Guys,
Both front tires have to much toe-in. Outsides are worn down considerably. I want to 'toe it out' for the drive the safely to Mark Nadler at Exotech (about 400 miles on the highway) for the 'true' alignment and new tires. How to do ?

Thanks in Advance.

 

Get the steering wheel straight and measure to see which side or both that need to move. Loosen the nut on the clamping side of the tie rod and turn the threaded side a few turns. Awesome part is getting under there to do it wioth lifting the car (anychance you have ramps or something you can keep the front end loaded with while doing it? Otherwise it'll be a pian try a little, then good back and forth to settle it.....

 

Without real measuring equipment of some sort, any adjustments you make will be blind. Plus "a few turns" on each tie rod is a huge amount of adjustment.

Since you are doing the adjustments blind, go ahead and raise the car up as needed to get to the tie rods conveniently. Why strain yourself? 22mm on the nut, 15mm fits the flats on the sleeves.

I made a couple little 'helper' stickers to put on the tie rods and ends to assist with adjustments. You can make similar temporary stickers with blue painter's tape. Start with a 3" or so piece of tape, and make a mark every 1/4" along the long edge. Wrap the tape around the sleeve just inside the nut, so you can see the marks next to the nut. I put numbers on the lines, or you can just count them as you turn the sleeve while adjusting. Another piece of tape wraps around the threaded tie rod end a bit outside the nut, just one line on it. Install that piece with the line horizontal at the rear, where you can see it. That line is the reference against which you can count as you turn the sleeve. I know pictures are worth a thousand words, but I don't have any handy. At least you'll know how much you are adjusting, and that you are adjusting both sides the same amount.

Risking the obvious, I've discovered that no amount of toe adjustment will cause rubber to move from the less-worn areas to the more-worn areas. Trust me on this...



Oh--

Have the alignment done on the settled car --BEFORE-- the new tires are installed.

 

Reread the OP's question. To reduce toe in, the length of each tie rod needs to be adjusted slightly shorter. 22 mm wrench on the locknut on the tie rod. Use a 15 mm wrench on the flats of the inner tie rod/sleeve to screw the sleeve on to the outer tie rod end. Tighten the locknut while holding the sleeve. Make the same adjustment on each side.

 

Take it to NTB or somebody that will do an alignment without lifting the car.

 

+928

As for adjustment for the drive, why bother unless it doesn't drive in a straight line? In which case, don't drive it. If the tires are down to cord, too worn to be safe, don't drive it either. Otherwise, they're unlikely to wear out to unsafe in 400 miles and they're going to be replaced anyway.

 

1/2 turn of the nut on each side will change your toe in by about half an inch

 

Thanks Guys.

This just a temporary maneuver until the new tires and alignment are done. Mark Nadler at Exotech is the nearest 928 'go to guy' for an alignment. I am slightly concerned about driving on them, but if I can reduce the stress on them for this one time sojourn I'll be that much less concerned.

 

Get two long straight things - pipes, EMT, 1x4 planks, etc. Get bungee cords to hold them horizontally, sticking out the front, on the outside of the front wheels, as close to the center of the wheels as possible.
Measure the distance between the "long things" just in front of the wheels, then as far in front of the wheels as you can. Reach under and adjust the toe per dr bob's method. "To reduce toe in, the length of each tie rod needs to be adjusted slightly shorter. 22 mm wrench on the locknut on the tie rod. Use a 15 mm wrench on the flats of the inner tie rod/sleeve to screw the sleeve on to the outer tie rod end. Tighten the locknut while holding the sleeve. Make the same adjustment on each side." Shoot for just a little toe-in.

 

Wally's method is a good idea. With many of the Cup model wheels shown in your avatar, the center is higher than the wheel rim and tire, and unless the center is very flat, the center and wheel spokes makes it real hard to mount anything straight. So, you may need to improvise with some spacers on your straightedge that make contact with the the wheel rim or tire instead of the wheel center and spokes. I use commercially available toe plates, and they have the same problem with wheels like yours. I have modified the toe plates to cut out an area near the center so the plates clear the wheel center and spokes on some wheels.

Anyway, if you can get some measurements of the distance between the wheels at two points, you can apply trapezoid math to calculate the toe angle. For street, 0.25 degree total toe-in is a good target. Here's an online trapezoid calculator I use.
http://www.analyzemath.com/Geometry_...alculator.html

If you change the toe, roll the car back and forth several feet to allow the wheels to shift to their new position, unless you have or can make up some slip plates (e.g., two "linoleum" floor tile squares with table salt sprinkled between them) to put under the tires. Then recheck the toe.

 

Another possibility is to use a laser level and a "straights edge" the length of your wheels (without tires). With 16" wheels, that's about 17". Put two post-its on the garage floor below the centerline of the wheel. With the "straight" against the top and bottom of wheel at centerline (not contacting the tire) and using the level, make it vertical/plumb. With the laser "on", mark the spot on the post it where the laser spot is. (I use a sharpie pen to make a small dot in the center of my red laser dot). Do the same on the other side. Slowly push the car back (on an essentially level floor) for about 6". Measure & record the distance between the two spots.

Now, go out as far as you can (5-15') in front of the car and put up pieces of whiteboard/cardboard (etc.) directly in front of the wheels, and so it's top is at least above the horizontal center line of your front wheel on BOTH sides. Now, with the "straight"/level at the center of the wheel, and with this system "level", turn the laser on and mark where the spot is on the whiteboard (probably need some help here!) The measurement between the two spots on the white board MINUS the distance between the spots on the floor is the "TOE IN".

You want this, as everyone has said, to be a slight negative number (certainly less than -1, probably in the range of -1/4" to -3/8"). The further away from the tires that the whiteboard is, the more negative it will need to be. A more accurate result would be to use Bill Ball's trapezoidal measurement above to get the required difference in the whiteboard distance and the marks on the floor distance. Reposition the two white board dots to the required position, then make the mechanical adjustment per Wally's method above.

This isn't the exact method Earl Gillstrom uses for his laser level 928 alignments, but in your situation, it will work. It's kind of like 8th grade math compared to the real method which resembles calculus!!!

Also for anyone doing any front end work (replacing struts/springs, tie rod ends, rack, etc.), LIFT the car to the height your going to have it throughout the work. THEN put up the white boards so the center is about the same height as the front tires, and directly in front of them. Then using the straight/level system mark the spots on the whiteboard. As long as you never move the chassis while the car is being worked on, you can put everything back together, then align the wheels for toe in to that spot again, and you will have 99% as good a front alignment as you had before. I have a lift, and I put the post-its on the wall about 10 feet in front of the wheels at about 6.5 feet above the floor. I've done lots of stuff to the front suspensions in the past 5 years, and never had to do another alignment. Both cars track true and straight.

Gary Knox
'94 928 Auto
'89 928 Manual