Similar question was asked in another newsgroup, but no good response. Man has early '80s model F150 and wants help to adjust his toe-in/out. Shops want $60+ just to adjust the sleeves on each side. The price seems excessive for a 20min job
and he's unemployed. He mentioned seeing a string-line test/measurement being done during pit-stops at NASCAR races and wondered how this procedure works. Well, so do I! Neither he nor I need the adjustment to be 'spot-on' specs, just close enough. Anyone know this or another method to adjust the toe-in/out to get it 'close-enough'? Website/diagram would help, if one is available somewhere. Thanks!

 

Parr, this is very easy to do. Tape the string to the rear of the back tire, and run it to the front tire (with the steering wheel straight). You can eyeball the string, to see if it hits the bulging parts of the tires, front and rear. You want about 1/8" (.12 degrees) toe-in. With a little practice, this is a fairly accurate way of adjusting the toe.

I have a set of alignment gauges that I bought from JC Whitney years ago. They have paid for themselves many times over. Front end alignment is not rocket science, but you do need a level garage floor to do a good job.

 

for one its not as you say a "20 min" job
you have to hang the heads on each wheel, set the machine up , then hope and pray to god that you can get the sleeves to turn !

have fun butchering it up in your driveway

 

I used a 6 foot piece of ready rod once. Buy a 6 foot piece, a coupler and one nut. You may have to cut off some of the rod to get it close enough. The coupler is threaded thru and is about 2 inches long.

 

aligning an old ford truck isnt close to a 20 minute job. you can get it close in the driveway, but if you like you're front tires, pay the shop to do it. even a little bit of incorrect toe wears the front tires. not a problem if you run junkyard tires, but anything else you need it set right. you need to buy a good tie rod adjuster if youre gonna do it yourself. one that hooks in the slot on the clamping sleeze. it takes a lot of force to break em loose. and i would soak em in pb blaster or wd for a couple days b 4 you start. then put antisieze on the threads. i do alignments and you would be suprised how little a turn on a clamping sleeve changes your readings. its a narrow window to get it in specs. you have to make sure you're steering is tight, too. the gearbox probably has play in it. a good alignment shop can adjust it for you when they do the alignment.

 

if you raise a front wheel off the ground and spin it you can chaulk a stripe down the excact center of the tire. do that to both front tires then measure the distance between the chaulk stripes at the same hieght on the front and back of the tire. then you can adjust the sleeves to 1/8 inch toe in. thats how i always do it at home.

 

A buddy of mine did alignments at tires plus, Yes you can get it accurate but take it around the block and put it back on the rack and it is off again. TTB suspension is probably the worst at this. I would think an at home alignment would be just as good.

 

C_Rossman is exactly right. The loading on the front end springs and bushings will change once someone gets in the vehicle to drive it away.

If you're doing a home alignment, before checking the toe, roll the vehicle back and forth a couple feet with no pressure on the steering wheel. After changing the toe, roll it back and forth again, and re-check your work. This will unload the front tires, and allow for a truer measurment.

 

After taking my 86 150 2wd to get an alignment, I used the string method to fix the toe in. You say the alignment shops are more accurate? How about when the monkey at the place drops the alignment head from 3 ft off the ground, and then proceeds to put it on your truck, which by the way, would not fit on the alignment rack becasue it was too long. I used 20lb fishing line. This method is accurate and measurements were repeatable. Looped it to my trailer hitch and brought it around the rear on each side to check the toe in.