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I have a 1998 Ford E350 van. I installed the complete front tie rods including center link and tie rod ends. My steering wheel was off by about 45 degrees. I adjusted both sides and was able to get it as straight as the naked eye could see.
I want to get the toe close before I bring it to the alignment shop. Is it worth doing this? I did a rough measurement of the toe and found it off by 1 1/2 inches.
I measured the toe by doing the following:
I strapped 4' levels on both front wheels as shown. I measured the distance between the front and rear of tires with a stiff tape measure.
Front 80 1/4"
Rear 81 3/4"
Levels strapped to driver and passenger side wheels to measure toe.
Here is are photos of the front alignment sleeves:
if using a tape measure the Toe should be more like 1/8th of an inch...
what I have done in the past is set my steering wheel straight and lock it then align the driver's front wheel to be Parallel with the rear wheel as much as possible then adjust the passenger front wheel so that I have 1/8th inch toe in with the tape measure close to the tire and measure as close to the Spindle level as possible,
a couple Levels hooked up like you have it should be fine for at least getting it close enough.
if using a tape measure the Toe should be more like 1/8th of an inch...
what I have done in the past is set my steering wheel straight and lock it then align the driver's front wheel to be Parallel with the rear wheel as much as possible then adjust the passenger front wheel so that I have 1/8th inch toe in with the tape measure close to the tire and measure as close to the Spindle level as possible,
a couple Levels hooked up like you have it should be fine for at least getting it close enough.
Thanks. I will lock the steering wheel and then align each wheel parallel.
I got the toe almost spot on until I lowered the wheels to the ground. It's within a 1/2" now and I took it to the alignment shop.
I am not sure how the alignment collars work. Seems like if I loosen the collars and turn clockwise or counterclockwise, the only thing that moves is the sleeves on the threads.
well, it's really best to have the front wheels on Toe Plates or you can jack the control arm or axle housing up just a bit to get the load off the tire that you are adjusting.
Toe Plate image...... nice to have but most of us do not. and not hard to build either.
My ballpark alignment was decent. The alignment shop made a few corrections for toe. After alignment, I had the tires rotated. The van is really running good.
Here is what I did: Replaced all the tires and installed Bilstein shocks all round. New Moog steering assembly. New serviceable ball joints installed by the previous owner. Brand unknown. Active Suspension. New front Ford brake calipers and pads. New Motorcraft rear brake shoes. Rebuilt Motorcraft MAF sensor. New DPFE sensor. New Ford alternator, serpentine belt, and Motorcraft pulleys including Motorcraft AC pulley. 8 new Motorcraft spark plugs and 4 new Motorcraft COPs.
