DIY front end alignment -- toe in

[ENafziger]

So, my tires in front had begun wearing markedly to the inside. I found a loose tie rod end on the driver's side. I ordered a driver's side replacement, only to find out it was reverse thread and wouldn't fit... after a little pondering, I think someone has had the entire tie rod out before, and re-installed it backwards... although I digress.

So, after re-installing the old tie rod, I decided to do adjust the toe. The procedure that popped into my head actually worked extremely well, and so I thought I would share.

I parked my truck about 60' away from the school bus at mom and dad's house. I aimed the truck at the side of the bus, and as perpendicular to it as I could. I placed a 4' long 2" x 10" across one of the front tires, parallel to the ground, and then held my 18" laser level flush with the board. I was able to pinpoint a fine laser dot on the bus 60' away and have a friend mark the location with a sharpie. I did the same for the other side. The distance at the front tires of the truck between the laser beam was 84 1/4". The distance between the laser dots on the side of the bus was 124" !!!!!! No wonder the tires had been wearing! The toe was off 40" at 60'. Within 2 iterations, I was able to get the toe within 1" at 60'.

This process, while requiring two people, was extremely quick, and I bet more accurate than having it done at the quicky tire and alignment shop. When I get the replacement tie rod in, I think I'll go the side parking lot of the grocery store parking lot and do the same thing at 100' distance or so... and maybe get a few pictures to help my poor worded explanation

--Eric

 

[JLEONARD]

No alignment shops in Tn?

 

[ENafziger]

No alignment shops in Tn?<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- END TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- sig -->

Yes, of course there are. However, from trying multiple times with my suspension modified '06 and spending hundreds of dollars at alignment shops, I'm somewhat turned off from trying to have it done.

I don't really like having anyone else work on my stuff unless it's necessary. The alignment shops that I've been to use a new fancy machine, and they follow step-by-step instructions given to them by the computer program. It's hard to find someone knowledgeable about suspension design who works at a tire shop. When I specified a different castor than the computer recommended, it confused them. When I said I wanted toe set to zero, it confused them. When they saw an adjustable track bar, it confused them. When they saw control arms that were adjustable, it confused them. When they saw traction bars that had the rear axle pre-loaded, it confused them. When they saw that the front axle had been trussed and didn't look like the picture on their computer diagram, it confused them.

After I shelled out the last $120 for an alignment and headed out on a long trip, I could tell after 1,000 miles that the lugs on the Toyo MTs were wearing wrong. So, with a shoe string, a rock, and a pipe wrench that I found a flea market, I aligned the truck closer than they had it.

Another problem is that the Toyo MTs have rim protectors that make it very hard for a shop to get their laser/infrared pickup mounts on. Furthermore, taking it to a shop either requires me taking vacation time, or spending half a day on a Saturday.

The only alignment I've ever paid for that I felt good about was from a 78 yr old mechanic working out of his garage. He's long since retired.

At any rate, the above method works great, only takes a few minutes, and I'd bet sets toe more accurately than many fancy machines could do it!

--Eric

 

[MChrist]

That's the kind of problem solving I like to hear!! Sounds so simple, I can't believe I never thought of it. . thanks!

 

[RedRamAndy]

Eric, I agree completely. I had my wife's car aligned at a very reputable shop, owned by a dear friend of mine no less. The next time I changed the oil a few weeks later, I went to write it in the car diary. I noticed that the mileage per tank that my wife was filling out had dropped 3 mpg since the alignment. Hmm. The new Michelins also were very worn on the outside. A quick tape measure check between the front tires, front and back, showed an inch and a quarter toe-in! I called my buddy and told him all this. He basically barked at me and said I was full of, uh... fertilizer. I'll go with that. Took it in and he grumled as I dropped off the car. Went back that afternoon to find him handing me $ and a big apology. To sum it up, YES, they did have the best state-of-the-art machine. Yes they did use it correctly. The error: A mechanic dropped one of the heads a month ago and didn't tell anybody. They had been churning out effed up alignments all that time!! My lesson: don't go there.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Fantastic.

