My dad told me to skip the $40 alignment tool and just eyeball my front wheels with a tape measure

Wren Smith · 2026-10-10T03:40:03.232136+00:00

I was swapping tie rod ends on my $700 Civic and my dad said the string and tape measure trick was all I needed. I did it his way in the driveway in Gary, Indiana, and the car pulled hard right on the test drive, so I ate the cost and got it aligned for $89 at a shop. A guy at the parts counter told me the tape measure thing only works if you measure from the same groove on both tires, and I was measuring off the rim edge. Went back, redid it his way, and the pull went away. So is my dad wrong, or was I just doing his trick wrong?

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My dad told me to skip the $40 alignment tool and just eyeball my front wheels with a tape measure | Broke But Building - HW Forums