2-Pack Wheel Alignment Plates Tool Kit with Measuring Tapes, Car Toe Plates Wheel Alignment Tool for Car Truck SUV, Black

This worked exactly as I was expecting it to work. Its made well enough to survive a home hack mechanic like myself. Sure you can do home alignments without these. I have been doing it for years. This definitely helps make it a little easier for me though. There is not too much to say about a product this simple. Its a piece of metal that helps take measurements. It has a decent coating on it but I'm an ape so I'm sure that's going to change as I use them. They do what they are supposed to do so what more can you ask for. Well done!

On my car (1998 Sienna) using the tool would have required lifting & supporting both suspension control arms (the part with the ball joint, so the suspension would be compressed as it normally is when the tires are on the ground), removing both wheels, removing both disc brake calipers (which, on my car, interfere with bolting the kit's angle irons in place), bolting on the kit's angle irons, adjusting the suspension's toe, then putting everything back as it was. I eventually realized I could get much the same result by:putting the car on a flat surface,turning the wheels to straight ahead (which could distort the rubber tires),rolling the car back and forth a foot or so to untwist the tires, so they wouldn't be distorted,hooking the end of one of the measuring tapes to a groove in the front side of the tire's tread, and tacking it in place with duct tape,ditto for the other measuring tape, but attach it to the rear side of the tire,measure the distance to identical places on the front and rear sides of the other tire,adjust the suspension and repeat the measurement until both front and rear distances are almost identical, with the front measurement being around 1/16 inches shorter than the rear, providing a little toe in. For my car anywhere between 0" and 1/8" is OK. I adjusted my car to 1/16" (as best I could, it's a very small difference), test drove the car, and all is well, at least for the moment. Only time will tell whether the adjustment is good enough to make the tires wear evenly. Doubtless a shop alignment would be more precise, but it costs approximately 1/3 of the cost of new tires, so regular tire rotation and occasional alignment could easily cost more than any reduction in the life of the tires. When I need another set of new tires I'll check the old ones, if the wear is sufficiently uneven I'll then splurge on a shop alignment.

I have tried using several methods to check and align front wheels of my Dodge, Durango, including string line, and straight edge boards, with little success until now. These plates make it straightforward., and quite easy to verify and or adjust the tow – in setting. The tape measures and plates give you a precise measurement that you can easily convert to a degree setting for your vehicle specifications. For my case, I needed between 10 and 15° of towing which I easily was able to adjust. I recommend this product. It works great for what it is intended for.

I used to use string and tape measure, this is slightly more accurate. Unfortunately you have to take off your tires to use this tool. It also only lets you adjust the toe, not caster or camber. It's not actually a "front end alignment" tool. This WILL get your tires set up if you've replaced tie rods, or something that knocked your tires out of whack, so you can get your car to a real shop.

These are great to set the initial toe-in on your vehicle alignment. It will not give you a full alignment that a shop can do. It is not designed to do that. By using these alignment plates, they will get your alignment close enough to allow you to get to the alignment shop without destroying your tires. The tape measures are in both inches & metric. I would recommend using metric when doing measurements since that is easier to get a solid number.Overall, these work as they should and help out a home mechanic.

I have been looking for these for a while now and been too cheap to pull the trigger. I was wrong, I should have gotten these much sooner. I was rigging up metal rulers with a tape measure and this is SO much easier to set up than rulers. They are so nice, you just jack it up, take the tires off the front and hold these down on the bottom two studs with the lug nuts from the wheel. I was having such a hard time trying to get the metal rulers to stay in the correct position to get an accurate reading and these just stay on the studs with no shifting or movement.If you have a vehicle that you align yourself like my old TJ these are must have items. Have fun on the trails!

In my photo I kind of setup how you use this tool. Bolt the flanges onto your wheel hubs and then set the tow using a matched pair of tape measures. MY BIG RECOMENDATION for using this and having it be correct, you need to put the bottom ball joint on the top of a floor jack. One on each side. Not a jack stand, as those can kick out on you. The pitch of the camber affects the toe on some cars, so the front end needs to have normal weight for camber to be correct, thus toe would be correct when adjusted. Do that, and you can watch the techs scratch their heads as to how well you set it.

Now I don't have to chew my front tires off on the way to the alignment shop after I replace tie rod ends. This beats using 1 measuring tape, going from the front of the tires, to the back if the tires, then adjust, then repeat the front, back, adjust...Now I can adjust the Toe before I even reinstall the front tires. Having two measuring tapes attached to the adjustment device is genius. This makes it so much simpler to get the adjustment spot-on. Great Invention! I wish I had thought of it.