How To Do A DIY Alignment On The 240z!

someone get this man a cinderblock sponsorship

Think you should take it to a laser alignment shop to prove how well this has worked

what happened to cleaning a corner of the shop every day

yes this will help the next time im aligning my M5 powered 240Z! thank you!

You did awesome building a car for not knowing what a tie rod is.

Don't forget the fender mount mirrors and fender liners for front wheels.

I did this to my buddies Cummins dodge when we replaced the whole front end, except I used an 8' level, ( or maybe it was a 10'), some clamps, and 2 construction squares.
When he took it to Les Schwab to do a final, they couldn't believe we did it in the driveway. They made miniscule adjustments, (to save face), and sent him on his way.

Your spirit of exploring and trying is what makes the video great

I applaud you for the way you make your videos!
Each video you make teaches me something and isn't just a useless "vlog". Thanks!

Nice clean DIY alignment. Appreciate the easy explanations....the toe adjustment for the front is done by adjusting the tie rod end....

Late to the party but definitely loving the channel. Binge watching your builds when I get the time. You mentioned Twitch (2018) - another new technology this old guy is figuring out - and noticed there's no videos. With a million subs, as of this comment, I think it'd be cool to watch live (or recorded live) to see a more real world aspect to your builds.

Yay! Flooring it on the open road!!! and a special eposide

This is the most underated channel

To clarify your point about cinder blocks - they are tremendously strong in compression, but they aren't very strong in tension or torsion, so if you stood the blocks up the right way (from what I can see, it looks like you did) and lowered your car directly down so the force was all compressive, as long as the cinder blocks are intact, they'll take the weight no problem - but for example, if you were to land the car on the blocks wonky and a torsional force was applied and they started to twist and grind the block against the tyres and the floor, or something with a lateral or twisting force is where an otherwise-good condition block has an increased chance of disintegrating, because you're hitting it in its weak spot (when they are used in building they are laid with steel rebar running up through the holes, which adds the missing torsional/tensile strength).

The word of the toe arm ajustement are tie rods ;)

I did a full 4 wheel alignment on my last trackday mx5(miata to those in the us) because the garage wanted £150 to do it and that’s more than I bought the car for in the first place! I levelled the car on stacks of squares of wood under the wheels first, set up the string box, roughed out the toe, then on the back went camber, toe, recheck camber then front rough camber, caster, back to camber, then caster back to camber, then toe. Took me about 6hrs the night before a trackday. It was a massive learning experience, very frustrating when you knock the stringbox clambering around underneath the car, lots of bouncing the car and rolling it back and forth to get it settled after each adjustment, calculating the caster wrong the first time round set me back an hr and a half, but it drove perfect on track. I’m in no rush to do it again on another car.

I Love this Build!

Really nice job love this car looking amazing great videos love the content

here's an idea...... Clear polycarb hood

Wow! I never realized you could do this at home with so few tools. It looks pretty simple for anyone that can read a tape measure. Thanks a lot "B is for build" guy.

Good job on the initial alignment.

Happy Thanksgiving to B is for build!🙏

Been doing the following for many years: Set caster, camber, ride height, and tire pressures first. Then, using only the sting setup centered to the suspension pickup points front and rear, set the string heights to the center of the wheels. Make sure to lock the steering wheel dead straight, and measure toe from the string to the tires center of the sidewall of the tire. You could measure to the wheel however I find measuring to the tire is best. No need for the plates. If you do not want to use strings, I believe intercomp has a tool that will hookup to the center of each wheel. For your method using the plates...make sure the tape measure has no slack in it!

B is for buy a hood. I love this channel.

Yo, love the vids, keep it up

Hi Chris, been watching since the first BRZ in your backyard. Love your builds and your vids. I have an idea for the hood of the 240, since you need to get a new hood why not attempt a custom hood with a polycarbonate pane over the velocity stacks , kind of like the c6 zr1. Show off that beauty of an engine!!

The stand offs keep the top of the plates even, but the measurements are taken from the bottom? How does it stay even? I assume you would need to put a level on it to ensure it is square? You can see it move at 5.41. Still it will be a huge improvement over what was there.

i dont find aligning wheels entertaining at all but i watch the vid anyways and i am deep into whats going on and lose track of time.... this is why your views are so high compared to your sub numbers man keep it up i love it... i feel like im in a class with a really awesome teacher maybe you can do a video where you teach someone a procedure while teaching us like you always do that would be an overload of excitement !!!!

