I was at the local Wednesday-night cruiser gathering, when a fellow cruiser indicated that my front MTs were not wearing evenly. I recently upgraded my tie-rod (bud build), and set the toe as close to what I thought it was previously (with the stock tie-rod).
He told me about utilizing some small angle iron, a pair of jack-stands and a tape measure to verify/set the toe of my cruiser. He recommended that I drill a hole into the angle and mount it via a lug nut (or two).
I performed the following procedure, and am now enjoying the benefits of a properly aligned cruiser.
1)
Jack up (secure w/jack-stands) the front of the cruiser and remove the front tires.
2)
using some vise-clamps/sea-clamps, clamp the angle directly onto the outside edge of each front brake rotor (above the hub)...due to the front brake calipers, It may be at a slight angle.
3)
along the angle iron (from the center of the rotor), measure 10" forward and 10" behind the rotor on both sides and mark the angle iron (I used masking tape).
4)
Using a tape measure, measure the froward marks from one side to the other, and do the same for the marks behind the rotors. For a Toe value of Zero, both measurements are equal.
(.I believe the factory is 2-3mm of Toe IN)
5)
I found that I had approx. 3/4" toe-out, I loosened the lock nuts on the tie-rod and set the toe by turning the tie-rod. I now have 1/16th toe-in, and the cruiser rides much better
front 52 9/16th
back 52 5/8th
A very easy procedure and a way to save some $ for other stuff
thanks Brian,
manny
He told me about utilizing some small angle iron, a pair of jack-stands and a tape measure to verify/set the toe of my cruiser. He recommended that I drill a hole into the angle and mount it via a lug nut (or two).
I performed the following procedure, and am now enjoying the benefits of a properly aligned cruiser.
1)
Jack up (secure w/jack-stands) the front of the cruiser and remove the front tires.
2)
using some vise-clamps/sea-clamps, clamp the angle directly onto the outside edge of each front brake rotor (above the hub)...due to the front brake calipers, It may be at a slight angle.
3)
along the angle iron (from the center of the rotor), measure 10" forward and 10" behind the rotor on both sides and mark the angle iron (I used masking tape).
4)
Using a tape measure, measure the froward marks from one side to the other, and do the same for the marks behind the rotors. For a Toe value of Zero, both measurements are equal.
(.I believe the factory is 2-3mm of Toe IN)
5)
I found that I had approx. 3/4" toe-out, I loosened the lock nuts on the tie-rod and set the toe by turning the tie-rod. I now have 1/16th toe-in, and the cruiser rides much better
front 52 9/16th
back 52 5/8th
A very easy procedure and a way to save some $ for other stuff
thanks Brian,
manny