Another way to confirm is measure the front of the tread to the other side of the vehicle in the same tread line. Then measure the backside of the tires side to side into the same tread line. The number should be almost exact. I did this method when I rebuilt my front end and was out 1/16" according the the guy doing the alignment. And when I told him I intentionally did that as I was unsure of exact spec he nearly fell over!

 

[HHhuntitall]

I've got a piece of 3/4" aluminum square tubing with an all-thread rod shoved in it, with two nuts to hold it from going down into the tubing. Measure from sidewall or off the rim bead, front and rear, the same hieght off the floor. Give it just a hair clearance in the rear, and go drive it. Sometimes, it's not exact, but it can be adjusted again... . I don't think I've had a shop align anything of mine in years, other than my wife's Jeep Cherokee... . which wore the tires on the inside between rotations, I might add..... I can't blame that on the shop, though. My wife drives by Braille, and thinks curb checks are a healthy part of her car's diet..... Between her grassy median expedition, coyote calling pasture crawling, and my cow ramming rants, I can't afford to take all of 'em to the shop!!! :-laf

 

[JHumphries]

So, how do you set the caster?
Do you use the ceiling in the garage?

 

[HHhuntitall]

So, how do you set the caster?

Do you use the ceiling in the garage?

No, I use the same bubble level and plumb bob I used to string off the concrete forms and set the upright beams, though... .

 

[goodguys75]

Yes, of course there are. However, from trying multiple times with my suspension modified '06 and spending hundreds of dollars at alignment shops, I'm somewhat turned off from trying to have it done.



I don't really like having anyone else work on my stuff unless it's necessary. The alignment shops that I've been to use a new fancy machine, and they follow step-by-step instructions given to them by the computer program. It's hard to find someone knowledgeable about suspension design who works at a tire shop. When I specified a different castor than the computer recommended, it confused them. When I said I wanted toe set to zero, it confused them. When they saw an adjustable track bar, it confused them. When they saw control arms that were adjustable, it confused them. When they saw traction bars that had the rear axle pre-loaded, it confused them. When they saw that the front axle had been trussed and didn't look like the picture on their computer diagram, it confused them.



After I shelled out the last $120 for an alignment and headed out on a long trip, I could tell after 1,000 miles that the lugs on the Toyo MTs were wearing wrong. So, with a shoe string, a rock, and a pipe wrench that I found a flea market, I aligned the truck closer than they had it.



Another problem is that the Toyo MTs have rim protectors that make it very hard for a shop to get their laser/infrared pickup mounts on. Furthermore, taking it to a shop either requires me taking vacation time, or spending half a day on a Saturday.



The only alignment I've ever paid for that I felt good about was from a 78 yr old mechanic working out of his garage. He's long since retired.



At any rate, the above method works great, only takes a few minutes, and I'd bet sets toe more accurately than many fancy machines could do it!



--Eric

thats what happens when you start to mess with all that stuff... . it never is right... tried an off road shop????

 

[DVolk]

Ive aligned lots of vehicles by hand its not as hard as you might think

 

[NIsaacs]

I do all my own with a tape measure cuz I don't have a laser or bus



I agree, the closer you get to zero without being towed out is perfect.



Good job!



Nick

 

[pwerwagn]

I do all my own, as well. My best friend worked at an offroad shop that had a "good" alignment rack... and even they did most of the solid axle trucks by hand. Shoot... I put ball joints and 5100's in a truck a few weeks ago for a guy, aligned it, and when he took it to Big-O to have tires put on it they aligned it and he said it drives bad now. He is bringing it to me tomorrow for me to re-driveway align it. :-laf



I do a similar method that Eric does. First off, I start by doing a simple ~1/16" toe in from the rear of the tire to the front of the tire at home in the driveway. Then I take it to my wifes vet clinic (big parking lot) and park it out in the open. I use either a laser method, or a method similar to what Thuren uses (Thuren Fabrication- solid axle alignment) depending on the truck, who it is for and what I am trying to achieve.



