mirage2991

How do you guys check for individual toe up front?
I have toe plates, which give you the total in or out, but how do you verify that one wheel or the other isn't carrying the more than the other?

mashinter

If your steering wheel is straight, they're fine.

davidfarmer

in other words, if the thrust angle is zero and the steering wheel is straight, individual toe=1/2 total toe. You don't measure them individually with hand tools

mirage2991

yup, steering is straight, car does not pull left or right.

Reason I asked was because I was getting more iner shoulde wear on the pass side than the driver side. Toe was out to much from the factory. So in an attempt to obtain better wear (it's my DD) I removed some camber up front, and got it 1/16" total toed in.
I can't figure out why that one tire wore worst than the other. The only difference I see is castor/camber between side to side: driver side is -0.5 camber, 5.25 castor, pass is -0.8 camber and 6.24 castor (factory camber was -1.1 and -1.4). My Castor measurements were done kinda loosly since I ran out of time, so I'll double check them again).
Long story short, ended up picking up a nail yesterday in one of the rear, so I'm going to replace all 4, but I was just hopping to "test out" my new specs before spending 1500 bucks on tires...

Bill Dearborn

If you want to verify your thrust angle there is a quick way to do that if you have a helper. Get yourself a 2 ft laser level and a tape measure. Have somebody insert the end of the tape through the front wheel so the end is resting on the frame, then lay the laser level across the rear wheel/tire and aim it at the tape measure and record the distance from the frame to the laser spot on the tape. Repeat on the other side with the tape measure on a similar spot on the frame. If the two measurements are equal your thrust angle is 0. If they are off you can adjust the rear toe of one wheel to get the measurements closer. Since you are making this measurement over the 100+ inch distance from the rear wheel to the front wheel you can be quite accurate in setting the thrust angle. I use a Craftsman Laser Level which I purchased last year for $70.

On my C6Z the total toe in measured with my toe plates is just over 2/32 and the laser level shows my left side thrust measurement is 20 3/8 while the right side is 20 1/8. Remember that 1/4 inch difference is over a 100 inch measurement. That indicates I have slightly more toe in on the right rear wheel than on the left. That means the rear of the car is walking slightly to the left and to compensate I have to turn the steering wheel slightly to the left (I can just barely detect the wheel is turned). To correct that I will have to add a slight amount of toe in on the left side or take out a slight amount of toe in on the right side.

Bill

mirage2991

Bill, thank you! I'll give it a shot tonight.

So technically, providing my trust is close to 0, my car isn't pulling left or right and the stearing is straight, my Toe should be good to go...so...technically, I should get identical wear on both the fronts now right? or is 0.3 more degrees of toe on the pass side causing it to wear alot more than the driver side?)

Bill Dearborn

The front toe wear should be approximately equal from one side to the other as the wheels will center themselves to the point of least resistance. Unequal wear may be more likely due to camber or a mechanical problem.

Bill

mirage2991

Do you think that a 0.3 degree difference in camber on the pass side would cause that? (that happened before I corrected the Toe-out condition I've had from new, 10700 milles running that way).
All Mechanical parts looked fine...

Garick

If you follow the method outlined here you will get individual toe measurements.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/c...uring_toe.html

The parallel strings create a reference to the car centerline allowing you to measure each wheel individually.

Your <1 degree of camber will not harm your tires and I highly doubt you will notice a difference from .3 degrees.

John Shiels

mirage2991

I've "strung the car" before, didn't find anything out of wack...really the major factor was the toe-out condition, other than that, I have a mm scale (I find it easier than inch scale to use).
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I'm re-assured that I've been doing the correct things all along when it comes to measuring and setting the car up