Wheel Alignment

[Pedders]

Hi all,

I am I the process doing the wheel alignment on my GTR. I understand that the front wheels should have 1mm each of toe in. The rhs wheel is bang on, but the left hand is proving trickier - I either have no toe in or, with a turn of the track rod end, too much toe in - it's as if the thread is too coarse to provide the right setting.

Am wondering whether I can adjust things at the rack end. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Many thanks.

Edited by Pedders on Saturday 26th March 17:04

[confusionhunter]

My understanding is the rack end is on a ball joint so fine adjustment can be had by turning the rod.
What is more fun is measuring and adjusting the bump steer....!

[Steve_D]

I must be missing something here.
You turn the track rod and get too much toe....so don't turn the rod quite so far. Simples.

Steve

[confusionhunter]

No, I think he means if you only adjust at the track rod end you can only adjust by 1 full turn as the rod end MUST be pointing downwards, otherwise it doesn't fit to the hub!

[Pedders]

That's right confusion hunter. Per Steve D's analogy, if I don't turn it, I don't have enough toe in, and if I do, because I have to turn the track rod end a full revolution (otherwise it's, pointing in the wrong direction....) I have too much.

[Storer]

For those just building.

Adjusting the toe-in/out is done by leaving the ball joint bolted on to the arm on the wheel hub. Slacken the lock nut on the steering rod where it meets the ball joint.

The steering rod can now be rotated as the other end is a ball and socket joint. It is usually a little stiff and may require small stilsons or mole grip pliers. This allows infinite adjustment to get the tracking correct and the steering wheel centred.

Please remember to tighten the lock nut against the ball joint when complete.


Hope that helps.


Paul

[Pedders]

That does help - thank you!

[UltimaCH]

I haven't yet reached the stage of adjusting toe, but your description Paul with the clear instruction makes perfect sense. Thanks

P.S. I don't recall having seen this in the build manual, but I may have skipped that part

[huzilulu]

Is there an 'easy' way to adjust camber as well (on the wishbones with the bushes, not rose joints) ??

[confusionhunter]

No, Just got to get it as close as you can. Its a finer thread though tso one full turn doesnt make as big a difference as it does with toe. I found a friendly garage that allowed me to flip the top ball joint a turn to get it pretty close. Then of course you have to do the toe again.

[Storer]

There is no doubt that setting up the front suspension is a very time consuming and hair pulling job to get right.

Camber and tracking are the easy bit. It is bump steer that is the real bugger.

Changing one element will affect another. You are warned!!!



Paul

[AlexCim]

What are peoples recommended settings for road and track?

[Storer]

Stick with the Factory settings for the road.

Deadscoob is better qualified for the track settings.


Paul

[V8Dom]

tracking depends on the tyres you are running
as some tyres have better manners than others on road and track.
the factory best source, but believe me, dont run the Kumos on the road. They are dangerous and you tram line everywhere

[356Speedster]

I'll throw a curve ball in...... I run 2mm toe out (each side) on the road and it's made a huge difference to stability. The car is less nervous and more confidence inspiring. Other settings are as per factory, although I have done a lot on bump steer correction and also now have longer wishbones. I'm working on caster changes currently... one day I'll get a setup I'm happy with

[confusionhunter]

oh weird! I though toe in/out worked like this:
Street cars often are set up with toe-in; For good straight-line stability cornering is sacrefised.
Race cars are often set up with toe-out; Straight-line stability is sacrifised for good cornering

[UltimaCH]

Here's some reading on this subject in Dutch English
http://en.intraxracing.nl/techniek/camber,-caster,...

Some more:
http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/index.php