KevinGross

I've been doing alignments for a few years with Smart Strings, Smart Camber, plus turn plates and a stack of 2 x 12 boards (and a pile of linoleum tiles for fine leveling). Perhaps I am missing something, but I find measuring the toe, with a digital mic between the string and rim, to be difficult and not very repeatable. Unless I have butchered the math, the numbers measured are small differences.

Catalogs like Longacre and Pegasus offer a bunch of different toe tools. Opinions as to the easiest / most accurate / best to use?

Kurt R

My favorite are the plates and tape measures. Until you use a tape measure for something else and misplace it. So the moral is buy 3 tape measures, and only use the two to measure toe.

amso3

I use the Smart Strings and use a flat metric metal ruler. I use fine red monofilament fishing line and it is easy to see .25 mm IMHO. I also always measure starting at the rear lip of the wheel then move to the the front lip. This way I don't get confused if I'm looking for toe in or toe out. If you don't have a standard method established it is very easy to go the wrong way with toe settings!

stownsen914

Regarding the inconsistency in measurement that the OP mentioned, it would be worth checking lateral runout on the wheel lips. I understand runout of .010" is typical, and it doesn't take much of a bend to throw off a toe measurement, where a difference of .020" or .040" could completely throw off your toe settings, and cause you to see a different toe setting just by rotating a wheel between measurements.

Matt Romanowski

That's why commercial setups use wheel compensation. The old systems you had to jack the wheel up, set the level, spin the wheel 180 degrees, then adjust, and so on until it was good. The new systems do it automatically when you roll the car. Before hub mounted stands, lots of teams would have a set of setup wheels that were not used except to set the car up.

I think it's a case of not getting caught up in the super small details. In a stock car with lots of rubber bushings, .040 is not that much. In a race car running on spherical bearings, .040 is a ton.

We use a Tru-Line system.

Toby Pennycuff

Try the BBX Racing HubStands. No need for stacks of 12x12x2 boards. Attach to the hub and the stands sit on the scale pad and can move laterally on the scale. I have these for and they are great. Hub adapters for both the 130mm, 5-bolt Porsche pattern as well as the centerlock hub adapter for my Cup. BBX Racing Hubstands These may be more than you want to spend, but they are GREAT! No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

924RACR

On the IT car, we use the Longacre toe plates, love 'em - quick, repeatable, and accurate enough for that system.

For the P2 car, it's a special homemade setup with dial gauges to the hubs... essentially like hubstands, but homemade.

Cory M

I use Smart Strings but have been thinking of getting some Longacre toe plates just for the track. It takes a while to set up the strings and I think the plates would be faster to make corrections between sessions if the toe goes out from going off track or hitting curbs.

944hal

I use the toe plates with the car sitting level on the ground. PIA raising and lowering car to adjust but cheap and effective.

Coochas

Matt Romanowski

^^That's for wheelbase and track width.

jdistefa

+993

...and longacre toe plates as well for quick checks.

Cory M

Since you use both strings and plates, how does the precision compare between the two?

amso3

Toe plates are good for rush toe checking at the track after an incident. The problem using them for your regular set-up is that you need to be sure that the rear wheels are parrallel to the front (minus toe measurement) and the strings do that when set up properly. With the toe plates you could have the correct toe settings front and rear but one end might be skewed from the other which would make the car handle poorly. For example, you use toe plates and decide that you need to add more toe in the rear, which side do you adjust? With strings it is obvious which side needs to be adjusted, maybe both.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

We use this one: http://www.hofmann-usa.com/wa-geoliner-650-xd.asp

Very accurate and guarantees repeatable results with a qualified technician.