A wordcaster is a character who has spell slots, each holding a wordspell or arranging a number of words of power into one. The level of the wordcaster’s wordspell is determined by the basic allotment and begins play knowing a number of effect and meta words equal to the number of spells they would normally be allowed to cast. Wordcasters cannot cast normal spells, as the feats that allow them to cast normal spells have been announced but never published.
A wordcaster’s bloodline selection is even more important than normal, as it gives them access to a small selection of normal spells. When a character gains the ability to cast spells from a class, they must decide whether to become a wordcaster or a normal spellcaster in that class. Wordcasting offers more benefits, such as Cure Spells at Short Range and the ability to combine spell effects. Normal casters have limited benefits from Spell Focus: Conjuring and take it as a prerequisite for Augment Summoning.
Wordcasters can combine spell effects and cast anything they know until out of power. Casting a wordspell is almost exactly the same as casting an ordinary spell, but wordspells can be dispelled and disrupted, and casting one provokes attacks of opportunity. Words of power are weaker for even spontaneous casters, but they are more limited than most 3.5 spells.
To create a character using Word Magic, consider a Lv 4 Bard or Druid with a +2 mod in their stat. While spells have no effect in the real world, they work flawlessly in the realm of imagination. Word of command grants you the ability to cast a spell and perform actions needed to pay any costs required.
📹 Wheel Alignment – Taught By a Shop Teacher
Wheel alignments for High School Mechanics! Made easy! Explained so anyone can understand! You got this! The basics: the …
Can you do 2 cantrips in one turn?
The casting of a bonus action spell, irrespective of its level, precludes the player from casting another spell on their turn, with the exception of a cantrip. This signifies that neither action nor reaction spells can be cast during a player’s turn, and that only one reaction can be obtained within a round.
Why is it called dunamancy?
Dunamis, derived from the Greek word dynamis, means “power”, “potential”, or “ability” and is central to the Aristotelian concept of potentiality and actuality. Dunamancy is the ancient study of magic based on potentiality and probability, discovered independently by several nations. Dunamis is the primal magical energy of potentiality and actuality, an anticipatory arcane force that shapes the multiverse and may be what holds its elements together.
Those who study Dunamancy can subtly bend the flow of time and space by controlling localized gravity, peering into possible timelines to shift fate in their favor, and scattering potential energy of enemies to rob them of their potency.
Can all wizards do wandless magic?
Wandless magic is the practice of performing magic without a wand, which can be challenging for beginners and can have unpredictable results. Witches and wizards accustomed to using wands can only reliably perform wandless magic if they possess great skill. However, in regions where wands were not used, wandless magic was considered the norm and using one was optional. Wands were used by witches and wizards to channel their magic, making their spells more accurate and potent.
Only the most powerful and disciplined wizards could perform wandless magic reliably. The wand was a European invention, and some cultures did not traditionally rely on such tools for magic. Native Americans had pre-European practices that did not require a wand, and African witches and wizards only adopted the wand in the 20th century.
Can you use normal spells the turn they are set?
Spell cards may be set and subsequently utilized on the same turn; however, Quick-Play Spell cards are not permitted for use on the same turn they are set. Such cards are treated as trap cards when they are set. A player may utilize a Quick-Play Spell card from their hand during their turn; however, it may not be employed during their opponent’s turn unless it has been placed on the field adjacent to their side.
Can I use quick spells on your opponent’s turn?
Players are permitted to activate Quick-Play Spell Cards from their hand at any point during their turn, with the exception of the Damage Step. A face-down Quick-Play Card may be activated by either player during either of their respective turns, but not during the designated turn of the active player. These cards have a Spell Speed of 2 and can be linked to other cards in a chain. It is not permissible for sets of Quick-Play Spell Cards to be activated during a player’s own turn until the opponent’s subsequent turn.
Can you use 2 spells in a turn 5e?
A bonus action is a swift spell that requires a bonus action on your turn, unless you have already taken one this turn. You cannot cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. Some spells can be cast as reactions, which take a fraction of a second and are cast in response to an event. Longer casting times, such as minutes or hours, require you to spend your action each turn casting the spell and maintain your concentration. If your concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don’t expend a spell slot. If you want to try casting the spell again, you must start over.
What spell beat Voldemort?
Expelliarmus, or the Disarming Charm, is a spell that drives out a weapon, often a wand, and is often seen in duels. Harry, a skilled combatant, was deeply enamored with the spell and used it to defeat Lord Voldemort. Professor Snape, a former follower of Voldemort, taught Harry the spell during Professor Lockhart’s Duelling Club. Despite initially struggling with the Summoning Charm, Harry quickly developed an aptitude for Expelliarmus, which allowed him to use it in challenging situations.
Within months of learning it, Harry used it to retrieve Riddle’s diary from Malfoy and disarm Lockhart. He spent the final hours of the second year practicing Expelliarmus, becoming very good in the process. This relationship between Harry and Expelliarmus has both positive and negative aspects.
Can any wizard use Dunamancy spells?
The objective of dunamancy spells is to facilitate accessibility to two specific wizard subclasses in the immediate future. However, there is also the possibility of implementing these spells for other spellcasting classes, with the intention of earning or rewarding them.
Can you use instants on opponents turn?
Instants are the only card type in Magic that has no timing restrictions, allowing players to play them at any time with priority. They can be cast as a spell using the stack and follow the actions stated in its rules text. Instant subtypes are a single word and are listed after a long dash, with each word after the dash being a separate subtype. Instants can have multiple subtypes, and they cannot enter the battlefield.
If a player states they can do something “any time they could cast an instant” or “only as an instant”, it means only that the player must have priority. Effects that would preclude a player from casting an instant spell do not affect their capability to perform that action, unless the action is actually casting an instant spell.
Can Draco do wandless magic?
