Alignment 40 ford

Not trying to challenge your story, but measuring off the side wall just is not accurate enough. I'm surprised Snap On made such a thing. When we are talking a 1/16" desired result, the only way to get that precise measurement is going off a scribed line on the tire so you are getting a reading of what is actually on the road surface.

In the hundreds of old wheels I've checked, 1/16 runout is very good, 1//8 usable, 3/16 goes on the back, any more is a junk wheel. I've never seen a perfect wheel yet.

So, measuring off the side wall is not going to take into account that the wheel may not be perfect. Measuring front to back with a 2x4....ever seen a 12' 2x4 thats straight within a 1/6th?

My gadget I made with pipe and pointers is very accurate going off a scribed line from a spinning tire. However, its main purpose is so I can do it by myself with no help.

Its slow, many steps required. Best and fastest is 2 people and a tape measure, but I am usually only one people. Keep in mind, you are doing this all on jack stands, and if king pin bushings are bad it will change the results once its on the ground again
 
My Dad would jack up front and use a tape measure from front of one tire to the other. On the same tire tread measure front and back with one wheel stationary, on spinning wheel, mark runout and adjust accordingly for tow in. Seemed to work for me !
 
cas3 said:
Not trying to challenge your story, but measuring off the side wall just is not accurate enough. I'm surprised Snap On made such a thing. When we are talking a 1/16" desired result, the only way to get that precise measurement is going off a scribed line on the tire so you are getting a reading of what is actually on the road surface.

In the hundreds of old wheels I've checked, 1/16 runout is very good, 1//8 usable, 3/16 goes on the back, any more is a junk wheel. I've never seen a perfect wheel yet.

So, measuring off the side wall is not going to take into account that the wheel may not be perfect. Measuring front to back with a 2x4....ever seen a 12' 2x4 thats straight within a 1/6th?

My gadget I made with pipe and pointers is very accurate going off a scribed line from a spinning tire. However, its main purpose is so I can do it by myself with no help.

Its slow, many steps required. Best and fastest is 2 people and a tape measure, but I am usually only one people. Keep in mind, you are doing this all on jack stands, and if king pin bushings are bad it will change the results once its on the ground again
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That Snap On tool we had worked perfectly fine. The tires wore even, and the vehicles drove straight. Most import was it was fast, with 400 vehicles being abused daily and five mechanics to maintain them, that was the hot ticket. I see the same type of tool but not nearly as well-made being sold today. In my experience it just doesn't matter, 1/16" or 1/8" is close enough for a phone company truck. When they would come into the shop and be out as much a 1/4" toe-out. You could build his simple alignment jig cheap and be super accurate if you want to.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7Qs4o6UaLtM
 
Flathead Fever said:
We had a neat 1950's Snap-On toe-in gauge at the phone company. I have been looking for one like it for twenty years for home use. It was made out of 1" square tubing with cast ends on each end that held it up about 6-inches off the ground. One end was fixed, and the other end was adjustable. You slid it behind the front wheels, so the ends were up against the side walls and set it to zero. Then you pulled it out and moved it around to the front of the tires, unlocked the zero setting and read the gauge. We used it a lot to set toe-in, it was fast, and it worked great until one day somebody (not me) left it behind the front tires and back out. It broke the casted stand on one end. We Mickey Moused it together and it still worked but the poor tool never looked the same afterwards. I almost took with me when I retired but they needed it. Today they sell ones that do the same thing, but they are junk compared to that 1950s one we had in the shop. You could easily make one, there wasn't much to it.
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I made one out of conduit and an insert on the end with graduations. No longer have it!
 
If an old I-beam axle and wishbone (radius rods) are still like new, the alignment should be good. If any of it is bent then it would have to be adjusted. Truck shops are the only ones that bend axles now days but it used to be more common to bend axles and radius rods. It takes someone that knows what they are doing to get a complete front end alignment on an early buggy spring front end.
 
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