DIY toe-in/out alignment, who's done it?

[LoneRanger]

I'm collecting various methods for at home DIY setting toe on the front wheels only. The rears are good. The front needs to come in just a bit. Shop wants full price even though I only need the current front toe-out pulled in some. Caster, camber, thrust angle, all are okay just want to toe it in to neutral or zero total toe.

 

[EricG]

Careful measurements in front and rear of the tire with careful adjustments are not hard, just time consuming. I bought a set of slip plates from Harbor Freight which make it easier to get accurate adjustments. I have been doing my own two wheel alignments for a few years with great results as far as tire wear and handling with slip plates, a homemade rim jig and an angle finder!

 

[fsskier]

I have always done it myself.... and get very long tire life by doing it accurately.

FWD and RWD are done differently, if you want real accuracy. You have probably noted that most RWD cars are given some toe-in and FWD cars are give some toe-out, usually in the 1/8 inch range. This "static" setting is an attempt to achieve 0 toe in at highway speeds.

First spin and put an accurate line around your front tires. The tread may be VERY accurate, or it may be off a little.

FWD: (With an automatic) with the engine idling in gear let the car pull itself ahead a few feet and snub it to a stop with the emergency brake (rear brakes, hopefully) this will preload the front tires to simulate highway use. Now, set toe in to ZERO

Backup, repeat until you have it without further adjustment.

RWD: with car in drive, let it roll ahead, stop it with regular brakes... this also preloads the front end to simulate highway driving (front tires being pulled back)

Set toe in to 0, repeat until it is 0 without adjustment.

You are now set to get up to 100,000 miles of tire life, assuming good tires and moderate driving practices. Our commuter Escort (using this method) went well past 100,000 miles on its Michelin X- ones, and still had legal tread depth.

I have used this method on every car I have owned, beginning with a 1941 Plymouth, BMW's, Toyota's, Fords, Chevy, Fiats, Opel... and always had VERY long tire life.

 

[nleksan]

Honestly, I have no idea how to DIY any kind of alignment on a stock car, in fact I had no idea it could be done!
I do my own track/street setups, but that is easily done with TC Kline D/A coilovers with Ground Control Rear Pillowball Mounts, Vorschlag Stg3 Adjustable Camber Plates, and RE Adjustable Rear Control Arms... Hehe

 

[ahoier]

Neat....I was kind of curious too

Cause yea, my latest pair of tires on my car were wearing out on the very edge....to the point where I started seeing the white cords/metal coming through....would be cool if it was something I could just unscrew, tap back a couple degrees, then tigthen back up


On the flipside.....$40 aint too bad for a front wheel alignment...called around and a local-ish (it's like 37 minutes away....) quoted me $40 + tax.....

Tire Kingdom last I checked (last year when my sister got hers) charged $80+......


What's strange though in my situation, is this past year, I got STRUTS installed on my front end....and the shop I took it too said they aligned it....which yes, I could definitely tell they did....cause the steering wheel was back centered and ran straight, etc....unless it was just a [censored] alignment attempt...but eh...it was earlier this year, possibly last year....september-ish...likely won't do anything for me....

So, I got a set of junk yard tires on there til I decide what kind of tires/wheels to upgrade to on my Aries

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I'm collecting various methods for at home DIY setting toe on the front wheels only. The rears are good. The front needs to come in just a bit. Shop wants full price even though I only need the current front toe-out pulled in some. Caster, camber, thrust angle, all are okay just want to toe it in to neutral or zero total toe.


I'm just curious as to how you know all the other alignment settings are OK and only the toe is out. I would have thought that in order to get that info, you would either know how to measure alignments - toe in particular - or the vehicle was on the alignment rack and the toe should have been adjusted then.

So what's up with that?

 

[calvin1]

I'm curious to see what info gets posted to this thread. On my car toe is the only adjustment so I'm wondering if I can DIY the tie-rods when I get to them in the spring.

