BUILD YOUR OWN CAMBER GAUGE TOOL!

Related Videos:
At Home Alignment – Coming soon!

Tools Used:
- Bench Vise
- Angle Grinder or Cut Off Tool
- Drill
- Drill Bit
- Digital Caliper
- File
- Measuring Tape

Parts Used:
- Steel Angle Bar
- Stainless Steel Bolts
- Stainless Steel Nuts
OUR TOTAL COST $37

The DIY Rep in this Video is Ally!

To send letters, products for review/use, other correspondence - please use this address:

everythingdiy
P.O. Box 186
Pasadena, CA 91102

FTC Disclaimer:
All products mentioned were purchased by us. None of the companies mentioned are paying us for this video. All opinions are our own.

Other Disclaimers- Everything you do is at your own risk. Everything DIY or its affiliates are not responsible for any personal injury or property damages incurred.

SAFETY FIRST EVERY TIME

[egeg-nrqs]

Just a heads up: I followed your guide to make this tool and it works great. Super accurate and 100% repeatable. I made two changes however.... I used 3 screw legs instead of 2....putting two next to each other at one end of the tool. This allows the tool to stand straight and eliminates any side to side rocking motion while holding the tool. The other addition was some plastic cap nuts to cover the ends of the legs. This should prevent scratching of the rims.

[peep]

can we stop arguing about tools and just acknowledge that this girl is what dreams are made of?!?!

[JamesEhler]

Might be late to the party here, but when drilling, in addition to what I seen someone else say, position the bar in the vise so that the drilling location is closer to the vise and more secure and start by using a smaller bit first.

Now I'll tell you what took me many, many, many drill bits, time and immense frustration to learn. When drilling steel, especially hardened steel:

#1 Use a harder material drill bit than the steel. Like cobalt.

#2 Slower is better. Like a lot better. Speed creates a lot of friction, which creates a lot of heat. Slower speeds allow the drill bit to "bite" into the metal much better. Which takes us to,

#3 Use pressure by pushing down on the drill to make the bit bite even more into the metal.

#4 Use some kind of lubricant on the bit/hole to cool the bit down while drilling. They make drilling oil for that or you can use some other oil or WD40. Could probably even use water, but I never have.

I learned all these the hard way. Like I learn everything. I must have destroyed 20-30 drill bits trying to drill one freaking hole in a piece of angle iron one time. Then I did lots of research. And that's what I learned.

Use a harder material than what your drilling, go slow, press harder and use something to cool and lubricate the bit and the metal. I guess just that sentence could have replaced the whole comment, but I guess I like to hear myself talk... er, uh, type.

[kimb]

You go, girl!!! Sister mechanic, I loved the vid, you are an excellent teacher and you made finding camber a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Many thanks.

[nevillenewman]

Nice video showing how simple it is to make a really useful tool.

Years ago, when I was racing small sports cars, I had to make a lot of my own such tools. Some of these tips have already been mentioned a gazillion times here in the comments, but I'll just put a couple together here in one place.

1) Instead of solid angle stock for the bar, use "strut hangers" (your terminology may be different), which have a multitude of holes and slots all along the length. Saves you drilling and also makes the tool easily adaptable for other vehicles.

2) The raw bolt ends WILL scratch wheels. Either stick a one-time small piece of electrical tape (single thickness) on the end of each bolt, or plasti-dip them, or sand and highly polish them so there are no sharp edges. If you use vacuum caps, you will likely not get identical lengths so you'll need a way to adjust the bolt length (see #3 below)

3) Use full-thread bolts and 2 nuts (vs 1) on each bolt so that you can adjust the length precisely if needed.

4) If you don't use the strut hangers, then consider using aluminum for your angle bar, and glue or rivet a piece of steel to it as a mount for your magnetic angle finder. It will be lighter overall and easier to smooth/'polish out the bar ends so that there is less chance of scratching the car if you should touch it with the tool. NOTE: If you use aluminum, , then it will be much easier for the bar to get bent so handle/store it very carefully

5) You can check the bar for straightness before you start. Use string pulled tight from one end of the bar to the other, across the edges or flats. Cheaper and more trustworthy than a formal straight edge tool.

