DIY Home Built One Man Toe Gauge:

[drive em]

Here is a quick, cheap and simple way to set the toe on your Hot Rod, muscle car, race car or daily driver. I have used this method for years on sprint cars, modifieds, drag race cars and all of my own street driven cars and hot rods. I have even checked the toe with a buddy who has an alignment rack, and it is a very accurate way of setting toe. Plus you don't need a helper to do it.



I build a simple gauge out of steel with two uprights welded 90 degrees to the base. The gauge should be 3-4" wider than the outside track width of the vehicle you will be using it on. I built this one using 1 1/2" wide x 3/8" thick steel strap for the base, and 1" square tubing uprights. The base should be wide enough so that it won't fall over:

You want the uprights at exactly 90 degrees to the base:

With the car on a relatively flat floor, you use the gauge by placing it if front of the front tires with one upright touching the tire sidewall as close to the tread of the tire as you can get it:

With one upright touching the sidewall, you go to the other side of the tire and move the upright exactly in line with the opposite side. You may want to go back to the first side to make sure the gauge upright is touching the sidewall exactly where you want it:

You then measure from the same spot on the sidewall that the gauge is touching on the other side to the upright on the side that you are on. Whatever measurement you get, be sure to write it down:

You then remove the gauge, and slide it under the vehicle so that it is in back of the front tires and repeat the steps as before:

Whatever measurement you get, compare it to the first measurement to determine whether you have toe in or toe out, and adjust as needed. You will need to move the gauge back and forth a few times to get the measurement perfect, but it gets easier every time you use it.

 

[Agent1320]

That's the way we do it too! Makes it easy to atleast get 'close' before running it to the alignment shop.

 

[luvit]

man, i think alignment computers are brilliant... but the guys who operate them can be so ignorant on the process..
just like wheel balancing... what's broken, the wheel balancer? .. or the operator..

i'll be making time to do this manually.
i trust a good job like this over any half-baked labor with a computer.
.

 

[Trey T]

Agree! Is it even hard to operate the computer-based alignment system?

man, i think alignment computers are brilliant... but the guys who operate them can be so ignorant on the process..
just like wheel balancing... what's broken, the wheel balancer? .. or the operator..

i'll be making time to do this manually.
i trust a good job like this over any half-baked labor with a computer.
.

 

[lilredex]

Why go to all that trouble??

Just get a length of 3/8" pipe less that than the distance inside the wheels and install a 3/8" rod and thumbscrew on the pipe. Usually 1/8" wider in the back is close enough for most vehicles. Also a one man job.

Done that way since the earth was flat..............

 

[dirttracker18]

Why go to all that trouble??

Just get a length of 3/8" pipe less that than the distance inside the wheels and install a 3/8" rod and thumbscrew on the pipe. Usually 1/8" wider in the back is close enough for most vehicles. Also a one man job.

Done that way since the earth was flat..............

That would give you toe in. Don't most specs call for a small amount of toe out

 

[Cryptic1911]

I've seen some that are just long piece of bent aluminum shaped like an L, and you lean them against the tire on each side. On the ends of each of the pieces, they have slots to stick a tape measure in, and you measure in front of and behind the tire (without moving the plates) and just find the difference in or out

 

[Jim Stabe]

I've seen some that are just long piece of bent aluminum shaped like an L, and you lean them against the tire on each side. On the ends of each of the pieces, they have slots to stick a tape measure in, and you measure in front of and behind the tire (without moving the plates) and just find the difference in or out

Like these

 

[lilredex]

That would give you toe in. Don't most specs call for a small amount of toe out

1/8" wider in the back allows for the wheels to "open up" and run straight when driven down the road, assuming the tie rods and other pieces are not perfectly tight. Those were the specs for all my RWD stuff.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Exactly

Like these

 

[mhulbrock]

Nice, you can easily do this with string and jack stands as well.

Just make sure when taking measurements measure from the wheel and not the tire. The tire can bulge or not be terribly consistent. Wheel would be more accurate.

 

[SWT Racing]

Nice, you can easily do this with string and jack stands as well.

Just make sure when taking measurements measure from the wheel and not the tire. The tire can bulge or not be terribly consistent. Wheel would be more accurate.

Very true. . .especially if you want a very accurate measurement.

The last time I set toe on my drag car, I sprayed a white stripe in the center of the tread on each of the front tires, and spun them by hand and scribed a line to negate the effects of wheel runout or tire case "squirm". I had a helper at the time, so we used a tape measure to set toe, but it would be very easy to make a pointed trammel similar to what drive em did.

I've also used jack stands and string.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

I recently "aligned" mines by eye,not sure if it's correct, but the steering wheel isnt cocked and it drives straight with the steering wheel centered.

But i will try this in the future,thanks for the tip.

