rear toe to an initial "parallel" to the car sides.
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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whitestu
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 08:43 PM |
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quote:
I would be interested in knowing how accurate that Rolson thing is, if at all possible. I can see many uses for two of them together fastened to a
straight steel tube.
The rolson thingy is basically a protractor and a laser.
I used it to initially set the tracking to parallel by reflecting the laser through the mirror back to itself. This is as accurate or inaccurate as
the protractor and attachement to the suspension are.
I then used basic trig to give 1 degree of toe in by measuring where the reflected laser hit a target.
In simple terms if the reflected laser comes back in front of the souce you have toe out and behind the source toe in.
It seemed to work but as I said it hasn't been checked other than by driving the car. It tracks dead straight and feels good.
If any of this sounds like nutsack blame the Rioja.
quote:
If any of this sounds like nutsack blame the Rioja.
I didn't type that I said 'If any of this sounds like Bo**locks'
Stu
[Edited on 5/10/07 by whitestu]
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locoboy
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| posted on 5/10/07 at 09:39 PM |
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I woldnt trust a Rolson anvil as far as i could throw it for accuracy etc........
I have bought a handfull of rolson tools, 90deg welding magnets that are way out of true, and a breaker bar that is bent, some files that wouldnt take
the skin off your knob and some plier that wouldnt deform a marsh mellow without bending.
Complete pish but thats IMHO of course.
All of the above have been binned to avoid future use and embarresment!
ATB
Locoboy
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RazMan
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| posted on 6/10/07 at 03:48 PM |
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I just saw this little gizmo in B&Q today. Its a laser level which comes with a magnetic base. At less than £4 each I thought a pair of these
mounted on some form of tripod lashed to the rims might be a locost solution for wheel alignment.
 
Rescued attachment laser level.jpg
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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RazMan
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| posted on 6/10/07 at 04:16 PM |
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I'm thinking .... attach a magnetic laser level to opposite discs, possibly on some kind of magnetic tripod going through the spokes of the
wheels. Then project the lasers to a 'target' on the ground 5m or so in front of the car (tape measure?), then roll the car back a few
inches and project the lasers to another target 5 metres to the rear of the car. Compare the distance across front and rear targets to measure toe. In
theory a difference of 25mm over 10 metres would equal about 0.25mm toe measured at the rim (I think)
What do you think?
[Edited on 6-10-07 by RazMan]
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 6/10/07 at 07:27 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
Come to that, my TOE gauge is simply a piece if steel with two arms on it, one fixed, one grubscrewed in place, with two bolts on the eds of the arms
(imagine a giant sash cramp or g clamp)
I put it across the rear of the wheels, adjust the bolt till its just touching the rims that side, then count the threads on the bolt (always use M6
then 1 thread is 1mm), slacken it off to clear the tyre and refit it to the front of the wheel rim and adjust and count etc.
Just thinking you could knock up something like this pretty easily and maybe modify a cheap digital vernier caliper to fit onto it (they are under a
tenner these days). You then have the luxury of being able to zero the measurement at one end and get a digital read out of the actual difference
rather than having to count threads etc.
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