I’m just waiting for the side mirrors on the fenders... I think it would look so good!

Car turned out so sexy! Thanks for sharing Chris! Your builds have been motivational for the average man haha.

What holds the bottom of those alignment plates steady? I see the tops rests on the pins against the wheel. It seems the bottoms could easily move in or out?

I find it so funny that Chris doesn’t know the name of a tie rod but can build a car from ground up lol 😂 😂😂😂 keep up the good work bro!!!!

no test :( gotta ease down on the cliff hangers 😂 excited to see this rip!!!!!

"screw it,im not messing with that stuff..that's over my head"...lol i love it.

Nice, one thing I would get a garage to do is the alignment though. Lasers are more accurate and quicker. But great video if you really want to do it yourself!

100 bucks for 2 aluminium plates with slots and bolts on it? Not only did you get ripped off once, but twice my man

"String Theory" Bazinga 😎😜😁

Still Loving your content, man.

Another 15 minutes well spent!

This song is driving me nuts!!!! Sounds like the baby shark song.

Its 240M not 240Z dont forget that B ;)

Love this car. What happened to the mirrors on the fenders?

Run the string lines at the same height as the centre of the wheels. After you get the two string lines parallel with each other, square them to the car by measuring from the string to the centre cap of the wheels. As long as the measurements are even between the two sides of an axel, it will mean the strings are square to the car (front/rear measurements might differ due to the varying track width of the front and rear axles). From this you can then measure from the rims/plates in your case to the string to work out your toe.

Awrsome job B for Build on the smurf datsun ;)

Are camber and caster adjustable on these cars, on stock suspension?

Wow brother, you are amazing!!!how you doing all those brilliants things?

At least you didn't put the blocs on wrong side. Talking as Civil engineering man, I think it a safe way and easy if you put jack stand for safety just like you did. I did the same for my 135i. Nice job man!!!! Continue what you do like you do cause it's sick! ;)

Keep moving forward chris been watching your show since brz build. Fuck the haters let them prove themselves firsdt before bashing you. Can’t wait for your next project.

You can also just use the tires themselves to set it square or give it a slight toe in. Take the tape pick a spot on the tire that you can find on the other side and measure from there front and back of the tire. Then just toe it in slightly by making the front less than the back by the amount that your car was designed with and done.
I do this on my ATV anytime I break a suspension part and it works fine, have also done it on 2 of my own vehicles and 1 other persons vehicle in the parking lot of the hotel I was staying in. Hes the one who showed me it I was curious what he was doing and lent him a hand, definitely works better with 2 people.

You should look up the 2x4 jackstand blocks. They come in really handy and you can go as high or low as you want with them buy just taking a few levels off or adding them.

A particle physics joke!? Brb, off to buy some of your merch

Coming through just in time for my alignment lol

If you are going to drive on the road are you thinking about putting wheel wells in?

have you considered making a center two pipe exhaust on the 240 like on the gt3rs porsche?

Flyin miata sells some alignment stands that mount to your wheel hubs. For Miatas but work on other cars too. Look into them, might be easier!

You the man

You should make splash shields for the front wheel wells

Are you putting any wheel covers??

We've been watching every video for this build, flattered to see you using our product! We just added a discount code to our site for B is for Build fans. Code "Bisforbuild" is good for 20 percent off.

Looked like the rear tape was sagging a little as well, that would add length to the distance and make it look further out than it was, keep a eye on the tension used.

Awesome, lucky!!

Raise the strings to the axle centerlines. Square them like you did on the video then make them the same distance away from each hub centerline. Measure to the front and rear of the wheel at centerline. No need for toe plates and very repeatable. Cheaper as well.

Are you putting fender wells in to protect the engine bay from weather and debris? It would suck if you front wheels flung pebbles into your velocity stacks

Did you ensure your steering wheel was straight as you went through the alignment on the front end?

Caster and camber are really important. If your caster is off you will get death wobble at high speeds or after hitting bumps and it's a great way to lose control and send your newly finished car into a concrete wall.