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Draco Malfoy appears to close the Hogwarts Express shutters without a wand, possibly using another form of magic. Wandless magic, which involves performing magic without a wand, was difficult for those who didn’t learn the skill and could have unpredictable results. Witches and wizards accustomed to using wands could only reliably perform wandless magic if they possessed great skill.
However, within regions of the wizarding world that historically did not use wands, wandless magic was considered the norm and using one was optional. Wands were used by witches and wizards to channel their magic, making their spells more accurate and potent. In cultures where wands were ubiquitous, only the most powerful and disciplined wizards and witches could reliably perform wandless magic.
Can you cast a cantrip and a spell?
It is possible to cast a bonus action spell (regardless of level) followed by a cantrip with the same action. However, the use of the action or reaction to cast a spell of a higher level is not permitted, even if the bonus action spell was a cantrip.
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Best self do it alighment article I’ve seen yet!! I’m 67 and I was the Hunter rep for several years in RI and SE Mass, I ran the alignment shop in a seven franchise high end dealership( Mercedes, Porsche/Audi, Honda…) then I owned a front-end shop for many more years. Because of my engineering background, I was known for the ability to make my own adjustment on cars that had none like BMW (elongate holes), I did the alignments for 75% of the body shops in NE Rhode Island and several PDs. This is a great article, but you forgot two things, checking for posible run-out and SAI, stearing axis inclination. You have steel rims, I’m sure you know how to illustrate checking for run-out. SAI determines the projection of the weight of the vehicle in reference to the center of the tire surface. This is more criticle with cars with wide tires to know. Caster is easier explained using the straight ahead stability of a “chopper”. Now we have radial tires, camber doesn’t mean as much for offsetting road crown, I always added about 1/2 degree more caster to the right. I autocrossed my “83 Saab turbo, I cut/welded to size the rear sway bar from a Crown Vic police rear end, she cornered better than a 944, lol. A body shop owner brought me his wife’s BMW 3 series after she put it in the woods spinning out taking a corner in the rain. Come to find out her rear end was toing out (I had a Hunter A-111 that I had the specs set up on inches, not degrees) -3/4 inch! I elongated the holes on the left rear lower control arm bolt holes to get rid off the dog tracking as well.
I work for a Kenworth dealership and have performed many wheel alignments on heavy duty line haul trucks & enjoy the concepts of alignments too, there is no better feeling than receiving great feedback from customers of how great their vehicle handles & drives down the road. All I can say is WOW this is such a great article to watch for someone wanting to learning wheel alignments & it’s concepts. I even learned some new things perusal this article. Thanks a lot for this great article, big thumbs up 👍 I definitely will be following a lot more articles on your website!
Hands down the best article I’ve seen on alignment that has both theory and how to make adjustments combined. I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around this for a while. A few years ago, I took my wife’s suburban to a “reputable” tire/alignment company to get front end updated. They basically had a blank check to replace everything, and get it all installed/adjusted properly. Everything was fine for about 2 weeks, and all of the sudden the alignment went crazy. I looked into it, and found out that the passenger’s side upper control arm rear adjustment bolt had been welded to the control arm to prevent movement. Since then, I’ve sworn to learn alignment. It’s the only aspect of a vehicle that I haven’t done myself. Your article puts me a lot closer to being there.
The castor camber gage you took out of the plastic case is what made it able for me to setup my dirtcar (9C1) to be able to win 73 feature wins.kk Very good explanation of front alignment. I used 4 degrees of camber and 3 degrees caster that transferred 90 lbs to the left rear when countersteering on dirt.. If you don’t understand the front alignment you are not going to win 73 features.
Im a retired licensed mechanic. My specialty throughout the years was steering and suspension. Like yourself, I did a lot of modified vehicles from 1/4 mile drag cars to off road trucks. I’ve hand built countless different suspension systems. My true love is off road, mainly rock crawlers. Any thing with massive amounts of articulation. Your explination of alignment angles was spot on. I couldn’t of explained it any better myself.
Excellent explanation. I just changed a whole bunch of front parts on my truck. It is scheduled for a CanTire laser alignment tomorrow. On trucks I have used string back to front to set track and toe. I have not yet fingered out simple home garage method to measure caster and camber to be able to adjust those myself.
Very interesting while being informative. I was glad to hear you connect the dots about caster and how it affects the effective camber when steering into a corner. Many moons ago I found my ’80 Civic had fairly radical toe-in on the rear, but more on one side than the other. No wonder it dog-tracked and it’s turning radius was dismal. I went about equalizing both of the tracking rods and measuring them. Then I lengthened them both a little to remove the toe. Drove so much better. When I spoke with an alignment tech about changing my toe with those links, He said, “Those adjustable links on the back of that model are purely for setting your tracking. You cannot adjust toe with them”. Ha, ha, well… Whatever…;) While perusal you work your magic, I was wondering what slick pad you used under the tires to allow them to pivot on your garage floor without the natural resistance to the changes in geometry that would give you a false reading on your measurements when turning right/left while parked? When working on my own car, I noticed that when I rolled it forward a bit the camber changed, then when I rolled it backward it changed again. I realized that due to it’s toe and grip on the ground the camber would change as a result of opposing force from the surface trying to pinch the contact patches or pull them apart, depending on what toe was set or which way the tires were rolling. I did not have that 2-way lazy susan type wheel pad that allows them to not be influenced by the parking/test surface grip while turning them right/left and/or rolling.
