eating front tires

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

flash02

flash02

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Threads
67
Messages
588
Location
Elizabeth City, NC
My front tires are wearing on the outside very fast. This is what has been done....rebuilt knuckles, new tire rod ends, new draglink end, new center arm bushing new tire rod (old one bent) replaced steering control arms. When I had the front tires replaced they told me they could not adjust the toe past 7/16" (I think) toe out. I need suggestions from the group on what to do before I have to replace front tires with less than 4K miles.:bang:

Later,

Corey
 
AFAIK, there is no camber adjustment on a SA Land Cruiser. Maybe the housing is really bent? Was there a lot of gear lube in the knuckles when you did the bearings?
Low tire pressure can cause scrubbing of the outside edge of tires....:hhmm:

Ed
 
+7/16' toe out???? It's a wonder you can steer the thing straight down the road. Depending on your tire size it should be set around negative 1/8 - 3/16" or 'toe in'.

Figure out why and fix it! If the TR is bottomed out on the TRE's, thread the TR deeper or trim some off one/both TRE's so they can thread in deeper and don't bottom out in the internal threads in the TR.
 
flash02 said:
My front tires are wearing on the outside very fast. This is what has been done....rebuilt knuckles, new tire rod ends, new draglink end, new center arm bushing new tire rod (old one bent) replaced steering control arms. When I had the front tires replaced they told me they could not adjust the toe past 7/16" (I think) toe out. I need suggestions from the group on what to do before I have to replace front tires with less than 4K miles.:bang:

Later,

Corey
Click to expand...

Also....The alignment of the cruiser in your avatar looks toe-out...:hhmm:
 
I would have thought wear on the outside of the front tires would have been from too much toe in, but I agree with dgangle - your avatar picture looks toed out. Was it OK with the bent tie rod? If it was try adjusting the new tie rod so the distance between the centers of the TREs is the same as on the old rod as a temporary measure until you can check the alignment either yourself or by an alignment shop that actually knows what they are doing. My experience is that some shops really don't have a clue when it comes to old LandCruisers.
 
KOOTENAY KRUZER said:
I would have thought wear on the outside of the front tires would have been from too much toe in, but I agree with dgangle - your avatar picture looks toed out.
Click to expand...

My thoroughly unsubstantiated theory is that (assuming the fronts are in fact toed out), the funky steering geometry is resulting in serious scrub during turns. The camber is only neutral when the knuckle is straight. As soon as the knuckle turns, the camber changes and if the tires are fighting one another through a turn on pavement, the wear could be accelerated on the outside of the tread.

Again, just a WAGNER.
 
KOOTENAY KRUZER said:
...check the alignment either yourself or by an alignment shop that actually knows what they are doing. My experience is that some shops really don't have a clue when it comes to old LandCruisers.
Click to expand...

Checking the alignment on any solid axle just doesn't get any simpler.

First what is quired is an understanding of the 3 terms caster, camber and toe. Google and 15 minnutes of reading take one from ignorant to expert in 15 minutes.

Caster can be measured reasonably accurate in 60 seconds with a $10 angle finder from Home Cheapo. This has been documentd to death. CAMBER (edit 8/25/08) is unadjustable and only a factor if the axle housing is bent. Toe can be measured with 2 people, a tape measure, jack and a tire crayon. Jack it up, use the tire crayon to make a line on each tire approx in the center of the circumference, then measure at 3 & 9:00 with a tape measure. Compair and adjust the TR to get -1/8 to -1/4" tow in.

Caster slightly more difficult to adjust. It is typically affected by aftermarket stuff like lift springs and longer shackels. Adjust with shims to get what you want. +1 degree is stock, +3-4 tracks very nice. Any negative caster will make it dart and generaaly be a handfull on the road, especially on a rutted road with lots of crown in the center. Be aware though that increased caster can cause binding on the front universal joint depending on amount of lift, moving the trans/TC forward as part of an engine transplant, spring reversal, etc.

Or one can pay an aligmnment shop $69 to measure all three and be able to adust only the toe.
 
Last edited:
when you replaced your tie rod ends did you count the turns when taking them off? and use the same number of turns putting them back on? if so you should be at least halfway close on the alignment and they should be able to align it no problem.

this stuff aint rocket science.

its so easy even i can do it. in fact its my job.
 
Quote from dgangle:
"Caster can be measured reasonably accurate in 60 seconds with a $10 angle finder from Home Cheapo. This has been documentd to death. Caster is unadjustable and only a factor if the axle housing is bent.


Did you mean camber?
 
CruisinFJ60 said:
when you replaced your tie rod ends did you count the turns when taking them off? and use the same number of turns putting them back on? if so you should be at least halfway close on the alignment and they should be able to align it no problem.
Click to expand...

That's only true if the TREs are exactly the same, with the same length of thread. Since the originals aren't available, this is likely not true.

I tried exactly this method when I did mine and it wasn't even close. :frown:
 
Mtrunner said:
Quote from dgangle:
"Caster can be measured reasonably accurate in 60 seconds with a $10 angle finder from Home Cheapo. This has been documentd to death. CAMBER is unadjustable and only a factor if the axle housing is bent.


Did you mean camber?
Click to expand...

You are correct, the second should read CAMBER. Camber is non adjustable on a solid axle, unless one considers bending their axle housing an adjustment.

I found these and 1000 other related links in 20 seconds by googling "camber caster toe".

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm
http://www.4wheelonline.com/superlift_technicalinfo.htm
http://www.artsautomotive.com/thealignmentstory.htm
 
Last edited:
Measuring caster

There are several places one can measure caster an uncut, straight FJ40 axle, listed here noting ease of measurement:

#1. Is the easiest to do with the axle assembled. This surface is 45 degrees from #2 and #3. This method is the easiest and most reasonably accurate method in my experieince.

#2. Third member mounting surface. On an an 'uncut' axle this surface is the exact same as the caster measurement #3.

#3. Here's what you are really after. A little harder to get to but will be the most accurate.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/145113-another-cut-turn.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/53413-who-does-cut-turns.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/54253-cut-turn-my-experience.html

#4 is the second easiest but requires one to remove the driveshaft. This is the same as measurement #2, just taken another place as the two surfaces are parallel.

It can also be measured (abeit possibly not as accurate) without disassembling anything by measuring on top of the assembled steering knuckle. It takes like 30 seconds and will get you pretty close.
DSCF0030a.webp
 
Last edited:
flash02 said:
Thanks, I will give that a try. Do you know the thred and size of stock TRE?
Click to expand...

I assume you are asking this to be able to locate a tap? Well, remember that one end is right-hand and the other is left-hand thread so you are looking at but 2 very expensive and hard to find taps for a one-time use. Plus it is very difficult to hold the TR while cutting these threads.

It may be considerably cheaper, faster and easier to cut some equal amount from the threads of each TR end. Gotta hacksaw, vise and file?
 
If it doesn't pull, you can forget about the caster & as the man said, camber is adjusted with shims. I think you have a toe problem, since my mini was wearing in the inside with too much toe-out, the other angles in spec. You can check your camber with said angle gauge & a straight edge across the outer wheel flange, 12 & 6, w/vehicle on flat pavement in normal driving position, tires aired up. If that is good, check the toe, as noted above. IIRC, the FSM says count the exposed threads on the TREs to be certain the toe is equal, each side. Sometimes you can sight down the front-to-rear tire sidewalls to get an idea. If the toe is out, I'd center it & turn each tie rod in equally until you are at minimum spec. I bent my tie rod & had to go through this exercise, though I just beat mine straight on the bench.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom