drive way wheel alignment 101

Found this today while looking for steering parts online.

http://www.automedia.com/DIY/Alignment/ccr20021201ay/1

You're welcome :wave:

very good link, thanks

That spray paint method isn't very accurate.
The professonal ATV racers measure the distance from inside tire sidewall to inside tire sidewall across mid-tire in the front, then again in the back.
The front measurement should be 1/8" less. Thus, 1/8" of toe in.

Camber should be ok, unless you got a sloppy balljoint.
Caster will change if your LCAs are too short, and you'll be steering into the ground. I like that Toe measure tool they show, good stuff.

barillms said:

That spray paint method isn't very accurate.
The professonal ATV racers measure the distance from inside tire sidewall to inside tire sidewall across mid-tire in the front, then again in the back.
The front measurement should be 1/8" less. Thus, 1/8" of toe in.

Camber should be ok, unless you got a sloppy balljoint.
Caster will change if your LCAs are too short, and you'll be steering into the ground. I like that Toe measure tool they show, good stuff.

Click to expand...

Yeah there was an article like that in the newest 4WD and Sport Utility magazine. they did it on an xj too

That toe measurement tool is only $12.99 at Harbor Freight. That's considerably cheaper than what others are charging for it. The one review I read didn't have anything positive to say about it, though.

If you use the right tool to scribe the tire, the spray paint method should be very accurate indeed. Traditional alignment shops, before the electronic era, did the same thing, except with chalk, and a spring-loaded scriber that insures that the line is very straight. I would not trust measurements from the sidewall of the tire, because sidewalls can be a little irregular. IN addition, it's always hard to get a really precise inside measurement unless you have a rigid stick made up to take inside measurements. A tape measure is a poor tool for this.

It's important, if there's any camber on the wheel, to make sure that the measuring is done at the same height off the ground both front and rear, as well as being level. I use a stick with feet that rest on the ground, that has a section of tape measure nailed to the top. Since the XJ specs call for zero toe-in, the actual height doesn't matter as long as it's consistent.

I thought xj's called for 0 too? + or - 1/32 is what I read somewhere...1/8" is what we used on cars...IIRC