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setting steering
jabbahutt - 4/9/08 at 07:21 AM

Morning all

Quick question, last night I attached one of these laser level jobbies to a spirt level with an idea of making sure the front wheels are straight before sorting out the steering etc.

I measured how far out from the wheel the laser light was then replicated this distance onto a piece of wood that was then secured to the rear wheel vertically and checked with another spirit level.

I expected that if I placed the laser mid way up the wheel and if the wheel was pointed straight the laser would of hit the line on the wood.

I know the has about 1/2 degree negative camber so I would expect the laser to be inside the line at the top and outside the line at the bottom. However the laser didn't strike the line until it was well past the halfway mark of the wheel travelling upwards which suggests to me that the hub pivots around a point higher than the centre of the wheel

So does the Sierra hub not pivot around the centre of the wheel? If the front wheel has negative camber will the centre of the front wheel not be in line with the centre of the rear when viewed from above?

Are the above ramblings aiming roughly in the right direction or am I caompletely off target?

any assistance much appreciated.

Cheers
Nigel


coozer - 4/9/08 at 07:24 AM

Problem may be that the track is different front to back... I know my rear track is wider than the front. be aware.


jabbahutt - 4/9/08 at 07:30 AM

Thanks for that, so taking that into account would I be correct that if I move the level from top to bottom or vice versa, if the front wheel is pointing straight at some point the laser will hit the line?

As by my thinking if it was either toed in or out it should stay either to the left or the right of my reference mark?

Thanks for the help
Nigel


niceperson709 - 4/9/08 at 08:57 AM

The simple thing to do to check wheel alignment requires two straight pieces or wood or steel and four house bricks set up the straight edges so the are touching the outside edge of the tyres while they have a house brick under each end and then measure between them close to where the front of the tyres and then say a metre further forward if both measurements are the same you have zero toe in and you can do the math (which eludes me so I guestemated it) as for camber if you can park the car on a truly level floor you can use a spirit level to see how close to vertical they are but as the book says near enough is probably OK I experimented and I think that I am pretty close to the mark but really fine adjustments are impossible anyway so don't sweat it that much if it looks right it is very likely OK.
Cheers