Alignment Questions

[1987Chevy]

I tried searching but could not find what i was lookin for. I was wondering what the toe in should be for a set of 33" radial tires, a set of 35" radials, and a set of 36" bias ply tires. Any help would be nice.

 

[1987Chevy]

ttt

 

[screamer*145]

I dont think it matters how big the tire is, you want a 1/4"-1/2" diffrence from the front of the tire to the back measuring from the center of the tires, with the front of the tire to be the lesser of the two measurments. That way they will center the truck on the road oppsed to fighting each other to pull the truck left or right. If i am mistaken some one else will correct me.

 

[mike n]

1/16" to 1/8" toe in is fine.

 

[goldwing2000]

I could be wrong but I believe the spec is actually zero toe.

Tire size is irrelevant.

 

[ARAMP1]

My GM shop manual calls for 1/8"-1/4" toe in.

 

[1987Chevy]

thanks for all the info. What would be better an 1/8" or a 1/4"?

 

[mike n]

thanks for all the info. What would be better an 1/8" or a 1/4"?

I don't think you'd notice any difference handling wise between the two.

If you're using a tape measure to align the truck go for 1/8".

 

[1987Chevy]

I don't think you'd notice any difference handling wise between the two.

If you're using a tape measure to align the truck go for 1/8".

Thanks for your help.

 

[ARAMP1]

thanks for all the info. What would be better an 1/8" or a 1/4"?

If you can get it accurate within an eighth inch with just a tape measure, you're doing pretty good.

 

[tankie88]

toe in info

Hi all,after trying 2 differant blazer forums and getting no reply to a simple ??? i'll try here.Anybody know the toe in measurement for a 85 Blazer M1009???

 

[goldwing2000]

Hi all,after trying 2 differant blazer forums and getting no reply to a simple ??? i'll try here.Anybody know the toe in measurement for a 85 Blazer M1009???

Ummm... see all of the posts just before yours??

 

[4X4HIGH]

I dont think it matters how big the tire is, you want a 1/4"-1/2" diffrence from the front of the tire to the back measuring from the center of the tires, with the front of the tire to be the lesser of the two measurments. That way they will center the truck on the road oppsed to fighting each other to pull the truck left or right. If i am mistaken some one else will correct me.

Actually, size does matter.
If you set your toe in with a set of 33" tires then you swap to a set of 35" tires your toe in will have changed. Tire size doesn't matter as long as you are setting toe in with the tires you will be using.

 

[goldwing2000]

Actually, size does matter.
If you set your toe in with a set of 33" tires then you swap to a set of 35" tires your toe in will have changed. Tire size doesn't matter as long as you are setting toe in with the tires you will be using.

Actually, no... it doesn't if you align it properly.
It's about the angle of the wheels, not the actual measurement at the outer edge of the tire. That's why alignment shops mount the machine heads on the wheels, not the tires. "Toe in" is used on a rear-wheel-drive vehicle to compensate for the spread that occurs when the wheels are pushed towards the back of the vehicle due to forward motion. The amount of spread is determined by things like ball joints, tie rods and control arm bushings and is not affected by tire size.
Conversely, a front-wheel-drive vehicle is set with a little "toe out" because the wheels come closer together as the pull the vehicle forward, but that's irrelevant here.
If you set your toe with a tape measure at the tread, chances are it's going to be wrong and yes, you'll have to fiddle with it if you change tire sizes.

Since toe is the only alignment angle that's adjustable on a straight-axle truck (unless you put in adjustable ball joints), I'll gladly pay the local shop $20 to make sure mine is right.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Dude you better rethink how changing to a larger tire from a smaller tire without readjusting toe would affect your toe setting. Same goes for changing from a large tire to a small tire without readjusting toe.

 

[mike n]

Dude you better rethink how changing to a larger tire from a smaller tire without readjusting toe would affect your toe setting. Same goes for changing from a large tire to a small tire without readjusting toe.

An alignment machine doesn't know whether the truck has 31's or 44's on it, so what's the difference?

 

[4X4HIGH]

An alignment machine shoots a beam in front of the tire so it knows where the tire is at. It does't need to know the diameter only where the front of the tire is. The heads that attach to the wheels are how this is achieved.

 

[mike n]

Right, but the head is mounted to the rim and not the tire. Tire diameter has no effect on what the alignment machine sees, so setting toe with 31's would be the same as with 44's.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Go ahead and set your toe with an alignment machine with a set of 33's on the truck then put 44's on and the toe will have changed. Trust me, setting toe with one size tire then doing nothing but changing tire size does change your toe number.

 

[broc944]

From my experience the larger the tires, the more the tires want to spread away from each other at speed. Toe, caster settings, etc. from the manual are for stock tires. As I said this is from my experience and what I have done on my own truck.