 

[Ducati996]

I have a small repair shop & no alignment machine.
When I check tires for wear I run my hand across the tread to check toe-in, it should feel smooth sliding in & out. Improper toe-in adjustment causes the tire tread to scrub the road surface which makes the tread feel raised (feathered) in one direction but smooth the other direction as you slide your hand across it.
If you can feel raised edges in either direction (feathering) that is an indication the toe is out of spec. Visualize a person that we would say is pigeon toed, both big toes are turned inward towards each other. This would be toe-in.
Camber is the position of the top of the tire (tilting in or out) as you look at the front of the vehicle.
The tread depth across the tire should be even, if the tread is worn on the inside or outside but not feathered this is a sign the camber is off.
Excessive camber can wear the entire inside of the tire tread off while leaving the outside treads looking like new.
Low tire pressure will cause the inside & outside of the tread to wear. Hi tire pressure will cause the middle of the tire to wear.
When replacing steering components such as tie-rods I first drive the vehicle to see how it handles and note the position of the steering wheel driving straight and the tire tread condition.
I then lock the steering in the straight position and raise the vehicle & take a tape measure and mark the tire tread where I will be measuring. Mark the tread on the front of the tire facing forward. I then hook the end of the tape on the tread (mark this spot) and then measure to the other tire and put a fine line using a pen on the tire at a convenient whole number such as 60 inches and write this down.
Replace the defective part and reset the toe-in to the recorded number. If you measured accurately the steering wheel should be centered as before and it should drive straight.
To measure actual toe-in most vehicles need to be on the ground due to the steering linkage design.
With vehicle in the driveway mark the tire as mentioned and take an accurate measurement on the front of the tire. Roll the vehicle ½ tire revolution and measure the back side using the same marks. The difference is toe-in or toe-out.
This works with trucks & most SUVs’ but is not possible on many vehicles because you cannot measure the front or rear of the tread due to body parts.
Hope this helps!

996

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: calvin1
I'm curious to see what info gets posted to this thread. On my car toe is the only adjustment so I'm wondering if I can DIY the tie-rods when I get to them in the spring.


I DIY'd the toe on our former 2007 Chrysler minivan after I replaced the tie rod ends. I got them close right off the bat, then it took me driving it 3-4 times to feel out the toe. If it's "out" too much, then the vehicle feels wandry or drifty on the road. If it's "in" too much, then it'll feel darty or twitchy. I also keep a careful eye on tread wear, so I was able to tell initially that my total toe was wrong, although each side was matched up because it'd roll straight down the road with no correction required.

 

[berniedd]

I've done DIY toe adjustments where body panels were in the way by spraying some white paint on the tire tread, and then making a very small black mark on the paint at the tire tread center. I push the car forward till the marks are at the frontmost positions, then use a very thin plumb bob with fine thread and suspend it from my mark on a tire, and do the same with an identical plumb bob on the other tire. I use a metal tape measure to get the distance between their tips just as they almost touch the level floor. I push the car forward till the marks are exactly now at the rearmost position, then do the same routine. I get three readings by successively rolling the tires again and again, then average the results. The toe reading is the difference between the front and the rear measurements.

 

[mechtech2]

Lots of ways to do this - some good ones mentioned above.
But, a number of tries will be needed, and a few rechecks [at home].
Remember that there is flex in the suspension, and you can press on the tires, and change the total toe 1/16" in 2 seconds at rest.
I mark the straight ahead position of the steering wheel with two pieces of tape and a pen [make your mark when driving straight- and at this point, the wheel may not be centered - get that later].
Then, pull straight into you work area, and make your measurements with the marks aligned.
Adjust as necessary in/out.
Then dive it and repeat the process.
When you pull in and the toe is OK, then you probably will have to set the wheel straight. It's easy, just turn one side in, and the other out the exact same amount to accomplish this. Of course, test and repeat.

The rear total toe can be easily set and checked, but one side may be way off from the other.
Wrapping string tight around the tires will show the bad one. You may need spacer blocks to hold it away from the car sides.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

I do my own toe-in using a length of 1/2" sq wood with two 90 degree hooks screwed in at each end. One hook fits into a rubber pad that I stick to one tire tread with double-sided tape and the other hook is sharpened to a point. I apply a strip of masking tape to the other tire tread and paint a line with a Sharpie and scratch it with the sharpened point.
Whatever method you use it needs to be accurate to better than .01".
The slip plates would be a good addition to my kit.

 

[LoneRanger]

Because I had a Hunter Hawkeye alignment done on 10-31-11 and the settings were all within spec at that time, even toe, but I think I might want to toe it in a just a bit to reduce the overly darty tendency I've recently noticed when on the interstate. It feels dartier than the actual reading would seem to imply.


Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I'm collecting various methods for at home DIY setting toe on the front wheels only. The rears are good. The front needs to come in just a bit. Shop wants full price even though I only need the current front toe-out pulled in some. Caster, camber, thrust angle, all are okay just want to toe it in to neutral or zero total toe.


I'm just curious as to how you know all the other alignment settings are OK and only the toe is out. I would have thought that in order to get that info, you would either know how to measure alignments - toe in particular - or the vehicle was on the alignment rack and the toe should have been adjusted then.

