Alignment tool
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 4,292
Likes: 5
From: NJ where fun comes to die
Alignment tool
Hi. I am not sure where to ask the question. I tried in the wheels, suspention forum with no answers. I thought maybe somebody here might know. Years ago to do an alignment, you had to drive the vehicle over a metal plate for the toe in and out adjustment. It was about 12" x 30" with a floating top and an arrow out the side. As you drove over it the arrow would move and you would know which way to adjust. What was it, and where can I get one, assuming they are still made? Thanks for any help.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 184
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From: Evansville IN
Sorry, no dice. I use a Hunter 611 to check alignments at work. It can be a long and involved process to adjust toe, but it is very accurate. Most of the local tire shops around here use Hunter equipment as well.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 4,292
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From: NJ where fun comes to die
Thanks but these don't work in pairs. One wheel has to be on the floor and one on the plate. This was used like 40 years ago. I worked in a dealership when I was young and that is where I saw it used. A guy at the gas station thought it was called a weegee board. ? My trucks always seem to be out of alignment, and this would help some if I could find one.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 541
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From: Fleming Ga
I worked doing frontends almost forty years ago and never seen anything where you could drive one tire on and it would tell you if the toe end was out. Seems impossible to me. How could something under one wheel check toe when toe is a function of both wheels. Toe in/out is the difference between the distance measured between the two tires at the back and the front. Only thing I could see using one single plate would be after measuring for toe then you could set a wheel on the plate to adjust so that the wheel could turn in or out easily. The plates were used in a pair and the arrow on the side was used with a bubble guage to adjust castor because to check the castor you turned the wheel in one direction so many degrees then in the other direction and the arrow was to read the degrees you were turning the wheel.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 592
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From: BC, Canada
The garage I used to work in as a kid just used a tape measure to compare the distance between the front of the wheels and the back of the wheels. The difference was the toe in.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2000
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From: Maryland/D.C. Area
An old mechnic friend of mine had one- I know exactly what you are talking about. Heavy sucker let me tell you. And we used it for one tire only. As long as you drove over it slowly with the steering wheel straight, the floating plate would turn in or out, depending on the toe. The guage would read in feet per mile or something like that, meaning this is the number of extra feet the tire is turning every mile becuase it isn't alligned true. My truck was almost off the scale, but just by adjusting one tie rod end, we got back inline.
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Elder User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 541
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From: Fleming Ga
It still sounds like an aliggnment turnplate to me. I guess you could use one as a rough toe indicator because if a wheel is toed in or out it would tend to pull the plate in the direction of the toe in/out if you drove across it -I once drove a car on the alignment machine that had the toe off so much the tires tried to pull the ramps out from under the car- but I don't know how accurate that would be.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,113
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From: Remsen, NY
I agree with the tape measure thing, just to get them in the ballpark at least.
I've used it on my trucks and the tires wear just as good as can be expected with IFS, they cup a little on the right front but they all do that anyway. Can't have bent wheels or crappy tires though.
I've used it on my trucks and the tires wear just as good as can be expected with IFS, they cup a little on the right front but they all do that anyway. Can't have bent wheels or crappy tires though.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,525
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The toe-in scuff plate is a very old tool. I used one in the early 60's. They are very inaccurate and only give a crude indication of toe-in. A scribed line on the tire tread and a steel tape measure are much more accurate.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 152
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From: Southeast GA
No less than 1/16", preferrably 1/8" toe-in on most. The old turn tables aren't much good for toe-in. They were mainly for using the old magnetic caster/camber gauges like Snap-On sold at one time. In a pinch, I have put grease on a piece of tin and drove onto it. I'd like to have an old set of turntables and a magnetic gauge again. Most older vehicles will do just fine with them and a tape measure to set the toe-in.
More Turbo
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 510
Likes: 4
When I was in Trade School in 1977,we had a tool that laid on the floor and you would drive slowly over it to check toe-in.It was simply floating plates with a scale that would show toe.I didn't think it was real accurate then.I liked pulling on the align.rack and scibing the tire then using the tool we had to reach from one side to the other to measure the difference front to rear.