Hey has anybody used the alignment and or balancing tools sold in places like JC Whitney??? How well do they work??? Are they worth the money??? Please help, Am wanting to start ordering my tires and can mount them fine myself, but you upset any shop and they way overcharge you for mount and balance if you didn't buy the tires from them. I'd also like to be able to do my own alignment. Thanks...

 

Mr BigFry, I have a set of the JC Whitney alignment tools that I've used for years. They include a toe-in rod, caster/camber gauge, and a bubble balancer, so I can do it all. It's not rocket surgery, and with a little practice you can do a very good alignment job in your own garage.

I also have a Harbor Freight tire changer, bead breaker, and air compressor. I buy all my tires from Sam's Club or online, and mount and balance them myself. Haven't been in a tire strore or alignment shop for years.....

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I figured you could do a decent job at home as long as you had a little time. I have no problem swapping tires. I use my high lift to break the beads, then I have two pry bars from gorilla, that look just like tire irons. Its not that hard for me since I have done several now. Got lots of tools, just not those. I think when I order my tires I will get the alignment tools and bubble balance from JcW. Thanks again. I have never used a tire changer, but I guess it could help for doing patch work. I've done lots of trailer tires, never tried to balance them, or done a alignment. But I think I will be trying now.

 

Go for it, BigFry. You'll get lots of satisfaction in doing tire balancing and alignments yourself, not to mention the money saved.

One tip I'll pass along, in case you don't already know it, is to always align the paint spot on new tires with the valve stem on the wheel. This keeps the tire low/high spots aligned with the wheel high/low spots. I've even seen tire shops disregard this procedure.......

I'm sure there's lots of people doing their own alignments and tire changing here; they just haven't checked this particular forum section yet.....

 

Hey thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.

 

hi guys . . decided to post my question here since it looks like ill get the best response, hope you can help loneranger

here's the deal, my right front tire is slanted in, the top is slanted in towards the engine. is this a tie rod issue, do i just have to get it aligned? can i just screw the tie rods until it straightens up . . . which brings me to my other question of:

how can i do my own alignment? i want to know everything lol . . do you have the time to explain or can you point me to some place where i can read how to do it myself? thanks i appreciate it

 

If the top of the tire is pointed inwards, that is a camber issue and has nothing to do with tie rods (which only control toe in/out). You either have worn ball joints or kingpins. If it has been that way forever, you might just need an alignment (new ball joint eccentric). If it has slowly gone that way, you will need a new ball joints or king pins installed.

Sorry for the news
Kenny

 

It could also just be sagging front springs.

 

could i drive long distances like this? i mean, the tire isn't gonna fall of is it? would this happen if its a 94? i understand that -is- pretty old but it isn't an 84 you know?


how do i check what it is exactly? anything i should be watching out for?

thanks guys

 

The tire might not fall off, but if you drive it long enough that way, you might end up wearing the tire funny, causing you to have to replace the tire. Of course, you should just replace one tire, you should replace them all. Then those will wear funny...

You're going to have to figure out what's wrong. Generally, ball joints won't wear to the point that you'll see the tire lean in. More often than not, it's a sagging spring.

But on a 12 year old truck with potentially several previous owners, it's tough to rule anything out.

Jack each front tire up and grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock. If it moves, try and isolate the movement (a buddy helps). It could be ball joints or bearings. Grab it at 3 and 6 and try to move it. If it moves, it could be bearings or tie rod ends. You should be able to see ball joints and tie rod ends move when you wiggle the tire.

Following that method, you can pretty much narrow down your worn parts. If you fix them or can't find any problem, and it's still leaning, then most likely the spring is sagging. You can either replace the front springs or get an alignment to compensate.

 

thanks andym . . . what do you guys use to jack your trucks up? obviously those floor jacks wont reach, or will they? even if you get them jacked up all the way to where they touch the bottom of the truck isnt that too extended to lift it? and what do you use as jacks? even the 3 ton jacks are too low arent they? are there some special truck jacks and jackstands i havent seen? lol

 

6-ton stands are the ticket man!! They usually go up to 25-29". Check your harbor-freight type tool stores, should be about $30 for a pair.

 

Excuse me for rehashing an old post, but from my search for "alignment" this was the best post.

Tire purchases are the only time that someone else touches my truck. I would love to buy tires and mount them, balance them, and align them myself. Could you guys be more specific about the tools that you use to do this?

I have a great compressor and a BIG desire to do all of my own work. What brands and prices should I be expecting to start doing my own tires?

Thanks,
Mike

 

to clarify . . . in my last post i meant jacks to jack the truck up and jack stands to hold it up.

as far as tools for mounting and balancing your own truck. it -is- a possibility. all you will need is a concrete slab and a harbor frieght catalog


someone that has done this might be able to post the specifics for you, i have wanted to but have not been able to(missing the space for a concrete slab--you will need the slab to bolt your tire changer to etc)

harbor frieght (and im sure other places) sell tire changers/mounters and balancers. its all old school tools but they work just as good. they even have alignment tools that are still built into those big bendpak lifts


like i said, someone will come by and help you out if they have done it themselves. otherwise, checkout harborfreight.com


do a search on their site. . . here are just a few links from simple quick searches

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=36133

the whole actual machine:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45656

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=39741

the actual machine:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47211

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45742

this will come in handy
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=30167

if you want to open your own neighborhood alignment shop
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=30167


good luck

 

Balance and alignment yourself is great if done properly, good for you doing it yourself.
I would question the use of a static bubble balancer, you can be "in the bubble" but yet be out axially, spin a bicycle crank at speed you'll get the same result.
I made a horizontal shaft motorcycle wheel balancer with flanged ball bearings, it can detect a plastic valve stem cap when added. I took a old Ford disc brake with hub, pressed in discs where the rear seal and hub cap go, machined the centers for a 3/4" hard chromed and ground shaft, then balanced the disc hub assembly. With a mounted wheel and tire installed I split the weight needed to both beads then mount on the front of the truck. This is where the fun begins, I have a "shoe" to spin up the wheel on the truck, should it be out axially you will know big time, change the weight ratio from inside to outside bead until it spins with zero axial motion.
I have seen those idiot tire monkeys try to balance wheels with a adjustable spider that has a lot of play or slop in the linkage or use a cone that seats on the wavy rim center. Wheels are centered on the lug nut cones, balance as you would use your wheels. A touch up rebalance after 5K miles may be needed after tires wear round, steel rims never spin perfect like alloy rims.
On the front end alignment if ride height is correct, king pins, tie rod ends and everything else are tight (not rusted solid or dry tight) and camber within spec all is left is toe in. With the truck loaded to how you would normally use it, placed on a flat cement floor, tires properly inflated and app 200 pounds on the drivers floor board go for toe in. I have always rolled the truck forward, stopped and stuck a razor blade (lightly) into both front tires at the 3:00 position, rolled forward 180 degrees or 9:00 position and remeasure then adjusted to your desired spec. All the above may make me sound fanatical so be it but I haven't been to a tire shop in over 34 years, over 900K miles driving F250's, no monkeys with impact guns around my trucks. I'll shut up now.
.....=o&o>.....