Align your car with your cell phone

[fastg]

Looks interesting 

 

https://gyraline.com/

[Austin David]

Mine came in over the weekend.  It's the "G2" which has some sort of internal hardware and runs an app on my phone.  I've reached out for some support, hopefully will hear back during the week.

 

I did a check of my wife's car, which has unknown alignment but I assume it's OK.  The numbers weren't crazy, but I didn't save them.  IIRC it was something like -0.25 toe front + rear, but very precise-looking values like -0.18* and -0.37*

 

The app has a few modes including a 4-point and 6-point check, plus a thrust angle which uses a body reference.  The body reference I chose was the sill where the scuttle hits the "door".  I'll assume my car is still square, it's never touched anything.  The rear is a dedeon with machined plates, so I further assume the toe is controlled very precisely, tho thrust angle could be off slightly.

 

note that in the photos below the "+1.00*" is a configuration I added, it doesn't actually mean anything for the measurements.

 

 

here's #1 and #2.  The pictures look alarming but the actual values are small.  Note that the car didn't move at all during these two measurements, I just repeated the same test twice.  The procedure involves holding the phone+device flat (the diamond in the center is your level reference), then hold it against the reference point on the body or the wheel.  One of those will blink saying which one it wants next, you align it then tap to confirm.  It sends you back and forth a few times to get the measurements before showing the result.

 

I do expect some toe in here, and I think it's underestimating twice.  As this is a dedeon I don't feel like toe has much room to wear -- it's steel or aluminium all the way around.

 

I also did the "6 point" check for toe front+back, twice:

again, the car wasn't moved between tests.  This time the rear toe is more consistent but the front varied a lot.  I have not tried to independently measure in 15k miles but I expect the front to be toed in a little.

 

I'd already reached out to the team to see if they could help with the square-check.  I don't know if a good set of thrust values would really help here... maybe?  My dedeon doesn't have any thrust angle adjustment, I think the two swingarms will constrain that angle.  At best I could try and shim the assembly left or right but I don't think the gyraline (as currently provided) can account for that.  And It was shimmed + measured when I built it...

The above 6-point rear toe check is encouraging, but the fronts and the thrust angle seem ... variable.  I'm not sure what the expected accuracy is.  I assume something like 0.5 or 0.25 degrees, just based on the swing in the numbers below.  But if that's the case I have a front that may or may not be neutral.  Based on the very obvious inside wear on both tires after 17k miles I assume they're toed in just fine.

 

I have not yet attempted camber measurement.  Again with the dedeon I expect the rears to be very precisely constrained.  The fronts were aligned when new and with no accidents and mostly grocery and road trips, I expect the fronts to be about -1.5*.

[Vovchandr]

I think there's case use for somebody like me who's never done an alignment on the 7 and would at least like the ballpark values dialed in

 

If it gets close enough and can do a number of cars in my fleet I think it would pay for itself with just a few uses

Edited 10 hours ago by Vovchandr

[Austin David]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking; I've got an NC getting suspension now, if I can confirm it's "about right" then it'll save me $150 and half a day.  I was expecting my dedeon rear end to be pretty consistent.  Maybe I should check my neighbor's live axle charger and see if it has any "toe".

[williamwashere]

I picked up the G1 when they had a sale, but haven’t tried it yet. Hopi g it gets me in the ballpark and then I can compare to a real one.

[mccasksl]

FWIW

I'll give my initial review of the Gyraline G1, the little brother to the G2 ($200 plastic unit readable to nearest 0.1 degree vs $600 aluminum unit? readable to nearest 0.01 degree), with software on your i-phone, as discussed by Austin David. Gyraline has several on-line Youtube videos which have been very helpful. The biggest thing I've found is I can measure and tweak the suspension as many times as I want very quickly w/o having to schedule / visit an alignment shop and depend on their technicians. This is very handy when rebuilding / refreshing or tweaking your suspension etc. etc. I've had the unit for several months and used it to dial in the suspension on my 2006 Lotus Exige after a complete overhaul / rebuild front and rear w/ new: Delrin bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, Penske DA shocks, wheel bearings, powder coated a-arms, etc. i.e. 6-months plus effort. I first used the rotors as the reference for the G1 and then followed up w/ the wheels as the reference. Consistency in measurement technique provides incredible repeatability which followed by road testing and the occasional "string" check even for fairly minor adjustments gave me a lot of confidence in the G1. Of course, it helps that everything on the suspension (and tires) is new so the car has a completely different feel (far more precise and responsive).  Toe (individual relative to car CL and total front and back) and camber are easily dialed in as well rapid checking for bump steer. After getting the Exige to 90% of where I want, still working on bump steer w/ limited options for adjustment on the Lotus, I moved to my 2009 Caterham S3.  I upgraded to Penske DA shocks and revised spring rates, checked all suspension bushings, rod ends, ball joints etc. As a precursor to replacement of all bushings (Powerflex), rod ends, tie rod ends and ball joints (using Jack Webb's (UK) incredible Caterham suspension bits for improved camber and bump steer) I checked, adjusted / tweaked the alignment w/ the G1. Again, incredible how fast I can measure and adjust everything, and feel immediate results on the road. I'll give further update(s) as I get into the S3 suspension overhaul / rebuild but the $200 spent on the G1 has been well worth it for me.  Of course, as always "your results may vary".

Cheers!

Steve

[ashyers]

If someone in the Bay Area (Oakland, CA) wants to compare one of these gizmos to an alignment rack I’d be willing to do it. I’m curious to know if it’s accurate.

Andy