Hand made tool to check toe in

Jim M

Jim M

Senior Member
Yesterday I wanted to check the toe in looked in the Les Andrews manual. The chalk on the tires looked like a very suspect way to get an accurate so my old carpenter instincts kicked in. I cut two 20 inch sticks, drilled a hole in the center and mounted the sticks on the hubs. Very easy to put a tape measure on the front and back. Found out the toe in was 5/16 which was contributing to shakes, etc. Loosened the tie rod clamps and within minutes was at the 1/16 they should be. Hope this helps someone. Jim
 

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Did you plane the wood so you would have 1/16th accuracy?

Not trying to be a pain - just curious cause I can never find straight wood to save my life!!
 
That's interesting. I've been wanting to check mine and I think I will try the same method. Thanks for posting your idea.
 
Good point! I did not plane them but if I get positive feed back that this should work OK I am going to cut and plane two pieces of oak as a permanent "tool". Just wanted to get them close yesterday.
 
Good idea, Thanks for sharing.
If your concerned about warpage you could always make your tool out of metal...
 
There are too many variables to be accurate using wood and the spindles and wheel bearings need to have the full weight of the vehicle on them. Remember the tolerance is less than a 1/32".
 
Fullraceflathead said:
There are too many variables to be accurate using wood and the spindles and wheel bearings need to have the full weight of the vehicle on them. Remember the tolerance is less than a 1/32".
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agree not an accurate way of setting the toe in to specs even with jackstands . the wheels need to be on the ground.....
 
If there's a worry about the wheels being on the ground, the same tool could be modified if you take an old lug nut, weld an extension (threaded rod on the end to get past the spokes) and then bolt that to the metal bar that you would do your measurements from.
 
I cut two 20 inch sticks,
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Toe-in is measured at the front and back of the wheels, methinks that your sticks should be 30" long, not 20", unless you allow for the difference when measuring.
 
Hi Jim,

1. Usually two (2) pieces of S4S "select" hardwood coming from one length of wood which were run through the same "exact" setting on a planning machine will have "equal" thicknesses; however, wood thicknesses can always be verified with a micrometer.

2. Something that would be "most" interesting with your most clever idea would be to check:

A. Ford's recommended toe-in using "exact" tire measurements 6" above ground, rolling back and forth with the weight of your vehicle; or a front end alignment machine check; and compare this to:

B. Your toe-in wood measurements, (with your axle lifted per your indicated experiment), with toe-in measurements taken from a specified distance from the axle centerline, when your wood device is "level" and this wood device is set at a specified distance above the floor.

Thanks for sharing your most interesting and intellectual creative thinking.
 
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Thanks you Jim for sharing that. I can see that it would really help someone get it close as possible or dead on, before they have the full weight of the car on the tires. Some people forget that not all rims are straight :rolleyes:

Jim M said:
Yesterday I wanted to check the toe in looked in the Les Andrews manual. The chalk on the tires looked like a very suspect way to get an accurate so my old carpenter instincts kicked in. I cut two 20 inch sticks, drilled a hole in the center and mounted the sticks on the hubs. Very easy to put a tape measure on the front and back. Found out the toe in was 5/16 which was contributing to shakes, etc. Loosened the tie rod clamps and within minutes was at the 1/16 they should be. Hope this helps someone. Jim
Click to expand...
 
The rims not being straight was one of the reasons I did not want to use my tires. That and the fact of getting a "chalk line" anywhere near accurate. Having the car down on the wheels with weight on them does seem to be the correct way. I like the suggestion of an extension off a lug nut to some type of bar (wood or metal). That would take the bent rim factor out, put the weight factor back in, and you could measure right at the front and back of the tire. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
When I acquired my 1930 Town Sedan, the front axle had a toe "out" setting of 2-1/2" or so ....... both rear hub nuts finger tight ...... 1-1/2" of Goo in bottom of oil pan .......... 3/4" Goo in valve chamber ............ "always" so very interesting to check out a newly acquired Model A or a neighbor's or good friend's Model A.
 
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I did the same thing last month but kept the tire wheel on..used steel 1/4" bar "not bent" and used bungie cords to hold bar tight on lower part of wheel/tire to clear hub cap ..seemed to work OK.could have made an adapter to go on outer rim if wanted..but tire measure was OK ..I did it twice that is I rotated tire/wheel 180 and checked it again...should taken a photo ? don't use the string method as shown on youtube=bad results
 
Here is a picture of the one I made, saw one being used like this on Youtube. Afordman31
 

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after your done using your favorite method double check it on a modern rack. 9 times out of 10 you'll be surprised of how far off it is
 
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