Can I Check My Tracking @ Home?

[YellowSeven]

Is there anyway you can check the tracking of your car at home?

All I want to check is that my car isnt a country mile out!!

 

Also would I be right in assuming that lowering the front ride height (adjustable platforms) would alter the tracking settings?

 

Cheers

 

[Tonycaterham]

Yes you can check/set it up at home and yes lowering/raising the car will affect the tracking.

 

Here is how I did mine.

 

Jack front of car up and then put masking tape round the full circumference of the tyre prefereably in the centre only need about an inch wide. Next get a straight bar that is long enough to stretch between the two wheels and then carefully hold a marker pen against the tape using the bar for support and then turn the wheel one full turn so you have a straight line round the tyre (make sure both wheels are pointing stright ahead). Now do the same to the other wheel. You should now have both wheels with lines around the circumference. Now take the bar and measure the distance between the lines at the front of the wheel and then do the same at the back of the tyre or as near the to back as possible as the bodywork does get in the way. If the distance is the same from and back then the tracking is set to parallel. You can then adjust for a bit of toe out/in. I set mine up for parallel (had too much toe in before) and this resulted in a suprising improvement in the handling.

 

Regards

 

 

Tony

 

 

[Gambo]

Have you ever seen a laser tracking system? well the same method can be done with three bits of string.

1 find the center of the chasis front and back. use the wishbone pick ups at the front. use the diff center at the back. drop a mark to the floor with a spirit level.

2 place a piece of string along this line nder the car.

3 take one piece of string and tie around two posts( I use speaker stands) place alongside the car.

4 measure from centre line to string, set equally front to back.

5 repeat on other side of car.

You now have three parallel lines along,in line with the center of the car.

6 Measure from the out side line the the front of the front wheel, note distance. measure from line to the back of the front wheel.(important, use rim not tyre.) note distance.

7 You will be left with a difference , adjust track rod to equall this out to set the wheels straight ahead.

8 using simple trigonometry you can the set the tracking to whatever you want .

You can also use this to check the rears at the same time.

It's not as complicated as it sounds, and it's very acurate.

 

 

Oh no I'm coming down with another bout of upgradeitus!

[Jason Plato]

Just make sure the floor is level

[Gambo]

Yeah, good point 😬

 

Oh no I'm coming down with another bout of upgradeitus!

[Xracer]

If raising & lowering the car produces a change in tracking you need to sort out your bump steer as a properly set up car should have very little bump steer.

Regds

Ian

[Chelspeed]

I've got a 4 foot length of steel tube with a 6.5 inch arm on each end, each arm carries a threaded bar.

 

You put the bar on the floor under the car between the back of the front wheels, adjust the bar on one side so it just touches the inner wheel rim (half way up as it's 6.5 inches from the floor...).

 

Move the bar to the front of the wheel and measure the gap. About 3mm gap is 0.25 deg toe out.

 

Much easier than string, much much cheaper than a tracking gauge.

 

When you go from a tin top to a caterham you cut 4 inches out of it and reweld it, when you go wide track you need a longer bar one side, so flexible too.

[PaulD]

Basically the same as Gambo explained:

 

Get two broom sticks, or pieces of ali tube, slightly wider than the car. Put a mark a little in from each end of the tubes, exactly the same width on both.

 

Find a way of fixing the tubes at axle height, across the car at the back and the front of the car.

 

Tie two pieces of fishing line between the tubes, exactly on the marks.

 

Set the lines parallel to the car CL by equalising the distance between the hub of the wheel and the lines at the front and the back.

 

You can now check the tracking by measuring between the rim and the line at the front and the back of the wheels.

 

Paul

 

[Paul Richards]

XRacer - your advice is spot on.

Tony 7 - It seems that you are checking your tracking at full droop (i.e. jacked off the floor), which is most likely to give you an incorrect reading. Even well sorted and good handling cars will often have some bump steer at the extremes of travel. Suggest that car is measured whilst on the floor and suspension at normal ride height.

 

Paul Richards

Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

[Andys 7]

One more variation on the theme requires the use of two pins and a tape measure.

Push a pin into the tread at front of each front tyre, as high as possible but low enough to be below the lowest point of the chasse between the tyres. Both pins need to be at the same height. ( obviously don’t push the pins to far in as this tends to let the air out! Just push them in enough for them to stay in place.)

 

Now measure the distance between the pins under the car.

 

Next roll the car backwards so that the pins are the same high above the ground, but now at the back of the tyre. Measure the distance between the pins again. For zero toe these measurements should be the same. For specific non-zero toe settings some school boy trig is required.

 

This method is very accurate and quick the down side is that it takes two people to do it

[Tonycaterham]

Paul,

 

Yes I should have added that once taped/marked tyres then drop car back onto the floor and then measure.

 

Regards

 

 

Tony