Toe in

[Reckless Rat]

   

[Ilmoro]

I have used a Trakrite on lots of classic cars and also on a 2 year old Jaguar S type (in 2005) which the Jag agent nor anybody else could prevent from wearing tyres unevenly. I remember I was sceptical when I purchased it many years ago. I completely rebuilt a Mk2 jag in 1990, put 4 new  tyres on it, set it up with a Trakrite .....Well those tyres are still on 30k miles and 32 years later and still worn evenly all round.....Guess I should really change them though.

I'm with Reckless ...It's simple, esy to use and for me, has always worked, even where sophisticated lasers failed.

[Cliff Ringrose]

I could do 20 cars in the time it takes to fanny about with strings, poles, laser levels etc.

I only need to do one car at a time, and not very often at that. My pieces of string did not cost sixty quid!

[Reckless Rat]

Cliff, I'm not knocking the string method, I just like things to be easy. I'm sure I paid nothing like £60 for my Trakrite, but I bought mine several years ago. When costed against paying someone to do a 4 wheel alignment on my MGF it has already paid for itself many times over. Anyway, don't blame me. It woz Steve Jones what told me to do it...

With the cost of a 19" Longstone now in the region of £100 inc vat, you need to be sure your car is set up correctly, however you do it.

I hope you're using Imperial string and not that metric rubbish...

[Bob Culver]

On moderns where an internal calliper is not practical and an external one difficult for one, I have also used the string method, but also tricky for one. The use of two long straight edges on blocks and touching the sidewalls is most convenient working alone.
 for moderns wher a calliper can be used I scored a datum line in the tyre. A broken hacksaw blade sharpend to a point and held flat in line with the car so the blade springs to follow tyre undulation.

[Nick Turley]

I find Dunlop Wheel gauges very good.
There are always some on ebay and they are cheap.

[Cliff Ringrose]

I hope you're using Imperial string and not that metric rubbish...
[/quote]

No problem there, Reckless. All Pe-Owned baler string used on this establishment is Locally Sourced! Cliff.

[Dennis Nicholas]

I too have a Trakrite and pretty sure that past use has proved accurate.  I am just trying to set up my Reliant Scimitar after full renewal of offside suspension.  Being a "modern" (1980) it has the advantage of being able to individually screw in and out each track rod separately to adjust the tracking. Bodywork gets in the way of aligning front and rear wheels to ensure fronts are pointing strait ahead, though by using the method halving the turns lock to lock will set the steering wheel where it should be for strait ahead.   Using the Trakrite has brought up several thoughts/questions in my mind which may be answered by the many cleaver people on this forum.  These factors mostly arise from the operating instructions which require you to put the device "in line with the wheel so it runs up the middle of the platform",  "place device in front of wheel and run towards it", "use on a flat level surface",
My concrete garage floor has a very slight slope from the inside down towards doors and just before the door the floor on the left (as you look from the outside) drops away a bit where the level inside floor joins the ramped downwards outside part as the garage is at 90 deg on a sloping site.  With the Nippy chassis (full Nippy rebuild) up on stands at the back I can't get a flat level run of more than about 1 foot to run over the device.  (The nearside rear wheel obviously drops away while the O/S stays relatively level as you exit the door.
Questions:-
Just how critical is the "flat level floor" requirement?  -  one or two degrees or several degrees  (I have a 6 foot spirit level)
In view of difficult lining up of centre of device with centre of wheel just how much out of alignment can be tolerated?  (many/a few/none degrees).
Unfortunately the makers do not give tolerances for any of their requirements.  Though not a professional engineer I am the sort of person that likes using a DTI and micrometer etc. for getting things right.
I am sure I managed to set up the Nippy ok without too much trouble when it was last on the road as don't remember badly wearing out tyres on the 15 inch wheels but memory has faded with age.
My concrete garage floor has a very slight slope from the inside downwards towards doors and just before the door the floor on the left (as you look from the outside) drops away a bit where the level inside floor joins the ramped downwards outside part as the garage is at 90 deg on a sloping site.  With the Nippy chassis (full Nippy rebuild) up on stands I can't get a flat level run of more than about 1 foot to run over the device.  (The nearside rear wheel obviously drops away while the O/S stays relatively level as you exit the door.
Questions:-
Just how critical is the "flat level floor" requirement?  -  one or two degrees or several degrees  (I have a 6foot spirit level)
In view of difficult lining up of centre of device with centre of wheel just how much out of alignment can be tolerated? (many/a few/none degrees).
Unfortunately the makers do not give tolerances for any of their requirements.  Though not a professional engineer I am the sort of person that likes using a DTI and micrometer etc. for getting things right.
I am sure I managed to set up the Nippy ok without too much trouble when it was last on the road as don't remember badly wearing out tyres on the 15 inch wheels but memory has faded with age.
I was thinking this might be a challenge for the mathematical experts to give limits.

Dennis

[Hedd_Jones]

It seems the cause of my tire wear was severe toe in, due likely to no more adjustment in the track rod. Now cured. 

I set it on Saturday. 

With a cranked trackrod, and both ends being the same pitch, adjustment is by whole turn only. 

I now have a gnats dick over 1/8 measured at what would be outer edge of the tyre using mk1 eyeball and a tape measure. That'll do me. 1 turn either was was a mile out. I didnt measure the pitch, what is it? 14?

I set it using some nice straight planks sat on a sleeper resting against the tyres. A few pencil marks as datums and it was easy as.

[Tony Press]

"With a cranked trackrod, and both ends being the same pitch, adjustment is by whole turn only."

You can do a half turn - the cotter is down but that doesn't matter.