P1000 Aligning Front tires, what's the best way to do it.

[100Acre]

When Crunchy got crunched, we had to turn there tie rod. Not that the break has been welded both tires seem to be out of alignment. Which way do I turn the tie rods and what's the best way to align the tires? Also, should they point slightly in, out or be absolutely straight? Thanks

 

[Admin]

 

[Neohio]

Pointed straight or slightly in.

 

[DDDonkey]

Most recommend toe in 1/8" total. There are many ways to to align the buggy, some use the string method, I have used toe plates, and most recently I used some scrap angle, bolted to the hub and measured that way.

 

[Adam490]

When Crunchy got crunched, we had to turn there tie rod. Not that the break has been welded both tires seem to be out of alignment. Which way do I turn the tie rods and what's the best way to align the tires? Also, should they point slightly in, out or be absolutely straight? Thanks

Tightening the tie-rod will cause the front of the wheel to toe out (front pointed outward), loosening the tie-rod causes toe-in (front pointed inward). You're basically "pushing" or "pulling" on the steering knuckle by tightening/loosening the tie-rod. If you were driving a race car (and didn't care about tire wear) you'd want a little bit of toe out to help with initial turn-in/steering through corners. The opposite is true for toe-in, you sacrifice some initial corner entry/turn-in for stability. You're driving a farm buggy through the woods and you don't want super snappy steering, so straight or slight toe-in is what you're after.

 

[Adam490]

We only adjusted your passenger side tie-rod, so you should be able to get it pretty close by setting your steering wheel straight and then adjusting that side so that it's close.

 

[t-bear]

Yep I used the string method from advice here. Super easy and was able to correct a toe out issue of over 1/8"! It had chewed up my front driver inside tread something good.

All looks great now!

ADVICE - use a paint pen to mark the tie rod nut-to-rod after you adjust the nut. This way you can visibly check if your tie rod nut/rod has loosened.

 

[GlockMeister]

I use 2 4ft levels bungee strapped to the wheels. Has always worked good for me

 

[Tramguage1]

I use 2 4ft levels bungee strapped to the wheels. Has always worked good for me

Great idea!

 

[GlockMeister]

Great idea!

I think it was you that i saw doing it that way lol.