85 FB

Okay, I am heavily strapped for cash so getting an alignment is out of the question (can't afford $70-$80 for one), so I'm wondering on what I can turn to make the car stop pulling (gently) to the right. Air pressure in all the tires is at the right amount. I'm just guessing that it's the center stud for the tie rods that needs to be adjusted. Is this correct?

Basically, what under the car can I fuss with to relieve the pulling effect? I'm thinking it's the tie rods.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

There is a sting method that I believe there has been a thread on before. Do a search using the term "Alignment."

Also have you tried swapping tires from front to rear to see if it is a tire problem. The rule of thumb on excessive pulling is to put 2 fingers on the steering wheel, if those 2 fingers cannot keep the wheel straight( on a flat level road with no camber to it) than you have a problem. This either being alignment,tires, or possibly a dragging caliper.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=alignment

85 FB

Can't swap tires because the previous owner of this car got smaller tires on the front. 9_9

I checked the link, but really found it a bit tedious. Honestly, I was just expecting a simple "turn the nut found on the tie rod center stud away from the wheel" or vice versa. I'll be truthful, I'm busy and tired and don't have the time right now to read up on all those links in that thread. Maybe later.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Swap the tires from right to left and see if the pull goes with it.

85 FB

Actually, I had a tech under my car and had him look at the steering components, he said it was possibly due to the worn tie rods. I'm just looking for a temporary fix.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Here I found it. This is what I use for my highway driving. If you are fussy about it you can actually do a better job than the alignment shops, who never really get everything perfect:

You can adjust your tow in very accurately by tying a long string to your front tow hook then stretching it around to the back of the car so that the string lines up with the center of your wheels. Make sure the car is on a good flat and level surface and the steering wheel is centered straignt ahead.

Then wrap the string around the back of the car and bring it up on the other side, again centering it on the wheels, then tie it to your other front tow hook. Stretch it tight and it will make a perfect line from your rear wheels to the front wheels. The outer lip of your tires should just touch the string on both the front and back side of the wheel, if not you are out of alignment.

With the car on the ground and the tie rod adjusting nuts loosened, it is easy to reach up under there with a small pipe wrench and turn the tie rod until you get perfect alignment with the string. Then give it just a slight toe in by moving the back side of each front tire out about 1/16th of an inch.

The alignment can then be given a final check at highway speed on a straight level highway to be sure it's just right, but I find the highway and the string in agreement everytime. This method is more sensitive and accurate than using a toe in adjusting rod to measure across the front and back of the wheels because you don't have to rely on a somewhat fuzzy mark on your wheels to make the toe in measurement.

Of course is is low tech so it won't appeal to some.

Ray

85rotarypower

ITs really not too hard to do a home alignment. You need:

-2 long pieces of string
-4 jackstands
-4 plumbobs or large nuts
-Large framers square
-Permanent marker or white paint marker
-mesuring tape
-highly accurate ruler (machinists ruler, down to at least 1/16")
-knowledge of trigonometry

First you need to use the measuring tape to figure out the exact center of the car at the front and the back. Mark this spot with the marker. Next, set up your jack stands in front and behind the marks, front and rear respectively on both sides. Tie a plumbob or large nut on each end of the strings and put the strings on the center of the jack stand. Make sure the string is taught between the jackstands. Next measure out from your center marks to the string and move the jackstands so the string is exactly the same distance from center at the front and rear. You want the string to be reasonably close to the wheels but not too close.

Now your ready to start aligning the front end. Measure from the string to the rim of the WHEEL (not the tire) at the front and back. If the measurement is more in the front than the rear, you have toe in. Reverse that for toe out. This is where you need to know trigonometry. Using basic trig calculations, you should be able to figure out how much toe in or toe out you have, and figure the measurements you need for your desired toe in. Loosen the jamb nuts on the tie rod adjusters and turn the adjuster rod to adjust the toe. You want this the same on both sides of the car.

Now for camber (if your car has adjustable camber). Make sure your garage floor is reasonably flat where your car is sitting, to about 2 feet out from your wheels. take the square and place it next to the wheel, out about half an inch from the lower lip. You want to essentially check for squareness of the wheel up and down to your shop floor. Measure the distance to the square at the top and bottom of the wheel rim (again, not the tire). Using your well honed trig skills, you can calculate your camber amount. Ideal is probably about .5 to 1 degree of negative camber for regular street driving. As for toe, you want about 1 degree of toe in for regular driving I believe.

There you go, hope this helps. Its a time consuming process, but if your meticulous about your work you can end up with a result much more accurate than an alignment shop can do. You may also consider making your center marks on the front and rear of the car permanent by say putting a bolt in there or something.

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

String works fine, only problem is the above post using the tires doesn't take into account the track is different front and rear. You need to take that into account and add the difference to the narrow end(or subtract from the wide end).

Working from the centerline is best.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Oh yeh, forgot to mention the string method doesn't require math, measurements, plumbbobs or knowledge of geometry, you just line up the tires so they are touching the strings, pointing straight ahead. You can't adjust camber on a 7, so if the camber's off you might want to look for another nicer 7. (I love shopping for 7's).

Takes about 20 minutes, most of that jacking up the car and getting the tie rod nuts loose. But you need to be fussy, as Mr. 85 points out. I usually do it, drive it, then check it again if it's not just right.

Good luck!

Ray

Rotospeed

iTrader: (8)

ues the jackstands and string like 85 sed and set your toe in at 1/16"-1/8"
just measure your tierods and make shure that they are both the same.

