Author Topic: front end alignment  (Read 1255 times)

airshot

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front end alignment
« on: January 22, 2016, 12:57:53 AM »
   After reading many posts on front end alignment problems I decided to check mine out.....yep sure enough...serious toe in, one side much more than the other.  I have had this same scenario on my ATV's and have created an easy way to align your front wheels. I use an 8' long pc of sq aluminum tubing but a really good straight piece of plywood or 2x4 works well also. You need to find something that will put your straight edge about in the center (elevation) of the tires and extend it to span the front and rear tires. Push your straight edge up to the rear tire while it extends just pass the front tire and check the parallism of the front tire to your straight edge. Adjust the tie rod end until your front tire is just a small amount further in the front of the tire than the rear of the front tire.  This should give you about an 1/8" toe in, or mabey a tiny bit less. then do the same thing to the other side then recheck both sides, some minor tweaking will be needed as one side adjustment may affect the opposite side. Once completed you should have less tha a quarter inch toe in, meaning that the front span of the front tires is a little closer than the rear span of the front tires. You need a small amount of toe in as the pressure on the tires from moving forward will cause them to spread out slightly. I had some serious understeer on mine but the new alignmenrt cured that. Not only that but the front tires now are aligned to the rear tires and steering is much more responsive. On my ATV's it also helped with tire life. I live out in the country where limited driving on the road side is permissible and as most of you already know, the paved roads do eat up the knobby tires much quicker, but this alignment will help slow down that wear. Interested to hear any other tidbits of info from other readers that has helped their side x side experience.

jdub0813

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Re: front end alignment
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2017, 04:59:04 PM »
Thank you for this, I found it!  Now I just need to find something 8 feet across and straight... which something just came to mind.  Thank you look forward to seeing if this was my problem for the pulling and uneven tire wear.

randyo

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Re: front end alignment
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2017, 09:01:43 PM »
this Swanson Tool Straight Edge is 100" long (2 50" sections ) and be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot for $20
http://www.swansontoolco.com/product/100-cutting-guide/
RandyO
IBA#9560

airshot

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Re: front end alignment
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2017, 12:59:00 AM »
    Anything will work as long as it is straight !  I have a piece of plywood (3/4" thick) about 7-8" wide that works well, being plywood and stored in a dry area and laid flat it continues to stay straight.  I just use the jack stands that I use for working on my car/truck to hold the plywood strip. Get my granddaughter to push it against the rear tire while I adjust the toe in/out on each side. Of course we have to take a trip to the ice cream shop after to pay for her services......

kickstart

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Re: front end alignment
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2017, 08:59:00 PM »
An old 8' florescent bulb works also.

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