Toe-in measurement

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Myrtles Man
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Toe-in measurement

Post by Myrtles Man »

Having just replaced the steering rack gaiters I'm now checking the toe-in. I know, from researching previous threads, that a total toe-in of 3/32" is needed (3/64" per wheel - pretty minuscule; I wonder how accurate such measurement can be and, for that matter, how critical) however, my query here is at which point on the wheels should the measurement be taken? Is it on the steel rim, middle of the sidewall or outer edge of the tyre? Obviously, where the toe-in measurment is taken will affect the true amount of toe-in that you end up with.
philthehill
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by philthehill »

The toe in measurement should be taken on the wheel rim at half height.
Roll the car forward and check the measurement again - if different you could have a buckled or non true rim.

Myrtles Man
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by Myrtles Man »

Thanks Phil. That's more or less what I'd surmised but the tip about rolling it forward and checking again hadn't occurred to me. I'll certainly do that and, I imagine, if there is a measurable difference, I'll need to set it at a quarter turn so as to average out any distortion.
alanworland
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by alanworland »

When I changed track rod ball joints on a previous vehicle I used 2 lengths of square section mild steel (straight) held against the wheel rims with bungees and measured the distance between them at about 5 foot from the wheels.
Changed one joint and adjusted it to obtain the previous measurement, once set I then changed the other joint and repeated the adjustment for the measured dimension.
I know I won't help as you've already changed them but it might be useful in the future!

Alan
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Myrtles Man
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by Myrtles Man »

I didn't actually remove the track rod ends Alan, I merely unscrewed the track rods and took off the locknuts then replaced the gaiters, having carefully marked and measured the positions of the rods, locknuts and track rod ends so that I could replace them in exactly the same positions. It seemed to make sense though to check the tracking anyway as I hadn't had the tracking checked before I started the job and there was always a reasonable chance that it had been in need of adjustment anyway, which now seems to have been the case as it's showing total toe-in of about 3/8th per side.
alanworland
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by alanworland »

3/8 per side!

Alan
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oliver90owner
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by oliver90owner »

It pays to make physical observations of tyre wear, adjusting the track slightly, if wear is noted on either the outside or inside of the tyre tread. I had a Peugeot 205 that would have always worn the tyres on the insides of the tread if set up by the most sensitive/precise tracking kit. The extra 1/16” toe-in solved the problem encountered.
Myrtles Man
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by Myrtles Man »

A handy tip that I'll bear in mind but, with the very low mileage that I do in the Moggie, it'll be quite some time before any tyre wear becomes evident anyway. Could come in useful for the other cars in the family though.
oliver90owner
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Re: Toe-in measurement

Post by oliver90owner »

I always check after a few miles, when new tyres have been fitted. If the sprues on the tyres are worn away on one side only, something is not quite right.
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