For adjusting toe there is a simpler and cheaper way to do it if you have two people. Grab a can of spray paint and paint the center of the tire as you rotate it. Once you have a stripe that goes all the way around place a solid object like a 4x4 or chunk of metal,
in-front of the tire and rotate the tire towards you while scribing a line in the paint with a sharp object. Whatever you scribe with should be place one and supported by the 4x4 . Once the scribed line is on, have a friend line up the hook end of the tape with the scribe while you read the tape. Compare front of tire to rear, adjust accordingly

i wouldnt put the jacks under the swing arms as it wouldnt be fully compressed to the normal ride height, think of it as leverage the wheels are the furthest point out if you compress half way into the swing arm theres less leverage on the suspension so it wont fully compress asif it was resting on the wheels. just thought id add that :)

are you gonna do fender mirros?? you have to do fender mirrors

I'm sorry, I don't know if it's even possible but with every episode the Z has no hood I love it more. Might there be any way to make a see through hood?

Calling it early, the new build will be an Vauxhall Astra Diesel where Chris swaps the windshield wipers for swords ! Oh and widebodies it ofcourse ^_~

I learned how to align on gocarts and four wheelers growing up. I always tell people to learn and practice on something like that before doing messing with their vehicle. Not only can it be shity to drive but it can be dangerous and really expensive if you get it wrong.

Or you can count the turns of the toe arm till it comes off on both sides, add both the numbers together divide by 2 = a useable toe setup

Great ginch!

I almost made a parallelogram comment early in the vid....I must have faith!!

The angle caster mostly is for self-steer, not enough self-steer - give it more angle! Drifting tip

Instead of a clear poly hood (which i think will look cheap and get filthy)
i would make a 2 piece hood, an "outer hood" hood that will cover up to the radiator support and up the sides of the motor, and then another "inner hood" that can be removed to show the velocity stacks and enough of the engine to show whats under there. Maybe build it into the body line of the raised section in a oem 240 hood, so the raised section is that part you can drive around without.

Instead of a center point like you were saying you could actually doit a lil simpler and accurate by measuring the front of one tire to the rear of the other. Putting the plates u got on the inside of the tire and doing it that way or the level since it's smaller. This way it can't be off because it wouldn't measure equal if it is off at all. A center point u can get it off a lil by mistake and have it crooked and not know it. Going from front of one tire to the rear of the opposite tire would make it perfect! Then measure front to front of them to set the toe.

The car already having that Bmw right rear sag! That’s how you know it’s a true Bmw at heart! Lol

Can someone please give me the link of the reveal video of the new build, I can’t find it anywhere

I love the car.

Sweet demo on alignment! One question though...how much caffeine went into this video?

Where did you get your headlights?

Sinister Diesel is going to send a cease and desist letter to you for having a blue car on you channel.

You need to do inner mudguards cause that’s gone be one hell of a dirty engine bay

man I am so fortunate to work on Hunter wheel alignment machine and being able to do all that stuff correctly without a fuss...

Would be a shame if he leveled it on a sloped surface...

Be careful when using two tape measures like that. Tapes can vary a surprising amount. Compare them side by side to make sure they read the same.

I like the 240zm5 and I think that is it’s proper name.

NOICE!

Numero 50!

Is it 2pm pst😂😂

Chris you need to make a hybrid badge for this call it the m240 and shape it like the m5 badge.

I learned my lesson with cinderblocks last weekend when one busted and sent my blazer crashing to the ground. Luckily I wasn’t under it working or I would have used jack stands but it was scary nonetheless.

I know this is a year old, but I had to comment, we use a piece of string to ensure all wheels are aligned and also to check for crabbing. Awesome build though.
Proper job.

Street Banditos the Hood Chris

Dont forget the side mirrors and please mount them on the classic 240z place

notification SQUAAAAADDDDDDDDDD

He should've kept the steering wheel centered before beginning the front adjustment. The toe adjustment has to do with your steering wheel angle, some cars may require you to reset/calibrate steering wheel position sensors, for lane departure, park assist, abs so on and so forth.

Love the pink underwear 👌🏼

This car is not Nissan Z370, or BM!!!this car must have your brilliant name, this car is another prototype exotic car, and my opinion this car costs lots of money!!! Excellent job!