Adjust toe-in

Russell Reay

Russell Reay

Well-known member
Les Andrews says to set toe-in @ ~1/16" at wheel hub level (~14" above ground). Paul Shinn uses a commercial toe-in gauge and Phil Brown (4/10/23) uses a home-made wooden pair of brackets, and both set the ~1/16" toe-in at about 6" above ground. Recalling my 10th grade geometry, the difference at 14" will be more than double the difference at 6" unless the camber is 0 degrees. Keeping in mind the width of the marks on the tape measure or pencil marks makes the evaluation of 1/16" a little iffy, what is the correct height above ground for measuring the toe-in?
 
My toe plates set at 9" off the ground. Your camber is the same on both the front and rear of the tire and your only checking the difference between the front and rear. More important to have the distance between the cheching points the same as the tire diameter. As for the 1/16", its only a number. It'll get you close You might need more might need less. Dont be afraid to set it so that it drives nice.
Mine are usually set closer to an 1/8" and drive nice with no real unusual tire wear.
 
Do you know the thread per inch on the tie rods, how far the tie rod end moves per turn? Si I guess one turn of the tie rod equals two times the threads?
 
I belive there 24 threads per inch so .042 each side for one turn of the tie rod, or .082 of change total .....at the point of tie rod attachment on the spindle, not where you check toe- in
Never checked amount of toe-in change for one turn on the tie rod if thats where you were going :)
 
Before you set your toe-in, make sure the king pins are tight and the hub (wheel bearing) nuts are set correctly. Check the ends of the tie rod to make sure there is no play there. Phil Brown, post # 4, has the correct response.

The boards that press against the outside of the tires are the easiest to use. But make sure that the tires run true and check at several different wheel rotation points.
 
Here is some more specs. to chew on from the Service Bulletin dated Feb.1936 Toe-in set at 3/32" for the Model A. That is what I set mine at using a "do it yourself" device from TMR until I can get it to my favorite alignment shop.
 
No one seems to know the answer to your question, and I don't either. My expensive rod type has 10" chains and that is what I measure mine at to set 1/16". Car drives and steers perfectly with no apparent abnormal tire wear.
 
I whipped up a quick set of wooden plates to attach to the outside of the wheels at the point where the spokes interfere with them. First measurement showed 1/2" of toe -in. I loosened the bolts and adjusted the tie rod to where toe-in is about 1/8", and tightened the bolts. That should be OK for an initial test run. If experience indicates the need, I will re-visit the matter in a more conscientious manner. Thanks for the input.
 
The toe-in specification is 1/16" +/- 1/32", so the toe-in can be as little as 1/32" or as much as 3/32". Think about this very small amount of toe-in between two wheels spaced 56" apart. Toe-in is a needle in a haystack! There are run-outs of the wheels and tire casings, play in the wheel bearings, variations in where the toe-in is measured from and variations in the goodness of the tie rod ball joints. The people proclaimed as experts in our hobby do not adjust toe-in the same manner! In my opinion, 1/16" +/- 1/32" toe-in is not realistic to adjust without professional precision wheel alignment equipment.
 
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