First time I've seen a change in toe quantified, Car and Driver 1st gen Insight test.

[AeroModder]

I recently redid the bushings, and everything is nice and tight now. Used Moog poly bushings in the control arm/sway bar areas.

[micondie]

A further thought: When you get your toe set to 0 have the alignment tech set your caster to the high side of factory specs. This will reduce the tendency to wander.

[CapriRacer]

Another thought: If the target value was a bit of toe in and the toe has been set at Zero, then you might be getting toe out under power. That will make the car "wandery". Like it is hunting for direction, even though the general direction is forward.

[micondie]

A front wheel drive car will try to toe in under power because the wheels are pulling forward and the steering pivot is inboard of the center-line of the tire. A rear wheel drive car will do the opposite since the front wheels are being pushed back by the contact with the road.

[Tygen1]

Yep, the actual toe is not "Zero" it is something like -.02 (If I remember correctly) The toe is effectively zero for the reasons you stated

[suspectnumber961]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

FYI I studied (and passed) a course in suspension, steering and braking last year, so this is a subject I'm very familiar with. I haven't needed to go to an alignment shop for about 2 years now; using a tape measure and basic hand tools I can get an alignment that is within 1% of spec of what a good shop would do. Anyone with the willingness to learn the ropes and patience to do a good job can align their own vehicle; consider it shade tree mechanics 201.

I'd have to doubt the tape measure idea. I've worked out several methods to set the toe on various vehicles and the one's that work fairly well involve using a $12 laser to translate the distance to where it can be measured.

2 problems with using a tape measure...with most vehicles the suspension is in the way...and since you are dealing with usually around 1/16th of an inch...you need to very accurate.

On the other hand on an offroad trip last year I hit a "bump" in the road (probably put there by some runt on an ATV?) and went airborn...and decided I needed a toe adjustment...but with this 4WD truck all I needed to do was to tie a string around the tires at the axle level and set the toe to -1/8th" . Set it at -1/8th" because it has deep dish wheels on it. I could do this because it was a 4WD and because the front and rear track are almost exactly the same.

[Frank Lee]

The tape measure method works fine in qualified hands. I've done tape measure alignments dozens of times over the years and oftentimes will eventually bring the vehicle in for a free alignment check to see how I did. Results? Right on the nuts, every time. It ain't rocket surgery.

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

Rocket surgery?
Thats an occupation I've never heard of before.

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

Had the alignment done in my wife's car ('05 Malibu) as a pothole messed up the left front and back.

Found a little problem with the claimed 8.54% increase in mpg.
The problem being that they set the front toe to 1/8 of an inch which translated to 0.125in. The standard specs for my wife's car are 0.06in front and 0.03in back, which is only 1/16 of an inch in the front and 1/32 of an inch in the back.

Them setting 1/8 of an inch toe on each tire on the gen 1 insight would have had it way out of spec.
My guess is that had I set my wifes at 0.00in at the rear and 0.02in at the front the most I would have seen is an mpg increase of around 2%.

If anyone has proof otherwise I would love to hear it.

[zonker]

a couple years ago i bought this little goodie and it's paid for itself in spades.

Longacre Toe Plates

it's not hard to adjust it if you can read a tape measure and have good vision to sightline the front vs rear wheels.

for camber adjustments, i try to set at zero for the same reason - flat contact patch on a straight line. to do this, i use a carpenter's level against the side of the tire.