Re: Semi tractor toe in

Posted by trucker 40 on December 05, 2010 at 21:51:58 from (69.149.218.179):

In Reply to: Semi tractor toe in posted by Fixerupper on December 04, 2010 at 15:37:40:

I was a mechanic for RUAN the truck leasing company in the 1980s for 3 years.We would take a scribe like thing we made which was a 3/8 rod sharpened on one end welded to a cheap jack stand.The you jack up the front end where its just off of the floor,put jack stands under it so its level,Check for slop in the king pins by prying on the wheel herd with a tire tool and if it moves you have to put king pins and bushings in first.Then take a can of white paint,Paint the center of the tire.Usually there is a rib right in the center,so paint the center rib,spin the front tire good,and as someone spins it,another guy pushes the scribe in to the center of the tire and makes a mark all the way around the tire,just one mark,right in the center,if you mess it up,repaint the center and do it again,its not hard after you get the hang of it you can do it by yourself.Its real easy to see with the white paint and the black tire,with a groove cut through the white paint.Then with a tape measure you measure between the frame and the front and back of the tire,to the scribed line, and get it exactly the same on one side,usually the drivers side because the right side of the road is rougher and the right side wears more,and probably is the side thats off.So you get the drivers side straight,then measure the other side.Either the front will be farther away from the frame,or the back.99% of the time it will be the front side is out farther from the frame.So then you measure from the groove in the white paint you made on the front of the tire,and then measure on the back of the tire,across both tires,you need a helper to hold the tape exactly in the groove,at the same place,in the same spot on the front, and back of the tire as close to half way around as you can.Then see how much difference you have,say you have 1/4 inch out at the front.You loosen up and take out your pinch bolts on the tie rod,clean the exposed threads with a wire brush,shoot with a lot of penetrating oil,and put a big pipe wrench on the tie rod and turn it.This sounds easier than it is.Once in a while we would have to put a floor jack on a pipe wrench to break it loose.Once you break it loose it turns easy.Heat would be a last resort.I dont remember ever heating one to be honest.Then you give it 1/16th of an inch toe in,on the front.As you adjust the tie rod you have to keep the drivers side tire at the same distance front and back,from the frame, then measure the other side.Once you get them straight you want the front just a little tighter than the back,like 1/16th of an inch.
The more accurate you can measure the better off you are,and the better of a job your helper does at getting the tape in the exact same place the more accurate of a job you can do.Set it back down and measure it again across the tires front and back.If its close,like less than 1/8th inch or the same, it will probably do alright.If its not close,the spring shackles,spring eyelets, are probably wore out and you need to replace them too.

Ive worked on a lot of Internationals,mostly cabovers.Some of them are alright,some of them you cant keep steer tires on.Especially setback front axles that carry a lot of weight on the steers.I dont remember what the exact year was but I think it was in 1991,they used a front axle that the wheel bearings wore out about the same time the steer tires did,way before 100,000 miles, on the setback cabovers.

If you do it like I said,provided I wrote it clear enough that you understood,and if you replace what needs replacing,the amount you save in not wearing your steer tires out every 50 to 75,000 miles, will pay for the other parts easy.You need to check them about every other time you change the oil.And keep the toe in at 1/16 or straight when its setting there on the level concrete floor.Once you jack it up if it changes a lot you have other work to do first before you can align it.Also when you get done,and take it for a test drive,your steering wheel should be straight as go down the road.Maybe just a little off if the road is crowned up in the middle,but not much.If nobody had the steering wheel off,it will be straight or real close to it,as long as the steering box is not wore out,and you will know you did a good job.
Internationals are not KWs or Peterbuilts.You have to replace stuff more often,but you can make them work if you stay after them.Plus they are probably as good or better than Freightliners and Volvos.Volvos didnt get the miles out of steer tires that Internationals heavily maintained would.

I almost forgot a very important part of this.Once you get the steer axle set while you have it up and straight as you can get it,you measure from the steer axle to the centor of the front drive axle.There will be shimse you can take out or put in to get both sides the same,and then you move to the rear axle and measure it from the front drive axle.All of these measurements have to be as axactly the same as you can get them.Sometimes you may not have a problem with the steer axle at all,it may be set,but somewhere on the back some bushings are shot and it keeps pulling the truck to one side or the other,and that will wear out steers and drives too.Doing an alignment is a lot more than just turning the tie rod usually.Bushings and stuff wear out on the back,just as bad as the front,maybe worse.
All the trucks I had,every one had to have back bushings,only one needed king pins on the steer.I got 100,000 miles and more out of steer axle tires and all of mine were setbacks.They were all KWs but that just goes to show that they wear out too.Actually my newer KWs were worse than may older Kw was about those back bushings.

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