Originally Posted by Mike D

Nope, wood on the outside won't work. Radial tires bulge unevenly beyond the actual rims and the true center of the tires.

Can't use chalk. It rubs and smears when you do the back and forth bit, which if done properly will restore the "pre-load" to its correct amount.

The advantage of this method over the HF thingie is you now have a crayon for graffiti, a tape measure for figuring out how long it will take you and a board to beat yourself over the head with when you figure out how much easier it would have been simply to take the car to an alignment shop, where you could pop next door to have that sub sandwich along with a refreshing beverage.