Front end alignment question

M

Magoo2

Member
I’m in the process of aligning the front end of my 31 CCPU. I’m using a toe in gauge, basically a spring loaded bar that wedges between the tires. After positioning and zeroing the gauge, I pull the truck forward the gauge moves to a toe out reading at the lowest point then moves to a toe in reading at the rear most position. Is that normal?
 
Sounds like you ae trying to compare apples and oranges. Toe in/out is a horizontal reading i.e., front to back at the same distance off the floor. Toe in the front reading is less than the rear reading.


The tires have a slight inward vertical angle from top to bottom. This is fixed i.e., King pin, there is no way to change this except to bend the axel.


Sounds like you are trying to compare a vertical reading to a horizontal reading.


Should be read at the front most position compare to the rear most position.
 
Use a tape measure, get it close and take it for a drive. Adjust as necessary. You can measure the distance between two similar points on the tires and get it as close as it needs to be without a "toe-in gauge".
 
If you change the caster by repairing or adjusting the ball at the end of the front wishbone, you will change the toe in. If you do any changes to the front end, the toe in should be checked last.
 
An old mechanic taught me that after you get toe in where you want it to roll the vehicle forward and backwards a good distance so the front end will settle in. It can make a difference. Or, as a previous post, drive it and check again.
 
As the fronts of the wheels tend to push apart when the car is going forward, always check the toe-in after the vehicle has been moved forwards, never after the vehicle has been moved to the rear.
When checking toe-in I like to push the fronts of the wheels apart before measuring.
 
I've been using the same tool as Paul. Our car goes straight down the road if not upset by common bumps, slopes and winds. Tire wear is even across the tread.

One thing not mentioned here yet: Make certain your wheel bearings are not loose.

I'm thinking that a wheel alignment on a modern vehicle with modern tools also aligns the front and rear wheels to each other, or at least checks it???

Our coupe had a shallow bend in a rear radius rod. When the rear end was disassembled for a cracked axle along the key way, the axle housing on the same side had a bent flange in one area of several degrees. I was told this happens when the car hits something like a curb with a major force. I could just barely see that the rear wheels were out of alignment all along, but didn't catch on until removing working on the rear end.
 
This is an old thread but thats ok, people can still learn from it.

I have been doing my alignments the exact same way that Paul showed in his video and that has always worked out well for me.
 
I was surprised to learn that the Model A’s front suspension is set with positive camber. That is, the tops of the wheels are farther apart than the bottoms. I understand this was done to reduce steering effort. Perhaps this was common practice at the time.
All modern cars use negative camber to enhance cornering grip. Power-assisted steering is ubiquitous so steering effort is a non-issue anyway.
 
My homemade tape measure front end alignment tool.
 

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