After seeing the 1965 C10, I almost wished the alignment specs were discussed here as well. Using the Go-Fast car is practical as the steering is outside and easy to follow. I have a 67 C10 which uses upper shims. W/Disc & P/S, I would ask an alignment shop to use 72 specs for caster as this will help return-ability after turns. These trucks are hot and parts of every kind are made, but shop will not like them as you said. The lower control arm shaft is located by pin/hole system. Re-drilling the hole will allow for more caster (As you noted 3/4″) but this allows room for the rack & modifications needed to fit. I don’t if I could move mine that much (Perhaps less) to keep the tie rods straight reducing “Bump Steer” as it is not lowered! I like the OEM stance & height & wheel house room, but running sensible tires, only 16″ w/6 lug. Comments? Hope so. I did enjoy the article even though machines take the task at hand (Alignment) out of the techs hand. Then, after learn that machine, they change it. Dam the engineers making new stuff. LoL. ASE Master Tech since 1978, Retired. Thanks!
Excellent article. I have always dreaded having to take my car to an alignment shop. I’ve found once a shop breaks the seal on a factory setup, my cars have always worn tires prematurely. After having completed a rotisserie restoration on my 66 Mustang I decided I would try to learn to do it myself. I picked up a Longacre Caster/Camber gauge and toe plates. It took me a little bit to figure out what was going on but eventually I had it down pat. It’s a great skill to have. I’m Subscribed.
Thank you so very much for doing this article. I’ve watched don’t know how many and want through forums and some literature but all too technical, too lengthy and difficult to grasp everything. You made it simple, interesting, funny and super easy to understand and remember. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and experience
Hey I’m very impressed by ur explanation abt wheel alignment I’m an alignment technician here in 🇯🇲Jamaica and I’d love to get more information on alignment especially on race cars, I’m actually a self taught technician I just found out a lot on my own after years of work never did any schooling on this profession just loved it so I know a lot of wat u’ve said is spot on some I couldn’t have explained like u did but I just knew….I’d love to get to know more frm u if ur interested in teaching 😁 I’ve subscribed so keep the articles coming on alignment ok…I’ll be checking to hear back frm u I’m hungry to learn more thnx💯💯💯
I was a brake/frontend expert first half my life and one of the very first 4-wheel computerized alignment shops in my state. I gotta run, but found this interesting and pretty much like I LEARNED 50 years ago. Comments.. I adjusted nearly all rear wheel drive cars 1/2+ camber driver side and 0 passenger side; caster was usually 1 and 1.5 degrees.. keeps straight on sloped roads for rain in my state, plus the positive caster is what keeps the car going straight, think bicycle. I just wanted to comment so many cars these days have negative caster and is why they SUCK at handling. It can be like an overtight pickup steering gear, where there’s no center & constantly going left or right.. get over 1+ caster and you can drive without hands on the freeway. Another thing this guy realizes is you can fine tune individual cars due to driving habits, etc… just run your hand across the tread going in & out and if you feel sharp edges?.. that’s how you can “fine tune” toe-in. (you’re WRONG using camber for road crown since you’re increasing tire wear to do it… CASTER is the angle to compensate road crown, NOT camber!) Anyway, negative caster turns easily incity driving, but I personally don’t like how they handle overall. (The old expert I learned from also raced circle track & those racers would bring their cars in after hours so we could play with what they were trying to solve). Nice to hear this talk, it’s been near 35 years since I turned wrenches and kinda missing it lately. 😉
I have a 65 mustang and years ago I installed aftermarket upper and lower control arms/a arms. As part of the project, I had to do the shelby mod on the top a frame, redrilling and mounting it ?lower? and a little further back. Wow, what a difference. Of course the components manufacture supplied custom alignment specifications
I love this article because you are using more common sense for the purpose of understanding why rather than just knowing how. However, my understanding of the self-centering mechanism is a little bit different. Please correct me if I am wrong. First, the steering axial angle or caster angle (the vertical offset between the upper and lower control arm ball joints) it-self shouldn’t provide a self-centering effect(I’m talking about the case of driving straight). rather, it will need to combine with another one of two offset variables to create “self-centering.” 1 front-back offset, in the case of the shopping cartwheel, it called swivel lead, swivel radius, or trail. as you’ve called. 2 lateral offsets, which is the horizontal offset between the wheel center plane(an imaginary center used to measure the PCD of the rims) and steering axial. This offset will always try to make the wheel turnning inward.
Back in the day when i first started working for Walmart, we had one of those 3 bubble caster levels. It worked great for years! Then they quit doing alignments. We also had a laser liner to check the toe. No computers here. If you were competent enough, you could do a fantastic job. It did take a little effort and mental strategy. But no hill for a stepper.
Awesome article Greg with lots of great editing work and creativity. One question about your camber check with the construction square Did you measure distance between square and edges of tire or rim? I was thinking if kids measured to sidewalls of the tire they would be inaccurate due to bottom of tire bulged out?
Now I see why you’re a teacher!! You make a great teacher, and it would have been a blast to be in your class! With that said, the only complaint I have is… I wish I could still squat down like that, and if I got on my knees on the floor like that… I’d fall over in pain!! LOL But that’s not your problem. lol Great article, thanks for sharing, you edumacated this 60 year old, and this is really going to help me get my S10 drag truck on the straight and narrow! Great stuff, sub’d as well!
Great info, thank for sharing! On the camber/castor gauges wouldn’t their accuracy greatly depend on the how level the surface the vehicle in on? A bit of a problem for those of us working on a gravel driveway. A point of order on the toe plates, be sure to compare the accuracy of each tape measure to each other, we’ve seen a lot of variance even with identical makes of tapes.
Love this article! I’ve got an old saab 900. It pulls to the left and I always just assumed it needed an alignment. I went and checked the toe alignment of the front and it was perfect, read exactly as saab specifies which is actually a little bit of toe in. That worried me, so I took both wheels off and can now visibly see a difference in castor. I think someone must have hit something like in your nissan. These cars have adjustable castor because the top control arm which is an A frame, is set up with shims underneath the bolts. You can remove these shims or add them for caster and camber. So I need to replace the control arm because its way out. But it turns out you gotta pull the engine to remove it. Crazy design. Im gonna try and mess with the shims to get something close to straight. Not the best option but at least i know now what im messing with now that I’ve seen this crash course haha
Thank you very much. You’re really a great teacher. One of a kind. I’m average Joe out there and had seen several other YouTube articles, trying to explain the whole thing without much luck. You did it. You made it very easy to understand and also make it fun to listen and follow you. Again I really appreciate your thoughtful presentation.
