Rear wheel stance?

[casaleenie]

Not sure how to describe this problem but here goes...

The rear wheels on my FIA seem to be at a more extreme angle then before. Toe out? not sure what the term is...
It's probably the same as it's always been but several people have commented on it...

What's the fix for this... Should it be done professionally or can I wind up the springs and shocks to correct this?

Advise and advice....

AL
2899386

[dmiller]

there are shims that can be placed or removed between the brake flange and the half shaft flange. removing shims causes the wheels to "toe in" where the top of the tire is more near the centerline of the car than the bottom of the tire. installing shims causes "toe out".

my car has a ~ 2 degree toe in. i got some shims from a jag repair shop. i haven't done the job yet. mostly because i'm not able to lift the car high enough to work comfortably. my first attempt put me in a very bad bind and i gave up with a plan to devise a better way to work under the car.

i've been advised that negative toe in is ok for handling, only downside is tire wear. i noticed some other commercially built independent rear suspension cars recently, and several have noticable negative toe in. the most noticable was the BMW Z3.

i think this is going to be a winter project when it is too cold or wet to drive. now, i don't want to waste the good weather.

doug

[Poorboy]

Doug,
Toe is the mesurement between the wheels on a horizonal plane taken on the center line. Toe-in is when the front of the tires are closer together than the rear.
Camber is the number of degrees off true vertical when viewed front to rear. Tilted in at top is negative camber.

[Nneits]

Toe in refers to the way the tires point front to rear. It's like a person being pigeon-toed.. If the fronts of your tires point toward the center of the chassis, you are toed-in. If they point out, you're toed-out. Toe is measured in fractions of an inch. I'm sure the Weavers can provide the correct specs, or a shop can just look up the Jag settings. A reasonable baseline would be about an eight of an inch of toe-in. You can usually use the center tread of the tire and a good straight edge for this.

It sounds like you're describing camber, which is the tilt of the wheel from top to bottom (also mesured in degrees). Camber is probably adjusted by shims, although it could be adjusted by heim joints on the control arms. To tell the truth, I haven't even looked under there on my car yet. :-) hey, it's only been a week. You can probably adjust this yourself, but any changes would have to be done equally to the front and rear of the control arms so that you don't inadvertently change that toe setting we talked about earlier. We used to adjust camber on SCCA cars with a level, although we had a trued floor and used flat aluminum plates instead of the edges of the tires. I wouldn't hesitate to use a good level against the side of the tires for a street car. Make sure the car is settled on the suspension before making any adjustments.

The third dimension in alignment is caster, which is the front to rear tilt of the spindle (or upright, in the case of rear suspension). Caster is measured in degrees. Caster is what causes the car to go straight (or not). Rember your first bike, how the front fork was leaned toward the back at the top? That's caster. If the top is leaned back, the bike (or the car) will tend to go straight. If it's more straight up, the car might handle more nimbly in a turn, but it could wander on a straightaway. An extreme example of caster is a chopper bike, which is designed for straight-line highways. It's bee so long since I apid any atention to this, that I'm not sure what to recommend as a baseline spec. A couple of degrees maybe?

Hope that helps...

Ron

Old enough to know better, young enough to enjoy it!

[rdorman]

Yep, camber is the top of the tire tilting in or out, adjustable by shims where the half shaft meets the brake rotor. Toe is the front of the tire pointing in or out in relationship to the vehicle center line and is adjustable with shims where the lower control arm is mounted inboard. Some where in here is the alignment specs, do a search. Toe out in the rear is a bad, bad thing. Camber is usually less than zero, less than the front and radials love it! Disconnect the trailing links during the alignment. Re-attach after at ride height so there is no preload. Resist the temptation to attempt to adjust toe using the trailing links, all you are doing by this is taking up complience in the lower control arm bearing/bushings. Don't forget to set the ride height first. Be prepared to drop a bunch of cash on the alignment. The jag rear is not like aligning a Neon.......... the jag takes effort.
Rick

[casaleenie]

I appreciate the input...

It'll be done PROFESSIONALLY!!!!!

AL
2899386

[dmiller]

yes, i think i knew that, but had a senior moment again, they are happening with alarming frequency.
thanks for the polite correction.

doug

[rdorman]

No problem Doug. I think I had a senior moment but I forgot. What was it I was going to say........................

Rick (I looked to be sure)

[spd4me]

Al
I did that once on an older cobra I had and it wasn't to bad of a job. You really need an impact wrench to get the nuts off and on. I couldn't get enough leverage with a rachet. I also had to get some metal self locking nuts (Nylock)low profile. They say not to use nylon self locking because of heat generated from disk. You may be able to reuse the ones you take off. Your suppose to be able to reuse 2-3 times. Be sure to use some lock-tight. A place called Concours West Industries (C.W.I.) sells them if there still in busines 360-274-3373.