brianp454
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M35A2 Toe Check and Adjustment (if necessary)
I decided to check the toe (or toe-in if you prefer) on my truck. This is listed as a semiannual interval in TM 9-2320-361-24-1, which calls out the correct toe-in adjustment of 0.13 ± 0.06 inch (3.2 ± 1.6mm). This is also the only relatively easily adjusted portion of a front end alignment (caster and camber are determined by hardware).
Back in my young man days in VOC-TECH chassis semester we would use a spring-loaded tip on a heavy base to mark the tires while they were jacked to just off the ground. We were also instructed to inspect for any loose parts or excessive slack with any of the chassis parts. I used a small Sharpie taped to a nearly full 5 gallon paint bucket. It made a very nice mark and I checked my toe-in at just over 1/8 inch measuring at the center of the tire rolling radius. My truck has 9X20 NDCC tires just like most of them out there with 50 psi in the fronts; I found my center to be at about 19 ½ inches off the ground. Given my check at right on the spec, I decided that the toe is OK.
I was surprised to see how terribly out of round\concentric with the spindle my tires are! Much of the tire was reasonably concentric and I did not see any issue with the wheel itself (although I did not check them with an indicator, maybe another day). The tires seem to have a couple very flat spots, refer to the attached pics showing the Sharpie heavily interfering with the tire all of the way to having about 1/8 inch clearance between the tire and Sharpie tip. That’s ¼ to 3/8 inch of flat spot! The truck generally drives fine and has just a tiny bit of wobble or vibration when at freeway speeds. I consider the way the truck drives to be normal in my limited experience. I thought I made a video, but apparently did not record it properly. Any thoughts guys?
I decided to check the toe (or toe-in if you prefer) on my truck. This is listed as a semiannual interval in TM 9-2320-361-24-1, which calls out the correct toe-in adjustment of 0.13 ± 0.06 inch (3.2 ± 1.6mm). This is also the only relatively easily adjusted portion of a front end alignment (caster and camber are determined by hardware).
Back in my young man days in VOC-TECH chassis semester we would use a spring-loaded tip on a heavy base to mark the tires while they were jacked to just off the ground. We were also instructed to inspect for any loose parts or excessive slack with any of the chassis parts. I used a small Sharpie taped to a nearly full 5 gallon paint bucket. It made a very nice mark and I checked my toe-in at just over 1/8 inch measuring at the center of the tire rolling radius. My truck has 9X20 NDCC tires just like most of them out there with 50 psi in the fronts; I found my center to be at about 19 ½ inches off the ground. Given my check at right on the spec, I decided that the toe is OK.
I was surprised to see how terribly out of round\concentric with the spindle my tires are! Much of the tire was reasonably concentric and I did not see any issue with the wheel itself (although I did not check them with an indicator, maybe another day). The tires seem to have a couple very flat spots, refer to the attached pics showing the Sharpie heavily interfering with the tire all of the way to having about 1/8 inch clearance between the tire and Sharpie tip. That’s ¼ to 3/8 inch of flat spot! The truck generally drives fine and has just a tiny bit of wobble or vibration when at freeway speeds. I consider the way the truck drives to be normal in my limited experience. I thought I made a video, but apparently did not record it properly. Any thoughts guys?
