Do it yourself toe-in adjustment
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,760
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From: Gadsden Purchase
Do it yourself toe-in adjustment
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/toe-in1.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/toe-in2.jpg
All a guy really needs to adjust the toe-in himself is a way to measure the toe-in that's accurate and repeatable. This works and it comes with a double your money back guarantee.
Just use a tape measure to measure the total width, tubing and all, front and back of the tire with the steering wheel "straight". (setting about where the wheel is when driving down a straight level road while straddling the center line and no cross wind etc)
What's shown is 1+1/2" square tubing 38" long, you'll need two of them along with two bricks. Measure from outside to outside, front and back. Adjust as needed. Experiment a little. I like zero to 1/32" toe-in. Whatever you use for "straight edges", look down it "like a carpenter looking down a board" and find a pair that's straight. 
I was telling the neighbor about my plumb-crazy-idea about toe-out on a fat-rear-tired dune buggy and how great that works and he told me they used toe-out on their stock car. They canted the rear axle just a bit too.
Alvin in AZ
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/toe-in2.jpg
All a guy really needs to adjust the toe-in himself is a way to measure the toe-in that's accurate and repeatable. This works and it comes with a double your money back guarantee.
Just use a tape measure to measure the total width, tubing and all, front and back of the tire with the steering wheel "straight". (setting about where the wheel is when driving down a straight level road while straddling the center line and no cross wind etc)
What's shown is 1+1/2" square tubing 38" long, you'll need two of them along with two bricks.
Measure from outside to outside, front and back. Adjust as needed. Experiment a little. I like zero to 1/32" toe-in. Whatever you use for "straight edges", look down it "like a carpenter looking down a board" and find a pair that's straight. I was telling the neighbor about my plumb-crazy-idea about toe-out on a fat-rear-tired dune buggy and how great that works and he told me they used toe-out on their stock car. They canted the rear axle just a bit too.
Alvin in AZ
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
That method has been discussed many times before and is not accurate due to runout in the tire and wheel. Runout and irregularities in the tire can be more than 1/4". A more accurate method is spinning the wheel and using tire chalk and a sharp nail etc to scribe a mark around the tire. Some people use an adjustable tent pole or other similar object with points on it to compare the front and rear measurements.
