Alignment Explained (+ DIY Guide) 

Zach: it's actually easy Us: * watches the sun go down as Zach works into the night.

Ma boi talking about caster Background sound : [quacking intensified]

These online classes are getting pretty fun

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.

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.

There's a moment in every garage alignment where you start adopting the, "Let's go with that" compromise.

The Miata community needed this. Thank you for your service 💂 🔧

>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

This series will end with "How to manufacture your own car"

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!

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

Me: I'm going to align my car! Me after watching this video: Ok where's the nearest shop

“Only about 200 dollars”...I was fully expecting him to say 30

Just in case y'all need: - Caster 10:30 - Camber 12:20 - Toe 15:30

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.

I love this series. Straightforward, simple, to the point, and beneficial for anyone with their own vehicle. Good job Donut. Mo instructionals, babeh!

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.

* Me get fresh alignment Pothole* I’m about to end this mans whole career

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!

Last time I was this early Bart was doing science garage

“They’re only about 200 bucks” Aight imma head out

I don't have a car but i love this show :D

This dude has some seriously good hosting talent and knows a thing or two about diy cat builds. Becoming my favorite series very quickly🤙🏻

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.

"Set the Toe and let it go" That's the alignment Moto I learned at Firestone 😂 I don't work there anymore

"You can these for 200 bucks" Me: Mechanic it is.

I just can't wait for this Miata to finish. And be proud that i was here when he built his garage project

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!

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.

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.

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 😊

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!

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.

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.

at first i thought the backround noises were outside my house .... lmao 🤣

I HATED doing alignments on racks at my shop😂 Especially on trucks

Day 103 of asking James to do an Up to speed on his Dad

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!

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

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

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

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!

Money Pit is hands down the best online learning resource available for shade tree guys and gals. Well done.

This is the math that should be taught at school

Donut media is the sooo dope !!!! They have motivated me to start my own channel and start vlogging !! Keep up the good work !!!

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!

Last time I was this early, I still can go out.

Mom can we have Chrisfix? Mom: We have Chrisfix at home. ChrisFix at home: these are fantastic videos. :)

Nothing like a free RU-vid automotive mechanics class. I have so much appreciation for this channel.

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 RU-vid 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.

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?

6:18 *SLAV* *SQUAT*

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..

This video was so informative I almost pressed the LIKE button twice.

Fantastic... this is something every so-called car enthusiast should understand, even if they don't necessarily do the job themselves...

Meanwhile.... At Firestone, "Sir, you're car is ready." What do I owe ya? "Nothing. You have lifetime alignment."

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.

that was super complicated and a lot of hardwork, thank the goddess for computer alignement.

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!

I love learning even tho I’m not going to do it 🥺

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 Love it when a plan comes together" A-Team Refrence

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.

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 !

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.

Thanks for posting this AFTER I just spent $150 in the shop to align...

What I learnt from this video: Take it to a professional

They should use these videos more and mechanic classes because these explain a lot and they're always really f****** helpful

I have a 90 rx7 na and your videos are making me start working on it again.

Nice video instructions but all alignments I have ever done you start in the rear of the car first.

When he was measuring at 4:20 were there chickens in the background??

This is fun to learn, but you need a $200 piece of sheet metal, when you can just go get a laser alignment for

Im starting to like this guy more than Nolan coz of these vids. very educational. Im taking care of my Dad’s 93 corolla bro, these vids help me take care of it more.

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

Me: mom can we have science garage? Mom: no we have science garage at home *This whole new series*

R.I.P Gemballa Carrera GT😭🥺

1 view 5 comments 28 likes Weird...🤔

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.

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...

Nobody: The birds: “A A A A A A A A A A A A A!” Gee lol 😂

"DIY aliingment" Makes the toe in the front first My boss would scream so loud :D

With this measuring tool we are assuming that the wheels are not only perfectly flat but we are putting the tool in the exact same position at the same exact angle every time you took a measurement. That's no easy feat. That's likely the reason you were having so much variance in your measurements. There was no "zero". But for backyard gamers like us this works just fine :) Thank you for you amazing videos. Cant wait to see how this Miata turns out!!

Man, I love Money Pit! Zach has taught me so much. Thank you Donut

I love this series but whenever i hear that kids cheeringstock sound it reminds me of Bart andScienceGarage :( BartyBoy I miss you

Day 9 of asking Donut for a Buff Horses shirt

This is why im SOOOOOO glad i work at a dealership with a HUNTER Laser alignment machine!

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.

Ummm I’ll just mine professionally done for now

This is unoriginal but last time I was this early Ford was still making the model T

"Full diy" *uses $200 caster plates*

I was an alignment specialist for year and this is great info but I hope you got a real alignment at a shop after this

Thank you for including the attempt count. It shows the real life situation of doing a diy alignment.

First!!

You guys are my heroes. I've tried finding videos on DIY alignments and most are fair, but this was amazing. Wow.

I have a lot of respect for Zach for finding a way to put on some energy for the camera when he was clearly drained and defeated by this whole process.

This is the best explanation I've seen so far on how to do a full alignment.

I freaking Love this, I miss science garage, and it is not that, but it's such good info and the info not only explains it, but shows you how to do it yourself. lets face it, things suck right now, this makes my day. Donut, I love you, everyone in the comments I love you.