Self adjustment of front toe
 

I recently had an alignment done on my car with front toe set at zero.

I've been doing some aeromods lately so i kept detailed records of coasting distances etc. but after that zero toe alignment car coasts noticeably worse than before.

I thought alignment machine was broken, so I DIY checked front toe with some sticks and tape measure but wheels are dead straight. It seems that original unknown amount of toe in was better for rolling resistance.
Literally nothing else changed, tire pressures are the same, temperature, brake drag, everything.

So I had an idea.

What would happen if I let car to "set" ideal toe by itself?
If I would loosen the tie rod end nuts and drive car like that for few days, wouldn't front wheels align themselves in position with least lateral thurst and therefore least rolling resistance?

Is that complete nonsense or is it worth a try?

NO

Don't loosen the tie rod ends !

They adjust by loosening and turning the sleeve found in the center of the rod.
It works like a turnbuckle, one way makes it longer, the other way makes it shorter.

Bad idea.

Consider, if you have toe in, the forces will tend to drive the tires more inward - and if you have toe out, the forces will drive it towards more toe out.

The result you are looking for is when the vehicle is rolling - and there are forces generated while it is rolling that aren't there when the vehicle is sitting still. That's why there is a target value for toe that isn't zero.

I really dont want to answer this question but will try to steer you straight.
First dont adjust anything untill you know what to adjust and to what degree.
Start by inspecting the front end, brakes, wheel bearings, and steering links for faults and extreme wear. If a reputable mechanic from a shop set your allignment to straight it may just be that one of those worn items now has sloppy movement allowing it to malfunction.
You may also be best served by asking the mechanic to turn back the adjustments if the work was recent.
The best and only home approved method to check toe camber etc is to get 4 pieces of steel or other hard substance 6-8 foot long, and apply a very light coat of grease to one side of all 4.
Sandwhich them together grease sides together place infront of front wheels and roll car slowly onto them with wheels straight.if the metal scissors out before or after tire chances are good toe is not straight.
This process can also be done with paint but results are never precise with that one.
For the safety of other motorists dont drive with anything loosened up on the car.
I really doubt that you would loose mpg from straight allignment but you may have drag issues from any number of things as a result to the changes made.

With a front wheel drive car...usually the toe is set OUT some to compensate for the front drive wheels tendency to move to a toe IN position when power is applied relative to when your car is sitting still. Rear wheel drive cars act opposite.

I set my own toe and camber front and back using string and a camber (degree) gauge.

My experience is that your front toe setting is easily lost due to potholes and so forth...with most vehicles out of toe alignment within 3 to 6 months driving.

I just set my toe (front wheel drive) to zero...cause it is easier...and due to the fact that alignment is always getting worse over time.

The "string" method is posted somewhere on this site.

If you've seen a noticable loss in mpg...the guy got it WRONG.

NO

I can see how with certain, trailing/dragging elements this would have some merit, but your front wheels are everything: steering, power, braking. You don't want to go anywhere with any of the control elements loose. You could lose control, have an accident (worse, cause an accident), die.

Find a different shop and have the toe reset to factory specifications.