Something else i forgot to mention The upkeep of the alignment equipment is also critical to the correct readings one is adjusting to. Alignment machine in calibration. Front turn plates clean and fully funtional Rear slip plates also clean and full funtional. The alignment rack is dead level front to rear side to side. When you go to a shop look at the equipment is it clean well kept or dirty. That alignment group is a presision piece of equipment and so often it was treated like the tire machine. Part of this group is also the wheel balancer. Shimmy and shakes wobbley steering wheel can be a tire issue. So it isnt a bad idea to get your tires checked at the same time. Especially if you got those low profile tire so common on todays rides .
Very nice article! I once found the alignment settings for a tarmac rally car (Ford Sierra Corworth RWD, driven by Francois Delecour, a true tarmac rally specialist back in that era). I modded my car (a Volvo 940, similar McPherson front suspention) to get to these settings. The difference in grip was HUGE. And it got rid of understeer and outer edge tire wear. I thought why didn’t Volvo use the same settings right from the start? Then i realised what type of company Volvo is. Their image is based on safety. And the Volvo suspention designers obviously focused on that while designing and setting up the suspention of the 940. What IS the safest setup? UNDERSTEER. (=push= front wheels sliding out of the corner) Why? Because when understeer happens the averidge mediocre driver will usually kinda panic and what will they do? They let go of the throttle. And that panic reaction is exactly the RIGHT reaction: The car slows down and dynamically transfers weight to the front and the front wheels regain grip. Disaster averted. So, that must be why OEM suspention designers tune for an understeery front suspention. And it is also why there is room for improvement if you are after more cornering grip and sportier steering dynamics. (Cool story bro!😉)
You have to use the gauge with the front end sitting naturally, right? I think once you lift it and take the load off the front coil springs everything changes, especially with light duty springs. I ask because it sure would be easier to play the shim game if you could do it with the tire off and gauge mounted.
I have been messing around trying to align my 4wd Jeep Grand Cherokee 2004 for what seems like a never ending frustrating job. I’m going to try again today with confidence because I feel like I understand so much more! Thank you for teaching this noob in a clear, fun and professional, do it for dummies kind of way. THANK YOU
Great article. This is a must to know if you are spending thousands to go fast. I have built so many race cars and drag cars the biggest overlooked part of most builds. The tire tracking. Caster camber and Toe are the keys to winning. Thanks for bringing this point up. My 2020 HELLCUDA will handle like a Ferrari when I’m ready to align. Thanks Teach. 👍
Quick question, when measuring toe in, just use the rear measure minus the front one can tell the difference, but how to tell which one need the adjustment? (what if one side is straight and theater side is toe out too much? Also, using the toe plate, how to tell if they’re centered to the wheel? dose the length matters? I think longer distance between front and rear measuring point would result greater difference.
It doesn’t seem like they add as much road crown these days, especially with the concrete highways. I remember as a kid you could easily see the crown and when I started driving in the late 80’s I could feel the crown. I think they are trying to flat angle new roads more than crowning them, but I am not a road engineer so I could be completely wrong.
WAIT!!! Is the steering axis of a cart caster vertical?!! More precisely, is it perpendicular to the plane that the mounting plate of the cart caster exists within (such that the steering axis would be vertical if the caster plate is positioned horizontally (as when it would be if mounted to a horizontal member of the cart))? It’s always been confusing to me, because I’ve been thinking the SAI (steering axis inclination) went from top center of the plate through the hub of the wheel.
A question sir. Have the aluminum toe plates and tried to make sense of them. Used string to make a ‘box’ around the vehicle and found both front wheels are toe’d out. Specs call for 1/8″ toe in. Is that 1/16″ per wheel, or 1/8″ per wheel? And with the steering wheel centered, how do I know which tie rod should be adjusted? Please help me out teach!
Dude this is an awesome article! I just rebuilt the front end on my 69 Plymouth RR and was rather intimidated about doing a front end alignment by myself but after perusal your article I thought “hey, I can probably do this”. Was a bear to do and took about 5 hours but I got enough caster at +2 (I’ve manual steering) and while the camber isn’t exactly where I want it (I wanted neg .5 but got a neg .3 Driver side and neg .6 pass), I feel as though it close enough for cruising purposes. I cannot thank you enough for making this article and while I cannot speak for others It sure did payoff for me! Next up- setting up the toe in! My only regret is that I don’t live closer to you…..so that you could help. 😉
Thank you for your great explanation, I ordered a Fastrax system to align my W123 after checking your article. I noticed that my caster was about 9.5 degrees on the Fastrax bubble gauge but with a digital level, it only read 4.3 degrees. Could you please tell me why that is? I adjusted it to about 8 degrees on the bubble gauge or 4 degrees on the digital level. Thanks again for your time.
Cool article. Wish I could pick your brain on my alignment issues on my stock Tundra. Ever since the dealership touched it I’ve been miserable. Some new guy wrenched on it for 3 hours doing a simple alignment job after purchasing new tires there. And now no one can seem to, or care enough, to get it back to where I want it. After perusal this I’m tempted to go under there myself and go crazy.
Done MANY alignments & lots were race cars. Just a side note, the main reason a steering system self centres is caused by the jacking effect of the King Pin Inclination (KPI) angle, sort of similar to that caused by castor angle. but castor only raises one side whereas the spindle is angled upwards due to KPI so as the wheels turn away from straight ahead the spindles arc downward & raise BOTH sides more or less equally & the car’s weight pushes the wheels to the point of maximum upward angle of the spindles. Cheers, H
People can talk trash about a tape measure alignment all they want, but I have fixed messes from when my wife would drop her car off at the local alignment shop, they’d not even free everything, mess it up further (with the steering wheel off center, driving her nuts). Some time on my back with a light, some wrenches, a torch, a tape, and some greased sheet metal plates, and it was good for years, just measuring tread to opposite tread – i.e., no fancy angle plates – which I think I should take a minute and fab up. Thanks for that!
