Re: Scriocco speedometer etc...

[mannix@privateI.com (I.Mannix)]

<big hack>
>
  Camber is easy enough to set yourself with
>a guage but how do you set toe without going to a shop?  EC had a blurb in the
>letters section that said you could do it by taking time and measuring and
>calculating, how?

It is easy, just a bit tedious - you need a toe gauge (most excellent ascii
art to follow), ruler, and some way of marking the tires - I use a white
grease pencil.  Ok, toe gauge


|
|
|
|
|
|
|\________________________________________ /|______


OK, I've used a few homemade toe gauges - basically, a long bar, with 2
vertical arms, maybe 8" tall.  One vertical arm is laterally adjustable on
the bar, the right one in my rad picture.  The adustable one should be able
to be secured/immobilized.  So, do your camber first (note, I only know
A1s, I'd guess this would work on A2s, but this is a Scirocco list, so hey!
We're in........), as changing camber will change toe.   Then, put a dot
on the center of each front tire - I do my dot at roughly 9 o'clock on the
driver's side wheel, 3 o'clock on the passenger side wheel - I do the dot
on the front first, it is easier.  Putting the dot in the center of the
tire is good, although I have had success doing it other ways (measuring
outer egde to outer edge with a tape measure, not as accurate).  Take your
cool toe gauge, and adjust it so the vertical arms are aligned with the
dots - a cool gauge I borrowed once had nails in the vertical arms......


    ||-   <---nail, viewed from the side
    ||
    ||
    ||
    

so you could align the nails with the dot you made with the grease pencil,
you know, one of those soft markers?  Ok, so you then clamp down the
adjustable side of the gauge, and press the nail into the center of each
dot.  The nail will pick up some of the grease pencil, leaving you with a
"doughnut" of grease pencil on the tire - a dot of white, with a black
"hole" in the center.  Make sense?  OK, so roll the car backwards or jack
up both sides and spin the wheels 180 degrees, lower the car, settle the
suspension(bounce up and down on the bumper), and take your gauge to the
back of the tire.  Align one dot with the fixed side of the gauge, the
other adjustable but immobilized side of the gauge will be somewhere near
the other dot - the difference is your toe.  If the nails line up perfectly
with the dots, you have zero toe.  Toe in and out will be easy to see.
Now, here is where accuracy will be key - you can either measure from the
nail to the center of the hole, OR, measure the distance between the non
adjustable vertical arm and the adjustable arm, move the gauge to the rear
of the tire, and readjust it so the nails sit in the dots again, then
remeasure the distance.  The difference is toe.  I've seen cool ones where
the adjustable side also has a ruler of sorts on the horizontal beam, so
you can simply readjust the gauge, and get the reading right off the beam.
Either way.  It is not too complex, and probably as accurate as the user(s)
- a helper is really handy - but if you are looking for 1/8" of toe out,
you can get it spot on if you are careful.  While waiting to get on the
rack (Tire Source, Boulder CO, a *very* good tire/alignment shop), I
borrowed their homemade toe gauge, measured front and rear & negative
camber, then compared what I got with the computer.  I was *really* close,
tenths of a degree off in camber, pretty much perfect with toe.


A good way to measure camber, although crude, is to take a
level/straightedge, and sit it next to the tire -
          *
        |    |          |
        |   |          |
        |  |          |
___/| |_tire_|

The distance between the vertical part of the level/90 degree thingy(below
the asterisk) can be used to measure camber - 1/4" from the vertical part
to the top of a 14" wheel is *roughly* 1 degree - this is not so accurate
in terms of actual adjustment, but you can pretty easily get things
symmetrical doing it this way.  Once again, the user of the tools
determines the overall accuaracy, but you can come pretty close.  Companies
like Pegasus Racing and Racer Wholesale sell gauges that have levels in
them to measure camber, which of course are affected by the surface the car
is sitting on - if your garage floor is not perfectly level, your readings
will be off by a corresponding amount.  Doing a good alignment is not hard
with the proper tools and attention to detail.


 Also someone said 1/4" of toe out or something like that,
>toe is in degrees, isn't it?

Can be either.  I find it easier to measure toe in inches, camber in
degrees - it is not really possible to measure camber in inches.  Most
computerized alignment racks can convert readings between degrees and
inches (minutes too, I think).  Anyhow, hope this helps someone!

 I'm really sick of seeing my money go to someone
>to align my car

I'd be, too, if I did not have a good shop to do it for me.  I'm getting
sick of paying as frequently as I do, as I am often changing spring
rates/settings, but the Tire Source is really good - they don't whine if
you say "give me max neg. camber, 1/4" toe out."  They figure that if you
know to ask for it, you know what you're doing.   At first, they might ask
if you understand that the settings will accelerate tire wear, but beyond
that, they'll do what you ask.  Great shop, I'm lucky to have them around.


Mannix


--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email to scirocco-l-request@privateI.com,
with your request (subscribe, unsubscribe) in the BODY of the message.