Quote:
Originally Posted by piratetrucker
I've got some "toe plates". Some pieces of angle iron that I lift on some wood blocks to get off the tire bulge. They work OK for total toe, but I want to measure the toe of each wheel. Do you know of a good way to do this, Steve?
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Let me dispel a myth for you. Practically speaking there is no individual toe for the front wheels. Total toe is all that matters in the front. Lets argue your side of the point to help you understand it better. Lets say you have zero toe on the left wheel, 1/4 inch of toe in on the right wheel and your wheel is pointed straight ahead (and we assume the rear is perfect in thrust). Take your car for a drive around the block. The wheel of the car will now be tilted slightly to the left (I think it's early and I am drinking my coffee) and if you pull the car straight in the garage to measure you will find both wheels now have 1/8 of toe in. So ignore each wheel of toe in the front. In the back you are actually measuring thrust not each wheel of toe. It will balance out to be equal on both sides but the car will go slightly sideways down the road. So individual toe in back matters, call it individual toe or thrust its the same basic thing. You need to read my how to on alignments and use a laser or strings (argh) to get thrust in rear correct. You need toe plates. I have found home made toe plates to not be repeatable. If you want help with alignments ask in that thread so we have it all in one place. Another couple points on the front. It's more important to make sure both the tie rod lengths are equal and the wheel is pointing straight ahead. If you want to argue wheel toe in the front then you better have tie rods of equal length adjustment first. Thats the only way I can begin to appreciate that argument. Also, you adjust individual wheel toe using a test drive to insure the wheel is pointed straight. If both tie rods are adjusted to the same length and the wheel is straight you can't ask for anything more.
