Tracking Out

[Guest jelleyhead]

Hi all it looks like my tracking is out as my tyres are wearing on the out side so my question is does any body know how to set your tracking l will need to get new tyres but to save my self some money i was going to try doing the tracking my self any advices would be appreciated

[agent_zed]

essentially what you need to do is create a rectangle around your car from which to work from. I did the following and got a reasonable result...

 

get some long straight boards (you could use strings if you are careful) and put them down the sides of the car on bricks (so when you measure in you measure to the wheel not the bulge of the tyre).

 

You need to measure across between the boards at the front and back so they are parallel but also square to the car. The rear is wider so find a fixed point to measure from (subframe bolt for example). So both boards are now the same distance from the subframe bolts at the rear. You need to keep the distance the same between the board but now move the front and measure in again to fixed points (suspension joint for example).

 

You should with a bit of moving and measuring now have 2 boards that are square to the car.

 

You can now measure in from the boards to the front and rear of each wheel. at the front wheels the front measurement (part of wheel nearest the front of the car) should be bigger than the rear of the front wheel. This means it is toeing in slightly if you see what i mean. If not you can adjust. I can't do the maths off the top of my head right now but you should be able to work out the angles as you will know the distance between the front and rear of the wheel rim and the distances in from front and back. Or at least you know you have neutral toe if the numbers are the same.

 

For the rear you can't adjust but at least you can see how badly you need camber/toein shims. If you do the same as above you will prob see the rear has a lot of toe-in as that is what happens when you lower the sierra suspension. There are a few people who make shims which reduce the toe-in (you still want to be slightly neg) and also reduce the camber (your rear tyres are prob wearing on the inside edges).

 

hope that makes sense.

[Bob Tucker]

I used two straight bits of wood about 4 feet long.

I put 2 axle stands each side in front & behind the the front wheels.

Rest the wood on the axle stands set to wheel centre height, & touching the tyres.

mark both pieces of wood as close to the car as possible where you can run a tape measure across.

Measure the wheel rim diameter. Measure from the mark on the wood, forward by the wheel diameter.

You now have two marks on each piece of wood, the same distance apart as the diameter of the wheel.

Measure across between the front & back marks, & the difference is your toe in/out.

Adjust as necessary.

Wish I could draw diagrams like Nigel...

Edited August 16, 2015 by Bob Tucker

[Guest 2b cruising]

You should always start by centralising your steering column and rack before making any adjustments.

Only after doing this without the track rod ends fitted will you get a true set up.

Always advisable to have a professional set up after you have done your own, unless you fully understand the mechanics of the steering suspention system.

It's your body that will be in the car, or at least your pocket new tyres will be paid by.

Edited August 16, 2015 by 2b cruising

[Guest mower man]

Hi all it looks like my tracking is out as my tyres are wearing on the out side so my question is does any body know how to set your tracking l will need to get new tyres but to save my self some money i was going to try doing the tracking my self any advices would be appreciated

Save your self greif and money get a deal when you have tyres fitted and let a pro do it as said unless you understand some what advanced mech work it will probably end up with tears ,Iknow some on here have done it with bits of wood and lengths of string, laser levels etc but the time and amount of peeing about to me is just not worth it mick [waiting for incoming ]

[Bob Tucker]

Just wait till you get an alignment quote for the MX5, Mick.

 

The toe, camber & caster are adjustable on the front, & toe & camber on the rear.

Anyway, my local Mazda dealer checked mine for £69....as they "were a bit quiet today"!

 

I agree, thats a bargain & couldnt be done with string & blocks of wood.

[Guest mower man]

Just wait till you get an alignment quote for the MX5, Mick.

 

The toe, camber & caster are adjustable on the front, & toe & camber on the rear.

Anyway, my local Mazda dealer checked mine for £69....as they "were a bit quiet today"!

 

I agree, thats a bargain & couldnt be done with string & blocks of wood.

Yes Bob I am fully aware of geo settings on the mx so had them done by Paul at Roddisons in Sheffield all 4 corners adjusted to his personal spec drives like a proper car ,they were normaly busy £60 ion and out in an hour with a nice apraisal of the car i.e. " you have robbed the bloke!" happy mick

[Bob Tucker]

I had mine done at my local Mazda dealer...they said the tracking was fine "within the set limits",

but it still wandered on motorways, making long journeys a real chore.

He did say the super cheap crappy tyres werent helping, so a full set of Toyo T1rs

later & it was better but still jittery at speed.

 

I just changed the front pads, & added "a smidge" actually half a flat, of toe-in

while I was under there.

It has transformed the car at speed....rock solid now.

 

Just wished I had taken it to a specialist, not a Mazda dealer.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Bob Tucker

[agent_zed]

well if you aren't sure then get a pro to do it but i looked at it this way the sierra rear beam is massively out anyway (far more than i would accidentally set it if it were adjustable).

 

When i did have it done they couldn't fit the alignment thingies over the front wheels as the arch was in the way so i had to undo the arches to get it on. Once on the mirrors were obstructed by the exhaust so couldnt do it properly anyway so they just set the fronts to parallel. It felt worse than before so i set it myself and i am far happier with it.

 

i would say this is probably a safer job than a lot of the things a lot of us have done. If i set my toe-in a bit far sure its gonna handle like crud but i'll know pretty soon and can sort it, if i haven't fitted the rear subframe correctly with the right bolts i might end up backwards in a hedge at some unsuspecting point.

 

be safe

[Guest mower man]

I had mine done at my local Mazda dealer...they said the tracking was fine "within the set limits",

but it still wandered on motorways, making long journeys a real chore.

He did say the super cheap crappy tyres werent helping, so a full set of Toyo T1rs

later & it was better but still jittery at speed.

 

I just changed the front pads, & added "a smidge" actually half a flat, of toe-in

while I was under there.

It has transformed the car at speed....rock solid now.

 

Just wished I had taken it to a specialist, not a Mazda dealer.

Not that I have experienced it but toyo's are becoming the thing you don't want in the wet,or that seems to be the buzz at present I went on to Kumhos on advise and they are brilliant compared with Maxxus fitted when purchased ,the above info was rife on the o.c forum but the advise came from Paul @Roddisons who as I said did the 4 corner setup mick

[Bob Tucker]

I run TOYO 888s on the hood in the summer. They are "exciting" in the wet, or the cold,

probably because they have very little tread pattern.

http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-r888-dot-competition-tire

 

The T1Rs are much more like a proper road tyre, with large grooves.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Toyo&tireModel=Proxes+T1R

 

The compound is definitely soft, so I will be taking it easy if I ever take it out in the wet.

[Guest 2b cruising]

Hi Bob.

What type of car have you got those on Bob.

[Al Milton]

For specialists though, it might be worth adding

DO NOT USE KWIK FIT

There are enough horror stories about them on here.

 

The only thing they are good for is putting their logo above the fireplace to keep the kids away from the fire

[Bob Tucker]

888s on a spare set of rims for the hood

T1Rs are on the........wait, I know this.....give me a minute.....

bugger, cant remember what car.....

Edited August 18, 2015 by Bob Tucker

[Guest 2b cruising]

Haha ha. LoL