Toe adjustment 1987 V10

[Ricko1966]

I don't let my tapes slap back in.

 

[Edelbrock]

All good info. Let the reader take what they can from whats posted.

 

[Ricko1966]

One more thing to add,To use a board as a toe plate isnt as simple as just placing a board across the tires. Here is why and what you can do about it. A purpose built toe plate is not straight up and down it angles out at the bottom to clear the tire bulge at the bottom. If you use a board you will have to set your board on cans,bricks,something to get it above the tire bulge. You could cut a u shape cut out at the bottom where the tire bulge is.If you can figure out a way to lean the boards in and hold them leaned I suppose that would work. I use to use 4 cans,and pieces of angle iron the cans held the angle up,but I had to have a partner hold one side angle iron and tapes. The bungee cords and clothes pins eliminate all 3 problems. They hold the angle and tapes in place,above the tire bulge.

 

[Redfish]

All of that is good advice but if it is toed out so badly he can clearly see it and he is out of adjustment, something is WRONG. Getting a perfect measurement won't help him if he cannot adjust any further.

I confess I didn't measure mine. When I replaced the tie rod ends I adjusted it by eye. I literally eyeballed it sitting in the driveway. I knew I had less than a half mile to drive to the tire/alignment shop and the new tires were waiting for my arrival. I did explain this to the alignment tech. We shared a laugh when he told me I had nailed it, his instruments indicated it was perfect.

Regarding tape measure differences, I am guilty of letting them "slap back" on retraction. I recently struggled on a home construction project and could not understand why I could not get some of my measurements to work out. Pop helped me figure it out. He stopped me, took the 3 different tapes we were using and made me stretch them out to 20 feet. All 3 were different. Two were a result of the ends differing slightly. The third actually started "growing" at about 8 feet and was almost 3/4 inch longer at 12 feet. It was brand new and I threw it away.

 

[Ricko1966]

A lot of what I was posting was for others following the thread. So if they try this they will be successful.

 

[Redfish]

A lot of what I was posting was for others following the thread. So if they try this they will be successful.

And if/when I do this again I am most likely going to use your method.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Ya, if you can verify that two tape measures read 100% the same, you could use two different tapes. But any time the tape retracts and "slaps" back, you would need to re-verify the accuracy between the two. I have always used one and it worked well for me.

Don't ever let it slap back.

 

[idahovette]

^^^^^Whatchoo talkin bout Willis(Shane)????^^^^^^......slap what ?

 

[bucket]

All of that is good advice but if it is toed out so badly he can clearly see it and he is out of adjustment, something is WRONG. Getting a perfect measurement won't help him if he cannot adjust any further.

I confess I didn't measure mine. When I replaced the tie rod ends I adjusted it by eye. I literally eyeballed it sitting in the driveway. I knew I had less than a half mile to drive to the tire/alignment shop and the new tires were waiting for my arrival. I did explain this to the alignment tech. We shared a laugh when he told me I had nailed it, his instruments indicated it was perfect.

Regarding tape measure differences, I am guilty of letting them "slap back" on retraction. I recently struggled on a home construction project and could not understand why I could not get some of my measurements to work out. Pop helped me figure it out. He stopped me, took the 3 different tapes we were using and made me stretch them out to 20 feet. All 3 were different. Two were a result of the ends differing slightly. The third actually started "growing" at about 8 feet and was almost 3/4 inch longer at 12 feet. It was brand new and I threw it away.

But clearly seeing they are out is a lot different than them actually being toed out. It happens very often, where people look at their tires and think they are way out of wack.

Personally, I can gap spark plugs with my eyes (typically within .003, I've been tested many times by disbelievers) and I'm usually pretty damn accurate with eyeballing camber too, but I'm terrible at eyeballing the toe settings. @idahovette see how I spelled it this time?

 

[bucket]

Use 2 tape measures,pulled taught and compare reading front and back. I made these over and have used them for over 30 years now. No need for the store bought plates 2 pieces of 30 inch bedrail 2 identical tape measures, some bungee chords under the vehicle to hold the angle and some clothes pins to hold the loose end of the tape. I'll see if I have pics in my phone to post. I'll have to check my other phone check back if there aren't pics posted. Found some real old pics. Use 30 inch angle not 24 as pictured.see how the clothes pins hold the tapes? The bungees hold the angle against the tire. It helps to hook both bungees on the frame on one side go to the other and hook to the angle,go back to side 1 and hook your bungee to the other angle. You can use pop cans cottage cheese containers whatever to gauge same height left to right front to back of the angle just be over the sidewall bulge at the bottom.Park on sand or loose dirt if making adjustments.

I use what is essentially a telescoping stick, and measure off of the inside of the sidewalls. I set it to the front of the tires and then compare to the rear of the tires, looking for just the right amount of gap. The crappy part is having to lay down under the vehicle, but the results are always good.