Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn
Re: Visual verification if you take a string and stretch a tight across the centerline of the wheel from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel you should be able to have one 16th to 3/32 of an inch extra space on the front of the fastest part of the tire.
On my 255/55/18 tires the fat part of the tire is almost exactly 24 inches apart and the MathWorks out that a 16th of an inch is 0.15° it’s exactly of the center of the spec.
For the camber it will look bent as hell because the spec is between one and 2° in your brain will see a half a degree is pretty darn crooked. If you’re parked on level ground you can use your phone app to measure how many degrees it’s tilting or you can use a construction square and measure and I believe it’s supposed to be about 5/8 of an inch off of plumb. (From the fattest parts of the tire over 24 inches)
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My steering wheel was off center a little so I started doing a string alignment like this today. Got the fronts dialed in perfectly.
One of the rears is fine already, but I need to adjust toe on the left rear. I'm toed out there by about 0.28 degrees. I know it is done via the eccentric bolt on the inside end of the guide link (rear suspension, forward upper control arm, but ...
Unlike front suspension toe adjustment, it does not appear to be easy enough to even try to do it without removing the wheel. I don't have a lift, and all 4 wheels are on the ground still.
I can see the bolt that needs to be adjusted through the spokes in the wheel, but will not be able to get a good visual on it without jacking the car and removing the wheel.
Has anyone been in this situation? Do you somehow get in there with the car on the ground and the wheel and string still in place, or do you calculate the adjustment, remove the wheel, implement, reinstall, and check?
Also, (as I knew) adjusting the guide link will affect camber by about the same amount as it affects toe, since the contact point is at about North West = 10:30 = 135 degrees. Has anyone adjusted camber concurrently with toe back there to offset the coupling?
And completely separately - @AndrewWynn, did you measure to confirm that your front and rear wheels are the same distance apart, or do you just assume that with square wheels it will be equal? I have staggered 19" wheels on mine, so did not assume anything and measured ... and found that the rear wheels (specifically the outside bumps on the tires, as we use for the string alignment) are about 8 mm wider than the fronts. This means that aligning so the string is straight when no shims are used gives 0.10 degrees of toe, front and rear. For me, that's within spec, towards the straight ahead end of the range, and very simple, so I'm just going with no shims.