D.I.Y. One Man Home Built Toe Gauge:

Here is a quick, cheap and simple way to set the toe on your Hot Rod, muscle car, race car or daily driver. I have used this method for years on sprint cars, modifieds, drag race cars and all of my own street driven cars and hot rods. I have even checked the toe with a buddy who has an alignment rack, and it is a very accurate way of setting toe. Plus you don't need a helper to do it.

I build a simple gauge out of steel with two uprights welded 90 degrees to the base. The gauge should be 3-4" wider than the outside track width of the vehicle you will be using it on. I built this one using 1 1/2" wide x 3/8" thick steel strap for the base, and 1" square tubing uprights. The base should be wide enough so that it won't fall over:





You want the uprights at exactly 90 degrees to the base:



With the car on a relatively flat floor, you use the gauge by placing it if front of the front tires with one upright touching the tire sidewall as close to the tread of the tire as you can get it:


With one upright touching the sidewall, you go to the other side of the tire and move the upright exactly in line with the opposite side. You may want to go back to the first side to make sure the gauge upright is touching the sidewall exactly where you want it:



You then measure from the same spot on the sidewall that the gauge is touching on the other side to the upright on the side that you are on. Whatever measurement you get, be sure to write it down:



You then remove the gauge, and slide it under the vehicle so that it is in back of the front tires and repeat the steps as before:



Whatever measurement you get, compare it to the first measurement to determine whether you have toe in or toe out, and adjust as needed. You will need to move the gauge back and forth a few times to get the measurement perfect, but it gets easier every time you use it.

 

Looks good.Thanks for posting.

 

Smart!

 

Good idea. Is that a Falcon with futura tires?

 

Ranchero with Futura tires.

 

Very smart

 

Bump for the day crew.

 

Cool! I need to make me something like that.

What I've done in the past - which has worked really well for me - is I have some 3 ft. long pieces of perfectly straight aluminum angle with string attached on one end exactly on the edge. I bungie these to the REAR tires, both sides, with the string in back, and then run the string up the length of the car to the front. The front end of the string I then tape to some full coolant jugs. I then line up the string (by moving the coolant jugs) so that the string runs exactly down the edge of the aluminum, up the length of the car, and is good and taut. This gives me parallel strings running from back to front on both sides, which are based on rear tire position. Then I use a tape measure to measure fore and aft on the front tires on both sides to determine my toe-in amount.

This not only shows my toe, but it also shows me my overall tracking - how straight my back tires are to the fronts, as well as straightness to the body itself.

I could see using something like what's shown here as a subsequent check to "fine tune" the toe accuracy after verifying back to front tracking. Thanks for posting!

~Bob

 

That should work ok if your wheels and tires don't have any runout but I'd want to make sure that they were true first.

 

sweeeet!

 

To get an accurate reading, you need to drive forward onto toe plates or two sandwiched pieces of sheet metal with grease between them. This will allow the suspension to release..

 

I back the car up and re-check the toe, and it is always where I left it. Turn plates are something I don't carry to the race track with me when I race my Legends car, and this gauge always works great in the heat of the battle, as well as being very accurate for a street car.

 

how much wider should the rear be for prpoer toe?

 

This one is home made too. It is a ground rod with two pieces of flathead starters and some s****s welded together. One end has a wingnut for easy adjustment and it only needs one person. the pointers allow very precise alignment. I point it to a groove in the tread

 

One of the ways circle track guys have checked and set toe for ages. The simple solutions are always best and I've heard that hot rodders are simple people.

Frank

 

I used your idea and checked toe Then rotated tires 90 degrees and repeated at 180 and 270 and this showed the runout of my slightly bent front wheel.