So what's up with that?

 

[3311]

Good thread!. It's always interesting to read the DIY ideas of clever people.

 

[eljefino]

Find yourself a laser level, I like ones about 15" long. Verify the head is straight by putting the thing on a tile floor (align the level with a tile line) and point it at the wall. Flip it over and make sure the dot is in the same place.

Roll the car to a stop on a level shaded surface with the wheel centered without touching the steering wheel over the last few feet. Put your laser level on the tires at 4 and 8 o'clock, or where you need the level to get it on the sidewall, but not on the bulge at the bottom. Aim for your rear tire or the ground next to it. You may find it handy to lay a ruler parallel to the rear axle so you can see where you get the dot.

The laser head might be 1/4 inch from the edge of the level. Subtract this from however far the dot is from the rear tire sidewall.

Divide this by your wheelbase. Say .25 inch/100= .025. Repeat on the other side and add the two readings together for total toe.

Fire up your calculator and do an inverse tangent of the total, .005: .286 degrees. (This is right in the middle of my car's spec.) If you can't find the spec, zero toe is a pretty good goal.

If your wheel is cocked sideways but everything else is good you can add to one side what you subtract from the other to recenter the wheel.

If the math is too rich for your blood you can still measure before and after doing any work; this is very accurate.

If you do struts or something that changes camber BUT NOT TOE, camber will affect toe. Mess with camber until toe is back where it should be.

You can rough-in camber with the bubble level, but the shim/ level of precision to level it will be about 1/8" or so on a 15" wheel. Lasering to the rear axle multiplies the measurement many times and adds precision.

 

[cappilot]

One more DIY alignment: I recently replaced the struts plus one ball joint and one tie rod end on a 98 Grand Am. Drove really strange afterward, as one would expect. The plan was to get a professional alignment, but with more time than sense I decided to play Home Mechanic. Spinning the front wheels showed no detectable wobble to the tread pattern, so a closely eyeballed tape measure soon had the toe set pretty close. Driving was much improved, but a pull to the right indicated camber was off. While contemplating the accuracy obtainable by using a standard level, the thought of using my smart phone (Droid X) sneaked up on me. One app I've downloaded is from Ridgid, the tool people. The app uses the phone's sensors to not only provide a visual indication of angle by using a bubble but also shows degrees numerically to .1 degree. Experimenting showed the repeating readings of a door frame were quite consistent. I couldn't think of a practical way to determine true vertical for the purpose of calibrating the display and didn't know for sure how level my garage floor might be, so I simply took a reading off the rear hub on each side and set the respective strut's camber to the same reading (which in theory should be zero if the rear camber is correct). The result seems very good. No pull to either side and a very natural and solid feel during turns and when headed straight down the road. The car will still make a visit to a real shop one of these days; I'll ask for a pre-adjustment set of readings so I can see just how close I came. ET, phone home...

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Because I had a Hunter Hawkeye alignment done on 10-31-11 and the settings were all within spec at that time, even toe, but I think I might want to toe it in a just a bit to reduce the overly darty tendency I've recently noticed when on the interstate. It feels dartier than the actual reading would seem to imply.


Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I'm collecting various methods for at home DIY setting toe on the front wheels only. The rears are good. The front needs to come in just a bit. Shop wants full price even though I only need the current front toe-out pulled in some. Caster, camber, thrust angle, all are okay just want to toe it in to neutral or zero total toe.


I'm just curious as to how you know all the other alignment settings are OK and only the toe is out. I would have thought that in order to get that info, you would either know how to measure alignments - toe in particular - or the vehicle was on the alignment rack and the toe should have been adjusted then.

So what's up with that?


Darty? That could be not enough toe-in,. Or it could be something in the rear.

 

[DuckRyder]

Rain grooves in interstate? Nibbling?

I've heard that there is an iPhone app for wheel alignment as well, have not tried it. I have used some of the methods spelled out above, the key points being that you have to get a consistent mark on the tire and measure at hub height. It can be quite frustrating.

 

[mechtech2]

Lone Ranger -
Static toe settings are only our best shot at dynamic settings -[when actually driving n different conditions].
For a FWD car, zero or a hair toe out is usually best.
How far are yours out?

 

[LoneRanger]

The printout from the last alignment shows total toe on front is 0.03, but it feels like its in the negative. All wheels are driven in a continuous AWD layout on this car, 50/50 front/rear power bias. Saves on tire rotations... no need; they all wear about the same. None are showing any feathering or excessive shoulder wear, yet.