toe in adjustment on BN6

[bighealeysource]

Hey all,
Got another issue. Seems like when the previous owner
completely redid the BN6 unfinished project I bought, a lot of things were put back together to make it a roller and to be sorted out later. Well, looks like the toe in is one of them. Had it out for the first longer test run, about 40 miles, and looks like the toe in is way off. New tires looked
like they tried to scrub themselves off going down the
road. Embarrassed to say it looked fine but upon closer
and detailed inspection today, front to back should
be 1/8 inch and mine is <span style="font-weight: bold">TWO</span> inches. It tracked fine
and rode fine but guess I was concentrating on the other
issues too much to notice it. I measured the track width
from same place on front edge and rear edge of tires and
I know I need to make several measurements but initial
measurement was 52 inch on the A side and 50 inch on the B
side ( as per the BMC workshop manual). I remeasured this
3 times and can't believe it is this far off. Advice on
how to best fix it myself as no one anywhere even close to
where I live deals with Brit cars ? BTW, know I adjust the
steering track rod.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[nevets]

Hi Mike

I adjusted the toe in on my BN6. I used a home made device based loosely on one I read about on this forum. There is a device sold by Moss for this purpose but I didn't want to spend the money on something I would use only once. If I recall, it wasn't that difficult and I had to take several measurements, with the wheels rotated 180 to be sure I accounted for wheel/tire shape variations. Hardest part was loosening the tie rod ends. I doubt that the results were precise, but it made a noticeable improvement in the way the car tracked. Sorry, I did not take pics of my gadget. I also remember something about a method involving straight pins stuck in the tires with a length of string between them, then rotating the wheels 180 to measure the difference?

Not very informative but as is usually the case, others will offer additional support.

S.

 

[steveg]

See: https://www.pbase.com/stevegerow/healey_tech&page=2
for pictures and dimensions

 

[Johnny]

Mike, toe in can be adjusted without the car up on jack stands. With the car absolutely in a straight line in your garage, loosen the tierod lock nuts. One is left hand thread and the other is right. Grip the rod in the center with a pair of good gloves (may have to use a pair of vise grips if really tight) on and turn one way to spread the tires out, and the other to turn them in, you'll figure it out. Mark the tires with chalk to be able to measure at the same place each time and adjust until you have the correct toe in. You'll be surprised how really close you can get.

 

[bighealeysource]

Thanks everyone for the advice on how to do this without learning new British
swear words ! Like Johnny said above, manual recommends front tires need to
be on the ground so will do my usual laying on the garage floor and see how
easily - since it's all been redone hopefully easy - adjustments.
Regards,
Mike

 

[TimK]

Make sure to roll the car forward if you have jacked it up. This will set the suspension for measuring the toe. I made Steve's toe gauge and it worked great.

 

[BUNDYRUM]

Hello bighealeysource,

Do you have a local wheel alignment shop that has some modern equipment. If so then take it there as they will be able to tell you if the car is tracking straight as well as look at the toe in for you. Make sure when you take it in to tell them not to look for any camber/caster adjustments otherwise it will drive them mad looking for it. You should get a print out of the wheel alignment dimensions and if they are any good they should be able to explain it to you.

Unless you are able to make up a good gauge to compare front to rear of wheel dimensions as steveg did then trying to measure with a tape measure is almost a waste of time. Note to all, I did say, almost.

Best regards,

bundyrum.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Toe plates; buy them for $50.00 or make them yourself.

 

[GregW]

I bought a 1000lb Lazy Susan at a hardware store and sandwiched it with two metal disks. This allows you to adjust the toe while keeping the car on the ground. Here's a mock-up on an old wheel.

Note: The mounting bracket is sized for my 16" wheels and fits on the rims. The tire in the photo is a 15er so the bracket rests on the rubber. Not as accurate.