Thank you for taking the time to present this subject in terms we all can understand! From the planning, to the filming and editing…I’m sure these articles eat up a bunch of time and effort, but I have found no other website that so clearly relates subjects to the audience. Most of us have, at one time or another, questioned our chosen profession, but you sir were born to teach. It’s not glamorous or lucrative (my wife is a teacher) but when you have the gift, there are few professions more important, or satisfying. Thank you for your dedication, and don’t ever retire-those kids need you!
Old school VW/Porsche factory trained tech, race car/aerospace fabricator, crew chief for several winning SCCA club level GT/Production class cars so I understand and appreciate your in depth explanation shown here. Especially enjoyed explanation of importance of caster, how it will ‘rise and fall’ when rotated/turning. Would have been interesting to show the weight transfer from front to rear corners of the car. Example: Hard left turn angle, the caster cause the left front to rise. Conversely the right rear lowers, with a cross weight transfer. Try this with a race kart chassis, it’s obviously apparent. The left front will rise approx. 1 inch, the right rear will drop approx. 3/4 an inch. fun to play with and a very graphic example for students. The toe plates are a quick n’ ez way to measure toe, but surprised you didn’t mention the old ‘string’ method. A PITA to set up but very accurate. More than once I’ve returned from a tire shop install of new tires with alignment and car drove funny and steering wheel off center. With the string setup find the front toe way outta’ whack. Set it back to about 1/16th toe, car drives fine…again.
great explanation. I have build a couple of early 30 hotrods and did the alignment myself with a simular bubbletool from Speedway and a toe-tool copied from a Model A one. Last project was a 49 Pontiac Streamliner with LS1, Jag Front and 4 link 8.8 Ford rear. Alignment was spot on, but the car was a bit nervous over 65 miles. I put some frontrims on that looked cool,but I forgot to check the srubradius, after putting the right rims on, man what a difference!
I have a 73 Cougar. A shop teacher told me not to get it aligned at a “modern” alignment center, but to go to the old timer alignment shop in town- apparently the only place with an old-timey alignment system. Is this good advice? What would be the best way. Should I try doing this at home? Special tools?
I’m the kid sitting in the back of the class that you really want to give detention. But its not my fault. Most of the information in the article was just fine, but you left some stuff out. If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t mention it. On the car in the article, what you call a camber adjustment is not what you were really adjusting. Your camber line is a vertical line that runs through the center line of the wheel. It gets referenced to true vertical, and any difference, positive or negative, is camber. That part you got right. Its the adjustment that’s wrong. But first look at caster. Your caster line runs through the upper and lower pivot points of your steering (upper and lower ball joints, or lower ball joint and top strut plate, for most vehicles). Your caster line is referenced to true vertical, and is always positive. But the problem is you can’t stop there. You’re working in 3 dimensions, so if you rotate your perspective 90 degrees, your caster line is now SAI (steering axis inclination angle). When you want to adjust camber, the only thing that has to move is the wheel itself, because camber is measured through the wheel. Nothing else has to change. In the article, you’re adjusting camber by changing the length of the upper control arm. Doing that changes the position of the upper pivot point (upper ball joint), and because you are moving it crosswise in relation to the car, you change SAI. Changing SAI will have a major impact on how the vehicle handles. So your adjustment changes SAI and camber at the same time.
This was so incredibly informative! I lifted my truck about 2 inches with an aftermarket strut and was trying to figure out how to get it back to stock alignment. Turns out, that ain’t happening! I used the law of cosines on the side measures of the triangle formed with the frame, control arms and strut and figured out the amount of caster I would need would put the adjuster off the frame of the truck. I can move at least half of the way there by kicking it out to max, but aftermarket control arms would be required to kick it out any further. At least now I know what my next investment should be.
Front wheel drive with toe out will wear tires fast with braking and at cruising the road force will fight against the slight front drive force. Your measuring Camber with the square touching the bulge on the ground? Really? Use the right tool on the back and see if it really has any camber? Should not. Don’t modern swing arm configurations do Camber changes as you compress the outer tire on a turn to keep the tire flat on the road?
Great tutorial, I have a Toyota Hilux with 18 wolfrace alloys, I have been to three tyre shops & they all say”we can’t align your truck because it should have 15″ or 16″ rims on. I don’t really wanna change them but I have front tyre wear on both inner & outer edges with correct tyre pressure? The truck drives straight, any thoughts?
18:12 Actually, what’s causing the nose to lift slightly lock lock is an often neglected, and normally non-adjustable angle known to us fossils as ‘kingpin’ angle, or SAI(steering axis inclination). Caster, on the other hand, works on the principle of pneumatic trail, similar to how the wheels on an office chair or supermarket grocery cart work. Csster aims the steering axis through the forward/ leading edge of the tire contact patch.
I think I finally understand now after perusal your article why my Kenworth T800 Dump truck pulls to the right. Its left front wheel is leaned out at the top 6 degrees while the right front is strait up. With the little bit of castor that it has the left wheel don’t relax going down the road until its pointed right a degree or two which I have to fight against all day long. Even with the wheels aligned strait using a similar method to yours I use to 4 ft levels to get a very accurate alignment measurement. The problem is the camber is built into the axle and from what I hear you have to have the axle bent to adjust the camber. Very few people will do that these days though and some axles have stamped in them do not bend. This truck has actually been turned over on its left side and I’ll never know if that’s what caused the camber to be like that or not but it hasn’t always pulled hard right like it does now.
