Joel,

Sorry for the delay,
I don't recieve email notice of any post I am in anymore and we have not been able to find the fault yet..
Anyone else having this prob ?

Anyway, that is a good question and the answer is:

A 2x4, some plywood triangles, some drywall screws..

What you can do [ and mind you this is a crude DIYer device, but can be accurate if you pay attention to doing a good, solid construction job] is assemble this as one piece on a flat floor.

You are basically making a large measuring caliper.
The 2x4 lays in front of the car and it has two arms [ about 3 footers] coming off at Rt angles , a little wider than the outside wheel width. Like a big square "C" .
I make the 2x4 a couple of feet longer than where the arms come off and put some 1/4 plywood triangles on the outside as gussets [ with the screws] . This keeps the upright arms solid
and being on the outside , keeps the area inside the arms clear.
Now you put a small piece of plywood [ 3-4 " triangle with one point cut off] at the open end of one arm , coming back toward the center of the rig. On the opposite arm end, you just use a straight nail sticking into the end of the arm.

So, now you mark each wheel at the rim edge at axle height from
the ground , [ horizontal line through the rim center-line ] ,front and back..[ this is on the outside of the wheel, as you are taking measurement from outside , rather than inside]
Lay the 2x4 on the ground across the front of the tires. Lift the
arm with the little piece of plywood pointer and set it on the rim at the axle height mark. Now go to the other side and that arm will be lined up with that mark, but will be a couple of inches away. Put a short, 6" ruler on the rim mark and see how far away the nail pointer is , This is you measurement for the front.
Now simply push the 2x4 back about 15" and do the same for the rear marks. This is the rear measurement . The difference of these two numbers is toe +/-. For zero toe , same measurement.
Adjust the tierods according to what specs you are looking for.
The advantage of this outside caliper measuring is that nothing is in your way , so you are more apt to get better measurements
then under the car. It also allows the measurement to be gotten from the wheels at axle heigth- which can't be done with inside measure...

I ftp://members.aol.com/ajdalton7/toe.jpg

** note: the 1-1/2" dimension on drawing should read 3-1/2 inch

Anyone crazy as me and wants to make one , print this jpg out as I can only leave it for a few days [ no space] . I advise using the 2x4 flat sided to take advantage of the strength .. I also
put another brace/prop arm at the end of one of the arms with a pivot pin/screw that allows the tool to stand on its own after the pointer is placed on the rim mark [ kinda like a variable A frame support ], so one guy can use the tool without having it fall off the marks.
If you have several cars, it is best to make the opening a little larger than you widest track width you have .. A couple of inches wider allows getting the tool past the bulge of the tires easily..
Although the tool is large , it is flat and hangs well on a wall ..

I have made the same with rigid tubing and some slide fixture that works very well...

Too much good information to allow this to fade away.



Have a great day.

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