Checking

NOTE: Adjustment of the camber, if applicable, must always be carried out before adjusting the toe-in. Since the rear wheels also have an adjustable toe-in, the front wheel toe-in must be adjusted in relation to the thrust axis of the car in order to achieve maximum stability and minimize tire wear. All measurements must be carried out with the car unladen. Measurement is unaffected by the level in the fuel tank. Check tire pressures all round.





1. Jack up front end of car: Place hoist under control arms as close as possible to ball joints.
2. Check for play in:
- steering gear or tie rod (track rod) ball joints.
- wheel bearings.
- spring strut upper mountings.
- control arm ball joints and bushings.

NOTE: If play is present in any of above, corrective action must first be taken.





3. Set up measuring equipment:
a. Set up and calibrate equipment as per equipment instructions.
b. Place turntables under front wheels. Use turntables which take up lateral movement.

NOTE: Car must be parked horizontally when front wheels are on turntables, to ensure that correct camber and caster values are measured.

c. Bounce front end vigorously up and down a few times or turntables to ensure that suspension returns to normal position.





4. Checking camber.
a. Measure camber on each side. Correct value: 0° ± 1.0°. Value may differ by a maximum of 1.0° between left and right wheels.
b. If value is outside permissible limit, proceed as described in adjustment.





5. Checking caster: Measure caster on each side. Correct value: 3.35° ± 1.0°. Value may differ by a maximum of 1.0° between left and right sides.





6. Checking toe-in:
a. Ensure that the instruments are adjusted relative to each other at the front and rear. This is extremely important to ensure that the front wheel toe-in measured relative to the thrust axis of car. The thrust axis is defined as the line bisecting the angle between the two rear wheels.

NOTE: The angle between the longitudinal axis of symmetry and the thrust axis is known as the thrust angle. This angle must not deviate from the axis of symmetry by more than 15'.

A. Axis of symmetry of wheels.
B. Thrust axis.
C. Thrust angle.

NOTE: The deviations in the adjoining figure are highly exaggerated for illustration purposes.





b. Correct value: 20' ± 6' (0.3° ± 0.1°) measured across both wheels.
c. Measure toe-in at hub level, either as an angle or as the difference in mm between points A-a (tread), B-b (inner shoulder) or C-c (edge of rim) at the rear and front respectively of the wheel. Example: Measurement at A should be 3.6 ± 1 mm (0.14 ± 0.04 inch) greater than at a.