My 1980 VW Dasher Wagon was pulling to the right.. I took it to be aligned. They tried a few times to get it right but no luck.. All would check fine.. I finally jacked up each tire and found the left rear wheel bearing was worn and there was some slack in the bearing. It turns out when they put it on the machine they pulled the parking brake, which straitened up the left rear tire, and they couldn’t find the problem. Grrr
Thank you, I am almost finished lowering my BRZ for lower center of gravity (yes I fixed the roll center) and this helped me understand how the wheel geometry all works together. I will be doing a string alignment and all this info will help me dial in everything. I installed all new poly bushings, some solid bushings and spherical bearings in my suspension. Sadly, I will have to use the drop string method and some trig to get the camber I want. Lot’s of great info…
Great Info thanks…I use Art Morrison and QA-1 specs for a base for a drag-street machine…they have a great research centers… usually +1° camber +4°or more caster and 1/16″ toe in …then experiment its a fun science…69 vettes w/ps are what I use for a start spec also…check at full acc lift too for drag cars… some toe out on lift !
Hi, was hoping you could assist me ? I’ve been messing around with bits of string attempting to set the wheel alignment on my 65 mustang, watched you do this with the alloy plates and tape measures, thought great ! That’s me I’ll do the same, but I’m struggling to understand how this works, do I need a centre line from the middle of the car ? Apologies if this is a daft question I’ve had this car completely apart and geographically speaking the only thing I’m sure about is that it’s nose into the garage, thanks 👍
Awesome article, thanks for taking the time to make it and post it. Something ive seen on a few articles comment sections is that unless you know the first wheel is aligned then you could be setting up a parallelogram instead of a square. How would you prevent that? If the rear axles are fixed would you just use the old string method to align the front wheel in front of it? And If its that easy then why not do that for both sides?
One question: when you measured the caster, the final result was 7… Shouldn’t that 7 value be the same as the total “camber difference” between the both turns: Camber turned back (1st reading @ 12:29 = +2 Caster) versus Camber turned to front (2nd reading @12:52, about minus 2.75)? If so, it does not add up to 7 (+2 + minus 2.75 = 4.75). I am just trying to see if I can avoid buying that tool and just measuring the camber in those 2 positions. Thanks!
Your ignoring king pin inclination. I build tadpole recumbent trikes. I end up with one to two deg caster 1/2 deg toe in on right front to make brake in a straight line. But king pin inclination make it go straight similar to your explanation of why caster works for centering. More than 2 deg caster makes my trikes want to follow the road crown and holding it straight requires more energy from the rider to not drive into the ditch. People power comes at spent energy.
in the 1970s I had to drive ford and chevy vans that had no power steering. ford used very little caster compared to chevrolet. so more steering effort for more caster but better high speed stability. the fords were easier to drive slow, park, less steering effort. at speed their vans were more unstable. compromise. great article.
wow, im so glad i clicke onto someone that knows camber ! i built a drag beetle back in the day, i lowered the suspension to about an inch off the road, the camber of the wheels was about 3 inch negative, but it handled fantastic ! On the road it was like a nuclear go cart on wheels ! At the lights it wheelied in first and second gears 😉 A lot of fun to drive !
A vehicle will pull towards the highest camber or the lowest caster, you have to allow for the camber (curve of the road surface from the centre line to the edge) of the road so the vehicle will track in a straight line and not wear out it’s tyres, to perform well and be safe. What annoys me is people ‘technicians ‘ performing wheel alignments who have no idea what they are doing setting up vehicles to what the machine says is ok.
Great article, but ive never met anybody that said zero or slight toe out (on a rear wheel drive car), makes the car drive better, quite the opposite in fact, and on my car (Cobra replica) even the slightest toe out feels horrible, imho and every one ive ever known, slight toe in gives much better feel
As I removed the subframe on my PT Cruiser, I kearned that the subframe is individual aligned when installed by the factory and if I dont mark exactly where it was, it may be impossible to get the front to align. I wouldnt have pulled the subframe, but the rack and pinion was shot and I could do a better job. Just glad I read the manual on the subframe first.
This awesome and all and you can definitely align the car this way but you missed one huge thing you forgot about rear thrust angle your supposed ro align the vehicle to the rear thrust angle cause thats the real center line of the car otherwise if done without that angle it could potentially pull still
Hey man I have a question for you about those bubble caster/camber tools. I’ve noticed some brands of the bubble gauge tools say to measure 20 degrees out, reset the gauge to 0 then go 20 degrees in and multiply your reading by 1.5 or 2.0 to get your caster measurement. The PMD products bubble caster/camber/KPI gauge I have, the instructions say nothing about it and says to check caster with the 20 degree out/20 degree in method but another alignment tool I have says to multiply by 1.5. Any idea what kind of crack they’re smoking with that one? can’t seem to find a reason why some tools you’re supposed to multiply the reading and some not using the same method of obtaining the reading.
Do you find it matters if you only take measurements after rolling forward a few feet, to ensure that rubber bushings, etc., are deflected as they would be while driving? It probably doesn’t change much on that Seven, but might matter on a typical street car. Temporary negative camber after letting down from jacking is sure visible from bushing deflection.
Hey shop guy, I came across your website, I learned auto mechanic’s in ’95. The wheel alignment was the most difficult part for me to grasp mentally(I just couldn’t figure it out!) In perusal your article explanation and the great visuals to go with it!, I now don’t feel comfortable with touching ANY part of auto repair. I’ve taken the ASE exams every 6 months-studied for those tests, and, failed by 1 answer and never attained my ASE certification. After 10 years of beating my head against the wall trying to achieve my goal of ASE certified mechanic(with a 98+%ile in mechanical reasoning). I had to walk away from my life-long dream of having my own shop. I’ve not even gotten to work as an automotive technician. After 27 years of my heart getting broke, your article has told me why I failed, thank-you for the article presentation and helping me to “get” why I bombed. Doug😵
Question: 09 lexus seems to pull a tad thinking they did not allow for crown in road? drive on rt side…..slight pull rt drive on left side slight pull left your thoughs? can i just turn one tie rod 1/2 turn? ty Sorry think I would have failed just watched more of article….it is not toe but camber i need to adjust right? So if my car is pulling to rt a tad much as i have the hold the wheel to the left a little, then the gave too much camber on the passenger side. If i decrease the camber on the left passenger side tire by say a 1/2 degree should that take care of the pull rt?
