froggy47

Yes I know I did it backwards, but here is the question.

All the adjustment was on the RR increasing RR height which basically brought it close to LR height and also lowered LF height, all as I expected & desired.

Raised (shorten bolt) about 6 threads on the RR I won't bother with all the mm details, about a 3/8 inch rake now.

I LOST neg camber in the rear from -1.9 both sides to -1.5 both sides. Front no change.

I expected that too, no worries.

Question is which way did my rear toe change? I may not have time to string the car before the weekend events.

I had 1/4 total toe in.

If I got more toe in it's all good but if the camber change made rear toe move out, not so good.

Thanks, please no guesses, only post if you know alignment.

jkittleson

What you are asking for is a guess. Take a straight edge to both rear wheels and measure toe... Then shoot a laser from the rear wheels to the front to check thrust.

You could have been almost done with it by now. =)

davidfarmer

you need to measure it....use my guide, a straight edge and a tape measure.

http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/align.pdf

Takes me less than 1 minute to check toe.....

froggy47

OK guys, that looks easy enough, but I don't agree that "it's a guess".

Reduced neg camber (talking rear for now) either toes in the rear or toes out the rear, can't be both and it can't do it one way on Monday & the other on Tuesday.



But I will post how it comes out, too late now, wife made a nice dinner & a little Cabernet (for the heart).

naschmitz

It will be no fun driving a car with the thrust angle all f'd up or toed out in the rear. Good luck with that!

ipuig

Toe in on RR, how much is anyone's guess. You'll need to measure.

froggy47

I set up the strings, because I was concerned that if I switched to a different measuring system I might introduce measuring (operator) error.

I'm getting faster every time I do it.

Wish my eyes could read the 64th's marks on the steel ruler but I guess 32nd's will have to do.

It's a good alignment, car feels tight/solid/responsive.

It'll have to be done over when I poly the rear.

It went from 1/4 inch total toe in to 1/8 inch total toe in spread equal both sides. So I will leave it & put some more toe in at the event if I need it.

Thanks guys as always, you're the best.

naschmitz

Happy to hear everything worked out for you. Compared to using toe plates and an electronic laser level, stringing your car looks like quite an art!

froggy47

I have a good electronic laser level, what toe plates would you suggest or they all about the same?

I am all for easy & accurate.

Do the toe plates do thrust?

The nice thing about strings is as you set the toe on each corner the thrust is sort of automatically done.

trackboss

Not to de-rail this, but can someone please explain the thrust angle? I have seen it mentioned several times and have not entirely understood it. When I set up a car I use parallel strings centered on the hubs, as above, so I can't understand why any sort of other measurement is needed once the toe is set correctly.

JVetthead

toe plates only work on the front...
must use strings for rear

gkmccready

If you use toe plates you can have the correct total toe but end up with left/right toe differing pretty easily. That's how you end up with thrust in the car. As in, if the goal is 0 toe you could get there with 1/8" toe-in on the left, and 1/8" toe-out on the right... or any other combination that sums to your intended total toe when you probably want equal toe on each side...

trackboss

If setting up with strings, that won't happen. Also, in the front the worst that can happen when setting toe using a toe bar is the steering wheel will be off. In the rear, I can't see how one could screw it up. Can't imagine anyone setting up the rear using a toe bar.

froggy47

Thrust alignment, if I understand it correctly, means that the front axle(s) have equal amounts of toe on each side, the rear axle(s) have the same, and if you drew lines parallel off the rim edges they would intersect the centerline of the car perfectly not missing the centerline off to the side of it.

Sort of a geometry explanation of it.

Link to alignment, scroll down to thrust angle

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm


I haven't seen it in a long time, but you used to be able to drive behind a car that had bad thrust alignment & it looked like it was "crabbing" down the road.

naschmitz

I use toe plates in the rear as well to set total toe. Using the electronic laser level you shine a laser towards the front of the car, just like a string, to make sure toe is equal on both sides and the thrust angle is correct. The David Farmer method is surprisingly easy.

JVetthead

Have never seen the laser method, hence my uninformed response.