Advice on messing with toe in

[Johnny Riviera]

I was thinking about decreasing toe in a bit for quicker turn in on autocross.

 

I am aware of the downsides, my question is: Is there a rule of thumb for turning the tie rod sleeve, like "1/4 turn equals X amount of change"?

 

I will mark things well so I can put it back if I don't like it.

[ray_]

How about using this method and checking and measuring adding toe?

 

Cheers,

['76mintgrün'02]

Or use this method with two sticks of wood, two innertube rubber bands and two little S hooks bent out of wire.

 

 

 

 

 

I attached the tapes to mine, but you can simply hang the sticks and hook the tape on them to measure.

 

 

 

Tom

Edited November 4, 2020 by '76mintgrün'02
Glitchy glitchy. Words disappearing when posting and photos jumbling out of sequence.

[Johnny Riviera]

Thanks for the method!

[ray_]

Yikes I could have sworn I copied this link in

 

 

 

[conkitchen]

15 hours ago, ray_ said:

Yikes I could have sworn I copied this link in

 

 

 

who knew "String Theory" would apply to BMW's? 

[AustrianVespaGuy]

Honestly I find toe easiest to get really close just by eye- sighting along the tire walls and see where the line lands at the rear wheels, and then use the sticks/similar for the final fine tuning.  I'm usually within 1/32" by eye, and to your original question I want to say that final 32nd tends to be about 1/4 of a turn of the tie rod.

[JerryC]

+1

The eyeball method works amazingly well to set the front wheels parallel to the rear wheels. Like AVG says, sight along the outer sidewalls until left and right are misaligned to the rear the same amount (lock the steering wheel horizontal while moving the tie rod ends).

On my car, I replaced the steering box and made certain it was centered before mounting the steering wheel on the steering shaft in its final position. It's easy to be off one spline and not notice it.

[Johnny Riviera]

Thanks for all the great responses. I just had the car aligned after I did some front end work. It feels a little lazier on turn in than it did, and I’m not sure if maybe the toe was a little more aggressive with the old alignment. Didn’t measure before disassembly. 

 

Just want to play around a little