jmgtp

Hi All,

I've done a boatload of suspension work the past month or so, which included replacing the tie rod ends.

The replacement tie rod ends have a slightly shorter threaded body when compared to the originals that came off the car. This kind of threw my idea of counting threads to get the alignment close to where it was previously.

Now that the car is mostly back together, with the steering wheel centered I can see that the rotors are splayed outward a bit like this:
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which I believe is referred to as toe out.

The closest reputable alignment shop is about 4 miles away. I'm not ready to take it just yet as I have a laundry list of other things to do to the car first but getting the toe closer seems pretty important, even on this short trip. I don't want to chew up the tires or make squeally sounds going down the road.

What have you guys done to get it close? Any methods, tutorials, etc?

I'm not looking to buy specialized equipment, but rather hoping I can get it close enough with basic math and a tape measure.

Thanks,
jmgtp

Kevova

you can you tube how to set toe in using string and a tape measure.

Jeff78

Center your steering wheel. Then sight down the inside of your front tires, turn the inner tie rod so the inside of the front tire aligns with the inside of the rear tire. By sighting I mean taking the front inside and the rear inside edges of the front tire and sight an imaginary line.

jsmn4vu

That works great if front and rear track are the same and tires are the same width. Otherwise, you'll need to figure out a way to make sure your sight lines are parallel. Nothing a little head-scratching can't conquer.

jmgtp

Thanks everyone. My tires are not the same, 295s back, 275s front.

I'll check out the suggested youtube videos.

antfarmer2

Four miles just eyeball it with no more than a six pack.

Lt4-396

I agree just eyeball it, 4 miles will do nothing to your tires.
You can use a level to get the camber pretty close and the toe you can get close with your eyes.
Back in the day I used to do my own alignments and used no special tool other then a tape measure and a long piece of angle iron and a bit of masking tape and I would get 65-70k out of a set of tires.
This was before the laser alignments and the good diy alignment tools.

aklim

Exactly. Just take it easy and drive it there or rent a U-haul

Gibbles

I have done really well using jackstands and some yellow string from the cement section at home depot.

I use a straight edge ruler to get the string perfectly straight against the body, then use that to gauge the wheels.

You can also make your own toe gauge using some very straight plywood and two tape measures.

The stuff i used was the furniture quality stuff they sell, i had a bunch of scrap from my boat build (i used it as the core of a boat transom).

There is room for error, however i found i can get my alignment near perfect.