That’s a lot of information to take in at once for someone that has never delved into alignment at all. It’s also very interesting the science involved in the physics and mechanics. It requires a lot of mathematical calculations and a good working understanding of the relationship of mass, velocity, and inertia, friction and contour. Thermal dynamics and the materials involved, along with consideration of the driving habits of a particular person and the intended purpose of the vehicle itself. That’s just a baseline of what goes into it I’m sure. I bet you did have a very detailed and explicit article started on the subject before you decided it was going to be too much for most people to comprehend.
I have a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland and noticed when changing lanes the leading tires (front and rear) form right or left is being affected by the slight groove or meeting of the two lanes of pavement at the center. My vehicle gets “caught” briefly in the groove, not a smooth of transition between the two lanes. I have not noticed this with other vehicles I have driven before or it is not as severe to draw my attention. I intend on flat towing this vehicle and I am concerned this may cause some sway and control issues, being there would not be anyone in the drivers seat to adjust to this affect. When looking at the tires there is a obvious camber in at top on all 4 tires. With my limited knowledge, I think it is the shoulder of the tire being caught in this groove and if there was less and if the contact surface was flatter then there would be less affect from this slight groove in the pavement. Is this thought process correct, is this something to be concerned about and what corrections should be taken, if any in your opinion? Thank you
Great article, very informative. I’m curious to hear your opinion on whether the drivers weight should be simulated before doing an alignment. I’ve heard it both ways, but never an explanation as to why one method is better than the other. I use my car both on the street and track, but it’s mostly for autox. It’s been modified with coilovers and adjustable toe arms. Thanks, and again, great vid!
thank you for sharing this article. It is the most thorough and clear explanation of the three alignment angles that I have ever come across. Are there any makes of cars that you have aligned that are the most difficult to adjust because of design of the steering geometry, or the number of components, or some other factor? You showed two alignment tools that you use; are there any others that you would recommend that would be accurate but at the same time affordable for the DIYer?
Yes and you should always check your ride height before making any adjustments to a car also the vehicle needs to be in the standard trim the way it will be while going down the road I once had a really heavy guy that had a Cadillac I mean this guy was 500 pounds or more and we had to align his car with him in the drivers seat to get his car to drive right and not wear out the tires. Car needs to be on level ground with the correct tire pressure also
Very nice description. I would add that increased caster gives an additional bonus for hard cornering. It increases the camber while turning, and reduces camber when pointed straight! So the BMW M3 could have very similar camber as a base 3 series (including nice tire wear) yet achieve more negative (desirable) camber when the wheel is turned! And the more you turn your wheels, the more camber you get! Really nice for autocross.
Exceptional explanation. article saved. website subbed. Stupid question though. And I know it’s a 2 yr old article so wouldn’t be upset if it goes unanswered but when adjusting toe in or out in this “redneck” manner. Thank God derogatory racial slurs for caucasians are still acceptable am i right? Double standards for the win! Even when set to “zero” what’s to say it isn’t pointing a couple degrees left or right? I imagine vehicle would pull that direction but is this something your fancy 3 bubble gauge can determine/remedy? Again awesome article! Thanks.
When you set toe using the 2 metal plates, how do you know the plates were square? i.e. like a rectangle (viewed from above) with 4 – 90 degree angles, as opposed to a parallelogram with angles such as 2 at 95 degrees and 2 at 85 degrees? If they were angled, wouldn’t you still get an “equal” measurement?
Hello Sir, first of all thank you for the great article, I have a quick question, I’ve seen articles where they show how to get the castor angle and some of them multiply the angle found after turning the wheels 20 degrees to the right and 20 degrees to the left by 1.5, do you know why the do that? Thank you so much in advance, and again, great article.
I can appreciate your knowledge od under car . But cars today have a lot more technoligy than when we were kids The only front whell drive cars we knew of were. Torinados eldorodos. And the only cars with adjustable rear suspension were vettes jags corvairs. The GMC motorhomes that came out in 73 had no way to align those back tandems. Today virtuly every car is front wheel drive. Or all wheel drive. So caster cambr and toe is only part of the picture. Thrust angle Set back Individual toe is now a real part of the alignment . Gone are the days of measuring with a tape measure or using that hub mounted caster camber gage. . You really need an alignment machine that can measure all the angle together. And you need a tech that knows basic and advanced under car suspension and diagnostics. To find a guy like this is rare. That is the issue today. And you need service writers who know this procedure too.. Sadly not to many of them around either. So you need to know caster Camber Toe Thrust angle Set back Indigual toe Correct print out reading and interpitation of same.
Great explanations! Question: Some say you can’t do it accurately with plates because they aren’t showing relative to the centerline of the car. That is, what if both wheels were slightly to, say, the left…the plates wouldn’t show that as your reading would be the same on both tapes. You have to somehow measure relative to all 4 wheels and the centerline of the car I would think. Some of the string methods approach this.
Great explanation of the alignment procedures. I recently replaced the front shocks and the sway bar links on both sides. I noticed the other day when I had the car outside my garage, that the Camber seemed to be way out of whack! Could this be caused by changing those components? The Tires are almost brand new and the rest of the components are old and untouched.
