Wheel Alignment - Self setup

[M35A2]

I have been outside and used my rear wheels as a guide to see if self alignment on the tracking is an option?

I measured the distance from the inner main grove to inner main grove on my new tyres on the rear axle, the distance came out as 53 3/8 inches. I did the same with the fronts and got a measurement of 53 5/8 inches. The tyres on the rear obviously wear as even as they can, running dead straight ahead. The fronts wear on the insides, and looking at the measurements, the fronts are pointing outwards more than the rears, which would explain the wear.

So if I align the fronts to the same distance apart as the rears will this then straighten the tracking and prevent the inner wear? I'm still going to get it done professionally, but this idea seems feasible. What thou reckon?

[dieselboy]

erm, i dunno about surfs because they are so big but in theory the rear tyres should toe in a little to keep it steady in a straight line. as we are RWD with 4WD an option and hardly used, i would have thought that our rear wheels point inwards towards the front a decent amount to have affect.
am i wrong anyone?

[M35A2]

erm, i dunno about surfs because they are so big but in theory the rear tyres should toe in a little to keep it steady in a straight line. as we are RWD with 4WD an option and hardly used, i would have thought that our rear wheels point inwards towards the front a decent amount to have affect.
am i wrong anyone?

I don't think that would be possible on a fixed beam axle. The axle is fixed straight, then you have the hub assy and wheel. For that to happen the hub assy would have to be offset somehow so that the wheels would point inwards. I can see that possible on rear independent suspension (like the new Disco) but not on a fixed beam axle.

My Defender has a fixed beam axle on the front as well, but the toe in is possible because of the ball joints and CV joints on the front. The rears don't have this.

[dieselboy]

ok thank you for that info. i didnt know that - i try not to spend any time under the surf.

[legendgamesmaster]

my fronts wear on the insides too. took it to a tyre place, asked if they do laser alignment, toe-in, camber, and whatever else, which they did... but he said you cant actually do half those things on a surf, and suggested it was just the way the cv joints were set, and not to worry.

[BUSHWHACKER]

my fronts wear on the insides too. took it to a tyre place, asked if they do laser alignment, toe-in, camber, and whatever else, which they did... but he said you cant actually do half those things on a surf, and suggested it was just the way the cv joints were set, and not to worry.

What a load of BS!!
Take it to another garage, I got mine sorted because of tyre wear on the inner edges. They hook a laser on the rear wheel pointing forwards with a alignment gauge hooked on the front wheel, and adjust 'till the laser points to the relevent mark. The alignment specs will be under 4Runner on their computer/specs. sheet.

[Bogus]

my fronts wear on the insides too. took it to a tyre place, asked if they do laser alignment, toe-in, camber, and whatever else, which they did... but he said you cant actually do half those things on a surf, and suggested it was just the way the cv joints were set, and not to worry.

Yup, hes lying, what he should have said was that he couldnt be arsed with it. Go to the right place and they can do it, as Vince says settings are the same as 4 runner. I got mine done for the same reason, when I got the thing you could see inner front tyre wear. Ive now put the part worn rears on the front and new boots on the rear. Im currently monitoring and looks good so far. Guy who did it said he guarantees its fine and any problems I should bring it back. His machine had settings for the 4 runners and several Hilux pick ups I think and all looked very similar. All adjustments looked fairly easy except for tracking as track rod ends were a buggah to free up, but a bit of heat some "magic mist" ( WD40 ) a large stillson and away he went.

Why oh why do people do that, tell you that things are impossible when theyre not, people like that need a slap. Thats why you need to do your forum search before you go to the pros for anything, so you go armed with some knowledge and can spot the lies early enough, enabling you to walk before the so called pro wrecks your pride and joy. Best tenner I ever spent is the subs for here, and yes I know I could have it all for free too if I wanted

And another thing, its easy for him to tell you not to worry when hes not the one paying for expensive new rubber when the tyre has to be binned prematurely

Bogus

[Taliesins]

I have been outside and used my rear wheels as a guide to see if self alignment on the tracking is an option?

I measured the distance from the inner main grove to inner main grove on my new tyres on the rear axle, the distance came out as 53 3/8 inches. I did the same with the fronts and got a measurement of 53 5/8 inches. The tyres on the rear obviously wear as even as they can, running dead straight ahead. The fronts wear on the insides, and looking at the measurements, the fronts are pointing outwards more than the rears, which would explain the wear.

So if I align the fronts to the same distance apart as the rears will this then straighten the tracking and prevent the inner wear? I'm still going to get it done professionally, but this idea seems feasible. What thou reckon?

Front wheel specs are min. 0degrees03' max. 0degrees15'
It can be done with any type tracking device as long as the operator knows their job.

[Morr]

.....So if I align the fronts to the same distance apart as the rears ....

Afraid this won't work, the front track is 5mm wider than the rear

If you have to do this by measurements, to have them set to zero you would need to measure the front and rear edges of just the front wheels and adjust so that they are the same.

They only way you,ll get this right yourself is using a tramel bar .

[M35A2]

Going to have to stick it in a garage. The last one I tried the guy was using an optical alignment tool that looked like something out of the sixties. He also put big gouges into my track rods as they are seized, hence the purchase of new ones. So not bothered about the marks on the present ones.

It's finding a place that knows what they are doing and take their time at it. TonyN mentioned one place, which looks like the place I will go to, but it's quite a way away from me, so I will look for a closer place first.

Has anyone had a mobile wheel alignment dude do theirs? A guy came to my company the other month and was doing the truck alignments out of a mobile van!!