Caster I check a little differently using a jig I built and a digital level. Even If I don't have the caster set at something that someone else can repeat (although they should be able to), at least I can repeat it over and over on others trucks in my driveway with what I've found to work good.



Nice writeup, Eric.

 

[ENafziger]

My idea actually sprang from the write-up that Thuren has on his site. The nice thing about using a method that gets you 100' away, is that 1/16" of an inch at the front tires shows up as over 2" at 100'. Thus, a backyard mechanic could use a yardstick and get an extremely accurate alignment.

--Eric

 

[KOG]

Toe in is related to camber. The more positive camber you have the more toe in you need for tire to track straight and wear even. A good tire running at 0 camber needs maybe 1/32-1/16 toe in. 1/4 negative camber needs 0 toe.

Measuring from a rib will get you in the ballpark, but isn't good enough for final measurement. For that you need to either scribe the tire or put a piece of masking tape on it and roll the car forward (no, NOT backward) 1/2 turn after measuring the rear and then measure the front. To repeat, roll backward more than 1/2 turn, roll forward and brake to measure rear, then roll forward again. Doing this loads the suspension and steering to take out the slack as if the car is moving forward. Makes for dead accurate toe in setting although it does take a little time.

 

[RedRamAndy]

Nice info guys! I take care of my own front alignments as well. ( I'm a land-surveyor by trade and like measurin' stuff). I completely tore down and restored my 66 Charger and put Duster disc brakes on it. Reset caster,camber, and toe before taking it for its' first drive and inspection and alignment. The alignment guy called me from the waiting room into his shop and showed me the screen on his alignment computer. "Why did you come here?" He didn't even charge me. Like it was mentioned before, a magnetic angle measuring dial and the above methods work great.

One thing I do want to point out though: check the trueness of rims and tires before relying on them for measurement. I've seen runout on rims that can approach 3/32". Add in the section height of the tire, and you could be at 3/16" at the tread. I've had tires with worse runout. I simply jack the wheel up and use a pump oil can set on the ground as a pointer and roll the tire. If it does run out side to side, mark your high with tape, and then your low. Look to see how you did by checking that they are 180 degrees off from each other. After that, divide those 'halfs' of the tire again with a peice pf tape on the sidewall. These points should be you crossover points where the high crosses to low. In other words: these will be your true center points you can use to measure. These will be the points of no runout. Use this whether you measure from tread or sidewalls.

 

[mysteryman]

Here is the tool I use for setting toe. It makes it a lot easier to do.
Heres a link to their web site http://www.wheel-a-matic.com/page8.html

Toe in is related to camber. The more positive camber you have the more toe in you need for tire to track straight and wear even. A good tire running at 0 camber needs maybe 1/32-1/16 toe in. 1/4 negative camber needs 0 toe.

Measuring from a rib will get you in the ballpark, but isn't good enough for final measurement. For that you need to either scribe the tire or put a piece of masking tape on it and roll the car forward (no, NOT backward) 1/2 turn after measuring the rear and then measure the front. To repeat, roll backward more than 1/2 turn, roll forward and brake to measure rear, then roll forward again. Doing this loads the suspension and steering to take out the slack as if the car is moving forward. Makes for dead accurate toe in setting although it does take a little time.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Here is the tool I use for setting toe. It makes it a lot easier to do.
Heres a link to their web site http://www.wheel-a-matic.com/page8.html

That is a snappy little tool!

Do you remember the cost? Didnt see one listed there oddly.

 

[NJTman]

That is a snappy little tool!

Do you remember the cost? Didnt see one listed there oddly.

It runs about $189 plus shipping, depending on where you purchase it from

 

[Axtell3]

I think it could be made in 5 minutes with some scraps of wood and deck screws. perhaps a couple hose clamps.