Teacher, can you help me? My Elantra 2008 has only front toe adjustment by Hyundai specification, that’s all. Why? 2– they said nothing in the rear, so I did in brake master shop a whole alignment and the car pull to the right, then I went back and they say it was perfect. They check it again and they say was good. The brakes are new and in good condition, front struts new, lower arm control with a new ball joint, hub and bearing new, CV axles new and new tires, balance and alignment but still pulling to the right. What do you think?
I have ’81 Chevy C-10 SWB . Pulls to right, uf turn loose of steering wheel you will be in ditch in matter twenty feet. I have noticed when steering hard to right n barely moving you can hear n feel left front tire skipping or rolling sideways by squeal…only does it when right turn not left….alignment has been been close to perfect as not extreme tire wear has ever occured. In twenty five years, new parts, ball joints bushings, tie rods, steering center link, never changed control link as bolts didn’t want to cone off, ir pitman arm, steering wheel is set perfectly in center from both directions, truck drives straight down road as I’ve been told, not dog walking, as typical bent frame might cause, any idea of what wrong to cause such hard right pulling? I’ve have always thot wrong steering parts, like left tie rod bar is short ir longer that right side components creating steering angle diff. Right turn circumference is thirty feet, left turn circumference is thirty five…just guessing never measured, but you get what I’m saying. Why left tire skips n right dies not in opposite left turn situation. I do not drive very often as same tires have been on for very longtime with very lil wear. Maybe three sixteen tread still even across tire width….tires are 255/60R15….any help or thots to situation, if steering is held to keep it running straight minimal strength is needed to keep from pulling to right but second you let go, at sixty you’re in right ditch. Braking will hold it straight,so I dont believe braking issue like dragging.
So I have an issue. I have a 67 f100 with a 2011 crown vic front end and rear. I drove the truck last summer and it seemed fine..just sat too high in the front. I lowered it over the winter with lowering springs. It drives fine but it would fight me on turns and while braking on turns. I took it to a buddy who owns a shop and he aligned it as best as he could. 1.0 camber on drivers front. 0.7 camber on passenger front. 5.9 caster on drivers side, 6.8 on passenger side. 0.11 toe in on drivers side and 0.16 toe in on the passenger side. It seemed a bit better, but especially while turning right, the steering wheel will get hard stiff spots as I turn sharper corners. I really have to muscle the wheel. I love the truck but hate driving it the way it is. Any suggestions? Awesome article btw!
The back wheel probably doesn’t have so much camber as you think. Your square is up against the bulge of the tyre at the bottom, where it bulges the most because it’s flexing under the weight of the car against the ground. This stops the square from moving in against the wheel rim, and the gap at the top makes it LOOK like there’s a certain amount of camber, when there’s actually quite a bit less, and there might not even be any camber at all. To check the camber, you need to have probes that touch the wheel rim, making the square clear the tyres completely. For a home-based check, this can be as simple as using a 6″ steel rule and comparing the distances between the top and the bottom of the rim. It isn’t difficult, but it can’t be done with a square alone.
Durable is actually very strong in table top because you can roll hit die on a short rest, if you have 16 constitution for example that means your minimum roll on hit die is 6 or 3 times 2. That’s the that means any class when you roll hit die for you are getting at LEAST half your maximum but on some classes with smaller hit die you are auto rolling maximum every time. Wizard and sorcerer have d6 as their hit die, bard cleric druid rogue and monk all use d8 as their hit die, fighter ranger and paladin use d10 and only barbarian uses d12 In the example a sorcerer with 16 con when rolling hit die will automatically just take 6 because that is the highest roll possible and thanks to the feat they regain less than 6 hp. That makes this feat somewhat less powerful on big hit die characters, a barbarian would need 22 constitution for all of their rolls to be treated as maximum. However on big health characters, ensuring your hit die value is at least half the max is still very strong, like on fighters, paladins, rangers and barbarians it’s still got value.
You missed the main point of rituals. They require no spell slots to cast! Also, they take many, many times more than just 3 turns for example (which would be 3 x 6 = 18 seconds total. A turn is 6 seconds). A typical ritual will take 10 minutes. Some can take a hour, or even longer. This doesn’t have much relevance to BG3 because there isn’t time taken being tracked (this is obvious, as when you do a short rest it happens immediately) – so if I had to guess, if it’s indeed implemented in the final release of the game, rituals will be spells we can cast at-will so long as we aren’t in combat – so any time while exploring.
15:15 I don’t think heavy armor allows you to deflect strikes meant for others. The initial description is for flavor and describes what the feat is in role playing terms. “deflect strikes that would kill others” is meant to be read as, “you are so well adapted to your heavy armor you can deflect strikes that would normally kill others not so adapted as you”. Hope this clears the confusion 😅
Sentinel + Polearm Master goes CRAZY together already in the tabletop, quite infamously so. However, in BG3, they gave Sentinel advantage on opportunity attacks – making it EVEN better. This in tandem with Battle Master trip attack and a halberd/glaive means you can basically negatr enemy movement AND force them prone for even daring to come within range of you.
Question in regards to the Ritual book and overall another game mechanic: Is the Ritual book bound to a character or can another character B, that has the ability (chars w/o the ability can’t use them right?), use the Ritual book from Char A? And you can’t choose the ability more than once for a character? If it says it takes 2 hours to copy them into the RB, does it mean in game 2h or IRL 2h? I saw it a few times that certain things take a specific amount of time until they are done
I really hope larian homebrews/balance many of these feats, so many are completely useless, and then you have polearm master which is just so crazily overtuned, weaponizing both reaction and bonus action reliably in an action economy game – while pigeonholing you into one type of weapon…. Extremely bad design tbh
Been playing D&D for 20+ years, 2nd edition, 3rd, Pathfinder, never 5th edition, this is ridiculous, the characters are way overpowered, those feats are absolutely crazy, with one feat any character can find traps better than any 3.5 rouge, to even get close you would need to be epic level (over 20th). They should change the name, it’s not D&D anymore.