6) Check your angle-finder and your entire rig for straightness and zero-point, together. Find any surface at all. Put the tool there and check the angle. Then spin the tool 180 degrees and do it again. If you don't get the same readout, then either the rig or the angle-finder has a problem. You can do this to easily check your bubble levels, too, of course.

I don't offer these suggestions because you did anything wrong, but only to share my own learning from past trial and (lots of) error.

I'm looking forward to your DIY alignment video!

[DiamondEubanks]

Thanks for this! I love seeing fellow women that are handy, especially when I can learn from them. Thanks for taking the time to make this!

[herso]

Good job, no matter how many guys say something a bit negative or try to leave the impression they know how to do this or that better. The fact is that the explanation is excellent, and you did a good job. Thanks

[bertfromnz]

could watch her all day :) but yes needs to learn about centre punching and starting with a small drill bit for accurracy - but go girl!

[davidk]

WOW !!! I am really proud of this young Lady. God Bless you

[littlewazz]

girls that work with tools and like car stuff are a unicorn

[alexplazasplazas]

Why would anyone give you a negative. You did a great job. This video is for making a tool, not aligning the vehicle

[jewllake]

nice!  I wonder if putting some rubber vacuum caps at the end of the bolts would help keep slight scratching off the rim's surface.

[fredwatson]

Despite improper shop safety, inadequate tools, etc., she's got her head on. A steel plate c/be riveted to an ALUMINUM angle and slots instead of holes would make it a more versatile tool. Necessity IS the mother of invention!

[vincepanov]

Everyone is blinded by her beauty and not thinking that her alignment can be a little off, since she didn't check if the floor of her garage is PERFECTLY horizontal! Most garages are not PERFECTLY horizontal, because if you wash it, the water needs to go toward the drain or toward the door, so the water can go outside. If the floor is leveled 2 degrees off horizontal, then in order to keep the 90° tire contact with the ground, you need to set your camber alignment 2 degrees off 90° vertical, too! Simple geometry!

[jcv]

When filing only go forward, files aren't made to go back and forth, quick tip

[brianwilkinson]

She's amazing! She doesn't seem old enough to have all that knowledge. I'm beyond impressed. I'm in love. She's a Unicorn!

[kikapoo]

Thanks helpful .i was able to align my chamber evenly before my husband return from work he was surprised i aligned it perfectly. Hehe! Thanks great video you were straight to the point.i didn't lose interest.

[ColdWarVet]

Good Video to show you don't need a 400$ store system to do what you did for 30$ Some Advice & warnings
Your drill holes. I built one from Aluminum, drill one fixed hole at the bottom and then drill multiple holes right next to each other at the top, then use your grinder, a hack saw or a file to make the holes into a slot. That way you get a perfect fit and it will work on different tires! You can use aluminum, cheaper and lighter and wont rust, just epoxy a magnet or two to the side! Also use a piece from the same angle to make a horizontal piece. I made the horizontal bar and put slots at the end so I can adjust for different rims, plus the ability to get hard friction fit, which you cant get with the way you drilled holes. Use a punch to start the hole, I saw wobble when you drilled, this gives accurate holes.

Danger Will Robinson ! Don't ever stand to the side of a grinder as you did, the blade was completely facing your Face, if it breaks or chips your in for brain surgery, really its a very dangerous thing, stand in back of the guard. Do not use the grinder to cut from underneath the bar, its always on top, theres to much wrong and again dangerous to that to mention.

Great job, I cant believe they sell these things for 200-400$ on Amazon. Oh one more thing, youll need to turn your tires to do camber caster alignment, rather than the 100-200$ tire turning pods on amazon, just put 2 pcs of cardboard under your tire with grease inbetween them, turns like a 200$ overpriced pod

[scottmcguire]

Total package, Beautiful, Smart and not affraid to get dirty.Am looking forward to more informative videos.

[alinux]

This is the most pretty alignment video on YouTube