Cheap turn plates!
 

I'd been looking for some turn plates as I have been saying for quite some time I was going to buy a caster/camber gauge and do my own alignments. Frankly without a set of turn plates I would be too lazy to do it :p: My search ended very quickly when I found out how much turn plates cost :eek:

www.racerpartswholesale.com has something cheap that works! Technically not turn plates but they can be used to setup the car without tire friction monkeying with the adjustments.

Part number RPW9510 $69.99 for set of 4.

"Designed to prevent preload of the suspension during alignment and scaling - These are an alternative to the conventional expensive ball bearing; consisting of two perfectly flat, hardened plates with a small amount of lubricant between them. These plates will allow the suspension to settle immediately, eliminating the need to bounce or roll the car. "

pic

I've heard of using two pieces of 1/8" aluminum with grease between them. Looks like that's what you have there. Works....

1/8"? Wouldn't they need to be stiffer?

Wouldn't think so. They're not supporting weight. As long as they're sitting on a flat floor or scale pad they can't bend. That pic looks like they're sitting on a scale pad. In reality though buying a sheet of aluminum is going to cost nearly the price you quoted above. Then you'd have to cut it or have it cut for more money. So not a bad buy. Only real advantage of the real turn plate at this point is the degrees being indexed. I say go for it and let us know how it turns out.

I know this sounds cheap, but on an FB built to (used to be) CSP rules, and used two large plastic black and orange For Sale signs with lots of bearing grease in between. The floor of the garage has been checked and is good and level. After setting the car on the signs, could push on one tire with one hand and very moderate pressure and move the car as I wanted, to the point of making sure noone touched the car as to move it once I had it squared with string around the car for toe measurements. This with a quick camber gauge, think this is the name, the ones that have adjusters to sit against the wheel and measure camber. While I realize simplicity of it and some have questioned it working, I have been quite happy, have never paid for an alignment, and have experienced great tire wear and performance, so must not be too far off. and what could it cost to see if you are happy with it, maybe five bucks, less as most people have the signs sitting around their garage. Just a thought.

Cheers,
Travis

Get 8 transfer bearings and mount them to two boards (4 on each) Then get two of the light duty ratchet or quick release straps and staple them to the bottom of the board. Do it in a way the the ratchet or release mechanism is easily accesible.
I would also use 2 short 1x2 screwd onto the top of the board on the front and back of the tire to help make it more stable and less load on the straps.
If the floor is very rough you just lay a smooth board or whatever else is practical down for the bearings to ride on.
There are low profile bearings like the one pictured that will recess into the board you use. They redirect cleaner than a caster by design.

http://www.scalliwag.com/ball.JPG

I just noticed the img code is off... oh well click the link http://www.scalliwag.com/ball.JPG

I use .090" Aluminum. Free from work. No problems with mine either.

If you do go with a previous idea using any types of plates instead of using grease in between them go to Tractor Supply and get "Slip Plate". It is a graphite that comes in either spray or can. As far as setting up a index for degrees that is a trickier breed.
Without dangling a plumb bob and finding the true center below the steering knuckle I am not sure how there would be a way to get decent accuracy.
Hopefully someone can answer that. It is probably simple and I just can't figure it out :eek:

Caster/camber gauges are $75 ish and readily available; they just mount to the spindle. Without some sort of slip plate though you have to constantly roll and bounce the car to be certain the suspension isn't bound by the tire's friction against the floor. You also need to have the weight of the car on the tires so that doesn't leave much room under an FD. That's why I plan to build pads with adjustable feet to place under the plates. That will raise the car some for me while also allowing me to level all four corners.

I thought of the transfer bearings long ago but the ones I find at McMaster-Carr are very expensive for the kind of load capacity you'd need. You know a source for cheap ones?

Gilmore Kramer have some that should work for $7.82 each. It is part number LPBT-1CS. They have 1" diameter main balls and have a 75lb each rating. But I can assure you that four per side could handle the load.
Here is their link http://www.gilmorekramer.com//more_i..._mounted.shtml

Even though it's going to be more than twice the load recommended? Even at that price I'm way over the $70 set of slip plates though.

I don't think it will actually fail at higher loads but if the materials aren't hard enough it will no longer float freely and may bind. You use these?

It is more the work environment they are designed for that would make them more durable in this application. Transfers tables get the hell beat out of them. They account for the shear strength of the flange as well as a constant day after day workout as though these were installed on a transfer table. The bearings are hardened.
That has been my experience messing with them.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45742
$129 for a pair

That's a great find, DamonB. Thanks for posting the info. :)

I've been looking for something like the the plates you posted. Although from reading the thread, there seems to be alternatives. But I'll give the RPW "slip plates" kit a try. Hopefully with it, doing alignments will no longer be as painful as exercising.