Quick-and-dirty $10 front toe-in alignment

[MrAl]

Hi,

I could not help making a reply to this because i had a problem too a long long time ago with a 1956 Dodge with push button transmission (remember them ?).

I might have replaced a tie rod, cant remember exactly now it was so so long ago. But the tire on the drivers side was wearing way too fast on the inside edge. It was the tie rod adjustment where the tire points 'outward' too far to the left, or maybe too far to the right, cant remember, but it was not adjusted properly and it took me a long while to figure that out because i was new to these things back then.

Long story short (oh well too late for that now ha ha) i found out what alignment was going to cost me so i set out to do it myself. I found that i was able to "eye it up" from a distance from the car, looking past the front tire to the back tire. It's not as hard as it seems, and never underestimate the power of a craftsman and what they can come up with in a pinch when the alternate means high cost or there is just no other way (aka pyramids in Egypt, and precision violins and other instruments).
So with a little adjust, get up and eye up, adjust, get up and eye up again, etc., etc., it gets pretty straight and no more tire wear.

I do like the line guide idea though, that helps eye it up right from where you are when you adjust it so you dont have to keep getting up and down. Nice.

[chrafael]

When adjusting tie rod ends with the car resting on concrete, make sure that your adjustments aren't pushing the tire on the opposite side. Alignment racks use turntables to eliminate that problem. Also, be sure to keep the steering rack centered in its travel. If one tie rod is much shorter than the other it introduces a problem some call bump steer. The car will still track straight, but could dart unpredictably in bumpy turns.