85rotarypower

The rear is completely non-adjustable and the front only has adjustable toe. Stock there is not camber or caster adjustment. The string method I mentioned does take a bit to set up, but IMO it would be more reliable. Wraping a string around the car is not going to have the same results on every 1st gen, whereas measuring from a centerpoint on the car to set the string will be more accurate.

85 FB

Well, I don't have the time nor the funds to acquire even half that stuff that was previously listed. All I have is a hydraulic jack, that's it. I might be able to find string somewhere around here. Otherwise, I'll just stick with saving up money for an alignment and having the shop do it.

Who would've thought that what I figured would be a simple adjustment turned into something much more than that?

85rotarypower

The thing is its not a simple adjustment. You have to determine first why its pulling to one side, which requires measuring your toe in on both sides. Your best bet is to have it done professionally if you don't have the time to do it. Its really not that expensive though to get the stuff required. Figure on about $30 for a cheap set of jack stands, a few large nuts is mabey $2, string is cheap, and I'm sure you already have a measuring tape. The last thing is a machinists ruler, thats a few more bucks, probably $15 for a good one. No offence, but if you can't afford that then you shouldn't own a 1st gen. They are money pits, and if you haven't seen it yet, you will eventually.

85 FB

I've owned the 7 since May of '05. I've stuck plenty of nice things into it, had it repaired and worked on, and had the money. Why don't I have the money now? Try being unemployed since the beginning of January and finally found a job. While I've not taken full offense to what you said, I'd appreciate it if your tone wasn't so condescending.

Don't automatically assume what I should and shouldn't own. I've put plenty of money into this thing, without a pinch in my wallet, and it has treated me well. Excuse me for talking about the cost of something simple because I hit a small rut temporarily in my life. I asked for help, not a lecture.

guitar_blues

you can use a tape measure for a temp fix just measure from the center line of your treads front and rear of the tire and make sure its the same distanse as well as the string to make sure they arent both pointed out in space :P

speedturn

iTrader: (1)

My 1st gen race car has not been at an alignment shop in over 12 years; I have been doing it at home with a few simple tools by myself.

It is important that your wheels be straight and not bent.

85 FB

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for this weekend.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Folks are just trying to help 85 FB, it just sounds like lectures. Now if you had lots of money, you could take it to a shop, or if you wanted to do it yourself you could start investing in a good set of tools that will do this job and lots of others for you.

But you've asked for a cheap and easy solution, so let me remind you that the toe in adjustment that I outlined earlier in this post is in fact very cheap and easy.

Tools: Jack, open end wrench (19 mm, I think it is) and a vise grip or small monkey wrench. Each of these things are tools worth having anyway.

Costs: 1 string.

Time: You need to jack the car up and loosen the inner and outer tie rod end locking nuts. If you have the right tools (ie wrenches) this is a pretty easy process. Then put the car down on a flat level surface and stretch the string around the car so that it touches the outside edge of both the front and back tires on both their leading and trailing edges. Then set your steering wheel so it is pointed straight ahead.

If the string doesn't touch the leading and trailing edges of both front tires, you need to adjust the toe in.

Adjust the tie rods by turning them with a vice grip or small monkey wrench until they do line up. (Turning the tie rod makes them longer, to increase toe in, or shorter, to increase toe out.

Once you get them adjusted so the steering wheel is pointed straight ahead and the string is just touching at both the front and rear edges of the front tires, you can add just a bit of toe in, about 1/16-1/8 inch on each side.

It should take you an hour or two. A shop will do the toe in for $15-20 and a full alignment check (chamber, castor, toe in) for about $50-60. They will only adjust front toe in, but at least you will know from the full check if your system has any problems that might be contributing to the alignment problem and can't be fixed by the toe in adjustment.

Good luck!

Ray

ptuttle

Hello,
I know this has been covered but I am having trouble doing the string / fishing line method for the toe-in.
As soon as I tie the string to the front toe hooks, it touches both leading and trailing edges of the front tires. I can adjust the tie rods all over the place and both leading and trailing edges always touch the string. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but what ??

Also would like to confirm that the little arrow on each side on the top of strut mount points inside toward the windshield and this gives me max camber and caster.

thanks

Stevan

iTrader: (17)

It's what jgrewe mentioned, the rear track is narrower (wheels are closer together). You need to put spacers on the rear tires, or wheels to make it the same or wider than the front(I made it wider so the string would not touch the front tires) . I used pieces of plastic with double sided tape stuck on the front and back of the rear wheels. I ran the string in a u shape around the back wheels, and tied to 2 jack stands in front.

ptuttle

Ok, thanks, now this is making a little more sense to me. I'll give that a try.

mortiky

you can't adj. toe with the car jacked up and the suspension sagging it will have to be on the ground with the weight on it, otherwise you won't be adjusting the wheels to the spec. that they will be at when the car is on the ground. and also like tom said it is very important that you have very straight wheels otherwise you will be aligning to the bends in them. this is why i recommend that it be done in a shop by a trained professional. i know.... this is what i do for a living. although, while it can be done, technology has just come to far and most shop will do what is called a "thrust angle" or "4 wheel alignment" with modern equipment. which is where the front is aligned to the rear thrust angle, which is far more accurate and just much better. and most shops that are equipped should be fairly reasonable on price and offer some kind of warranty.

mortiky

also toe isn't a pulling angle. it does however, cause an off center steering wheel and this can be a complained as a pulling condition. camber and caster are your pulling angles. camber and toe are your wearing angles. caster doesn't wear tires directly and toe doesn't cause a pull, the vehicle will split the toe while moving. but even if you have everything perfect in the front end, any significant thrust angle in the rear can still cause a drift or pull.

ptuttle

Thanks very much for the explaination.