 

[gt40mkii]

1/8" wider in the back allows for the wheels to "open up" and run straight when driven down the road, assuming the tie rods and other pieces are not perfectly tight. Those were the specs for all my RWD stuff.

Better late than never, I suppose...

Most manufacturers specify toe in on their cars to keep them stable under braking.

Too much toe out can cause the front end to wander left to right. Under heavy braking this gets worse as more load is transfered to the front tires.

Also, since the suspension bushings are rubber, under the increased load of braking the wheel tends to shift rearward with respect to the steering rack (rack & pinion steering) or the drag links (steering box setup.) This increases toe OUT, making the wandering even more likely under heavy braking.

Manufacturers absolutely don't want that, so they specify a lot of toe IN. The reasoning is the even under heavy braking, as the tires move, they'll remain toed in, or at worst, move to zero-toe.

Of course, every car is different. Modern cars atr a lot better at managing toe change under braking so they run less toe-in than older cars with marshmallows for bushings (Cadillac and Lincoln, I'm looking at you here!)

On my race car, all the rubber is long gone. The tires aren't muing under braking at ALL, so I can set my toe much closer to zero. If I'm on a rough track, I'll dial perhaps 1/16" of toe in, measured at the rim at 3:00 and 9:00. (You can't get an accurate toe reading off the tire unless you scribe a line on the tread and measure from that.) That keeps the car more stable over the rough sections. If I'm on a smooth track, I'll dial between 0 and 1/8" of toe OUT which makes the car turn into the corner much more aggressively.

As far as my measurement rig, it's a simple pair of aluminum plates held against the wheel, with trammel points so that it registers off the rim and not the tire. I use two tape measures (and an assistant,) to directly measure the distance between the front and rear of the plates. Google "toe-plates".

 

[b-body-bob]

the guys who operate them can be so ignorant on the process...

Agree. I took a car to be aligned, asked the mechanic to put as much caster in the car as possible, and when I drove it home it would go in circles because one side had a ton more caster than the other. The idiot had no idea that both sides need to at least be close to get the car to run straight.

Instead of taking it back I got online with speedway and bought DIY alignment tools and fixed it myself.

I was trained at Hunter way back in the past and it's not rocket science, just a matter of understanding the cause and effect relationship between the measurements and handling.

 

[SWT Racing]

man, i think alignment computers are brilliant... but the guys who operate them can be so ignorant on the process..
just like wheel balancing... what's broken, the wheel balancer? .. or the operator..

i'll be making time to do this manually.
i trust a good job like this over any half-baked labor with a computer.
.

I agree. Long story to follow.

When I lifted my 2500HD on a Sunday morning with lift spindles and a few cranks of the torsion bars, I needed an alignment. I set the toe, and thought I would be good to go for a day or two until I could get to my usual frame/alignment shop. Due to "manufacturing tolerances" on the spindles, the caster was extremely negative, the camber was extremely positive, and the truck would steer full left or right when steering. I went to the only place that had an alignment rack long enough for my truck that was open on a Sunday.

They spent two hours on the alignment and were more than happy to take my $200 for a "lifetime" alignment. I paid the man and walked out to my truck. From about 50 feet away, I could see that the camber was still very positive. I looked at the printout they gave me from the Hunter alignment rack, and all he set was toe, which was damn near close to where I had set it. I went back and talked to the manager. We both went back to speak with the tech, who said he had loosened the adjustment nuts, but could not get them to rotate. I showed him that the factory plastic alignment "keys" needed to be removed so that the eccentics could be rotated.

I spent another hour waiting and was on my way, with about 1° positive camber, but a driveable vehicle. Due to a crazy work schedule, I never thought about having it properly aligned until a couple years later (and many tire rotations, as well as a move across country). I bought a new set of BGF M/T's, and took my truck to work on a Saturday, where we had bought the same Hunter alignment rack. I sat down, read the manual, and aligned my truck in 30 minutes within factory specs.

On my race car, all the rubber is long gone. The tires aren't muing under braking at ALL, so I can set my toe much closer to zero. If I'm on a rough track, I'll dial perhaps 1/16" of toe in, measured at the rim at 3:00 and 9:00. (You can't get an accurate toe reading off the tire unless you scribe a line on the tread and measure from that.)

A man after my own heart, even if I'm a "short attention span theatre" racer (AKA drag racer).

I measure mine off a scribed line off the tire to negate wheel and tire runout and set it at 1/32" toe in, with my weight in the driver's seat and the front end jacked up 2" to simulate the suspension as it sits going down track. It's a little squirrely on the street, but I can drive down track at full power, on a 97" wheelbase car and a full spool, with only +.75° caster and she'll track straight as an arrow. Of course, it's only about 5.8 seconds, but it's still at 122MPH.

 

[Drew_flux]

i like your gage, i use an adjustable tent pole and tape measure to get close, before putting the car on the rack. our aligner at work will not set up correctly if the toe is way out.