Since I like doing pretty much everything on my own.. I have never tried to do a front end alighnment. My 123 series puls a little to the left and wondered if anyone has doe this? I am only wanting to adjust tow in I assume.
I saw a guy at a racetrack align his front tires by putting the front tires on two pieces of sandwiched plexiglass with grease between the layers.
He then set the fronts down on the plex ( about 12" x 12") and proceeded to measure and adjust his tie rods...
I just like learning new things.. any suggestions or links on how to's?

thanks

Incorrect toe will not cause the car to pull to one side. In fact unless the car has taken a hard lick somewhere along the way it is probably not alignment causing it to pull. Check tire pressure and maybe swap tires from side to side to see if it pulls the other way.

That said, to check toe, you don't have to use the grease. Raise both front wheels one at a time and use a nail vise gripped to a jack stand and put it against the tire tread and turn the tire all the way around to scribe a line. By measuring against the line you will do away with errors caused by lateral runout of the tires. While each wheel is off the ground shake it to make sure wheel bearings are tight.

After bearings are checked and tires are scrubbed roll the car about 8 feet so the suspension can settle.

With that done, use a tape measure and helper to measure the distance between scribed lines at the front and the back of the tires and make them equal. Do this by doing a little adjustment on each tie rod so as not to disturbe the center point of the steering wheel.

Good luck,

how are your front tires wearing?

take a good look at the rubber bushings, (control arm, etc) mine are quite haggard after 25 yrs.

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Cheers,
Robert

I checked my alignement and it is toe'd out about 1/2 inch. I also have some other problems that will necessiate some bushing replacement, but when I go to actually adjust the toe, how is that accomplished? I tried some today, but with no effect. I see the control rod that goes to each wheel. It looks like it has a lock nut on one end (closest to centerline) and a clamp with a 13mm bolt on the other end (wheel end) once those two are loosened, do I just turn the 'tube' that both of those thread into? Mine seem to be stuck. do I just need to reef on it with a pipe wrench?

...somebody here always seems to know....

thanks

to adjust the tube must be rotated. often they are stuck. and they can be about impossible to loosten sometimes. start with pb blaster or some other type of penetrating oil. you may need heat to break them loose. once loose lubricate them and then make adjustiments as noted above. i have had them so stuck that when i turned them it took the threads right off the part. new tie rods were in order for me that time.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Yes you turn the tube. There are two things that happen when you turn these tubes, you are changing the toe and you are changing the center position of the steering wheel.

It is hard to describe how they interact, so pay close attention to the threads on each side. You will find that once you have toe set, if the steering wheel is no longer centered, you can turn both tie rods in the same direction, the same amount to change the steering wheel position without changing the toe setting.

Good luck,