Tow In

[lalkie64]

I have a 52 b3b that I am having trouble setting the toe in.  The tie rod bar was bent and I was able to straighten it as best I could. Can I set the toe in with the front wheels off the ground or do they have to be on the ground?  I have 205/65 16 tires all around and the truck sits a little low so it is difficult to get under it.  Can the toe in be set with measurements off the backing plate or drums?  Everything is pretty tight as I have rebuilt the front suspension.  Kind of looking for tricks of the trade to help with getting it done.  Thanks Larry

[Radarsonwheels]

I get it close then drive it to someone with equipment to do it perfect quickly. I tried a bunch of homebrewed stuff and it works but its a lot of tweaking & trying. I used to put tires on rims myself too Im a glutton for punishment 

[kencombs]

Jack it up and scribe a line around the center of the tire tread.  Hold chalk, marker or scribe in place while rotating the tire.  Put it on the floor and use to framing squares clamped to a board and setting on the floor to measure. Start in the front.   clamp one in place, align with the mark on one side, then align the other with the mark on the other side.  Clamp it in place.  Both squares should have one leg on the floor and the other vertical on the marks.  Take the measurement then move the setup to the back of the tires. Reset one square and remeasure.  The difference tells you the toe figure.  Count the threads per inch on the tie rod.  that will tell you how many turns are needed to made the required adjustment. 

 

this way takes the measurement in the middle of the tire, measuring from brakes or wheels is inaccurate as they are much smaller in diameter.

 

Now you can jack it up to get work room and turn the rod, tight the lock nuts and you're done.

Edited March 21, 2019 by kencombs

[Veemoney]

Below is roughly how I do it using an adjustable painter's pole as a "Go/No Go" gauge technic. No scale required 

• Jack up and loosen the tie rods if you don't think you will have room with it on the ground during measuring
• Make sure ground is level and you have the same amount of air in each tire. 
• Roll vehicle forward to load the frontend with forward movement(all frontends have some slop and you want to remove it before measuring)
• Position 2-bys as shown below. I recommend using 2 longer 2-bys that span the measuring area and they actually stay in place better but for the purpose of the sketch I used 4 short ones. This gets you measuring at the same elevation at the front and back and allow you to complete the measurements by yourself.
•  Snug up the adjustment on the painter's pole so it is firm but will allow adjustment.
•  Position 1(front) - Set the adjustable pole on top of the 2-bys with the side away from you in the center of the tire or the highpoint of the convex surface. Now set the adjustable pole length by moving the pole back and forth (side away from you is pivot point, side closest to you only gets moved) to find the highpoint on the tire closest to you and tighten the pole. Double check that the pole in position 1 is just barely toughing at the high spot.
• Move to position 2 (back) - With the pole set from position 1 check moving back and forth to find the high spot.
  • If you were heavy handed at position 1 it should feel the same or touch slightly less than that at position 2
  • You are looking for zero to 1/16th gap max at position 2. (Please double check the spec for your truck)
  • If you need to adjust I leave the pole in position and adjust half the amount required. Example- if I have 1/4" gap in the back I would adjust to take the gap showing to 1/8th for zero toe 
•  Adjust as required and remember after the adjustment roll vehicle to load the frontend correctly again before measuring and confirming correct toe adjustment and then tighten up the tie rods.

 

 

 

[lalkie64]

Thanks for the information.  I will set up and try the suggestions.  I do need to pay attention to my spelling.  I appreciate the responses.  Larry

[Plymouthy Adams]

I found that this was very simple to build and use.....

 

 

[ggdad1951]

5 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I found that this was very simple to build and use.....

 

 

 

Goal posts for the Packers kicker last year?

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

17 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

I get it close then drive it to someone with equipment to do it perfect quickly. I tried a bunch of homebrewed stuff and it works but its a lot of tweaking & trying. I used to put tires on rims myself too Im a glutton for punishment 

 

I have not messed with any of that since...…..15 minutes ago and its the 9th tire this week....

[Los_Control]

18 hours ago, lalkie64 said:

I have a 52 b3b that I am having trouble setting the toe in.  The tie rod bar was bent and I was able to straighten it as best I could. Can I set the toe in with the front wheels off the ground or do they have to be on the ground?  I have 205/65 16 tires all around and the truck sits a little low so it is difficult to get under it.  Can the toe in be set with measurements off the backing plate or drums?  Everything is pretty tight as I have rebuilt the front suspension.  Kind of looking for tricks of the trade to help with getting it done.  Thanks Larry

I will toss in my two cents, worth every penny you paid.

I once had a 1959 chevy panel truck, while out in the Las Vegas sand dunes I hopped a hill and bent the tie rod bar.

We drank another beer and laughed, bent it straight again and went home.

 

The result was the rod would automagically  bend again in the exact same place, hit a big pot hole, rub up against the curb while parking .... it was never the same after it was bent.

 

Only thing I have to add, I would not spend too much time on a alignment, first fix the rod properly.

I am thinking it may need to be heated and then dipped in oil , a few proper curse words added and then let it cool?

This is what I would fix first.

 

As a 20 year old kid, I have a lot of not - fond memories,  of pulling up to the curb and the tie rod bending again, have to crawl under it and use the jack to bend it back again just to get back home.

 

I think this can be cured, if you know metal better then a idiot.

[Cordell]

Ok guys I’ve been doing the string method for years! Put a thumb tack in rear tires with string tied to itcenter of tread and center of rim, pull string tight to front tires just tuch rear sidewall of front tire and measure front front sidewall of tire to string  do the same thing on other side adjust till both sides have an 1/8 tow-in on both sides works in air or on ground. It also let’s you know if the back axle is in straight also just look down string line 

[lalkie64]

The tie rod may bend again.  I will have to watch it.  I would probably heat it and quince it if to remove the stress.  I am getting close to getting the toe in correct.  Thanks to everyone again.  More eyes are better than my one weak one and the other old one.  Larry

[Matt Wilson]

Personally, I would not re-use a bent tie rod, even if it has been straightened, heat treated, etc.  It may have tiny cracks that you cannot see/detect, which can eventually result in complete breakage of the rod and loss of control of your steering.  The chances of a crack forming are greater the more times the tie rod gets bent and straightened.

 

I also would not try heating and quenching it.  If it's an alloy that can be hardened much at all, then heat treating it can make it too hard and less ductile than it should be, and the next time you hit an immovable object hard, such as a curb, the rod is more likely to develop cracks, and being a less ductile material, these cracks will also be more likely to grow.  I would not try any kind of heat treating.  Unless you know what you are doing, this can do very undesirable things to the metal.  Different alloys respond differently to heat treating and require different temperatures, different quenching media (water, oil, air, other), different tempering temperatures after quenching, etc.

 

I believe I read that auto manufacturers make tie rods from relatively ductile material so that if you have an accident or a hard impact with an immovable object, the rod will not break at that instant;  rather, it will bend, but remain intact to afford some level of steering control until you can bring the car to a stop.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Matt Wilson