Toe is set by adjusting the tie rod If the steering wheel is not centered, then lengthening one tie rod and shortening the other will center the wheel.
I used to run into this a lot when I was doing alignments . Customers would come in saying they just had their alignment done on the cheap..
I would have said you were dog tracking... thats because if someone was driving behind you they would notice your rear wheels wouldn't be directly behind the front wheels.. They would be off to the side.. thus your steering wheel not centered..
your outer shoulder wear was more from autocrossing with not enough camber, but also possibly that you were toed in a little to much..
fighting the steering wheel while driving in ruts is very much related to the larger tire size you are running...
iceracer wrote: Toe is set by adjusting the tie rod If the steering wheel is not centered, then lengthening one tie rod and shortening the other will center the wheel. I used to run into this a lot when I was doing alignments . Customers would come in saying they just had their alignment done on the cheap..
This was exactly the case, only in the opposite. The camber and caster were also completely inconsistent between the two sides. And I paid MORE for that alignment than the one I got yesterday. 
mine with the 255 Khumo SPTs tramlines like a bitch, but I never knew what to call it. on straight, flat roads it's straight as an arrow, but on rough pavement or interstate - she can be a handfull. The SPTs with three big center ridges on the tread are much worse than the Fuzion ZRis I was running too. I really need to get it in the shop.
Sky_Render wrote:iceracer wrote: Toe is set by adjusting the tie rod If the steering wheel is not centered, then lengthening one tie rod and shortening the other will center the wheel. I used to run into this a lot when I was doing alignments . Customers would come in saying they just had their alignment done on the cheap..This was exactly the case, only in the opposite. The camber and caster were also completely inconsistent between the two sides. And I paid MORE for that alignment than the one I got yesterday.
Camber and caster aren't supposed to be the same side to side. The difference can be too much or too little, but without knowing numbers there's no way to say.
ultraclyde wrote: mine with the 255 Khumo SPTs tramlines like a bitch, but I never knew what to call it. on straight, flat roads it's straight as an arrow, but on rough pavement or interstate - she can be a handfull. The SPTs with three big center ridges on the tread are much worse than the Fuzion ZRis I was running too. I really need to get it in the shop.
Any time you go to a wider or stickier tire, the car is going to do more of that. Tire design also plays a part, but is much harder to predict.
bravenrace wrote:Sky_Render wrote:Camber and caster aren't supposed to be the same side to side. The difference can be too much or too little, but without knowing numbers there's no way to say.iceracer wrote: Toe is set by adjusting the tie rod If the steering wheel is not centered, then lengthening one tie rod and shortening the other will center the wheel. I used to run into this a lot when I was doing alignments . Customers would come in saying they just had their alignment done on the cheap..This was exactly the case, only in the opposite. The camber and caster were also completely inconsistent between the two sides. And I paid MORE for that alignment than the one I got yesterday.
Camber should be the same on both sides. The difference in caster was over half a degree between both sides, which could definitely mess up straight-line stability. My difference in caster is now only about a quarter degree.
In reply to Sky_Render:
I give up.
You post a "learn me" thread on alignment, something I have a great deal of experience with, so I offer to help. But then you argue about the answer. Reminds me of people that come to me for car advice, and then argue with me because some guy they don't know at a shop that is ripping them off tells them something different.
bravenrace wrote: In reply to Sky_Render: I give up.
Why should camber be different from side to side?
I'm not familiar with this.
z31maniac wrote:bravenrace wrote: In reply to Sky_Render: I give up.Why should camber be different from side to side? I'm not familiar with this.
It shouldn't.
Well, unless we're talking about a circle track car.
In reply to z31maniac:
For a race car it shouldn't be, but for a street car it needs to be to compensate for the crown of the road so the tires wear evenly. You need about 1/4 deg more postive or less negative camber on most cars. If the car is owned by a salesman that is on the freeway most of the time, then we wouldn't do that. Caster needs about 1/4 deg spread for the same reason, but for the reason of preventing the car from pulling to the right on a crowned road. A 1/2 deg spread has the possibility of causing the vehicle to pull to the left, but most likely wouldn't. It would have zero effect on straight line stability. The more positive caster a car has, the better the straight line stability, the spread has nothing to do with that unless the difference is dramatic.
bravenrace wrote: In reply to Sky_Render: I give up.
I apologize if you think I'm arguing. But I've never heard of anyone using different camber left to right, at least for a car that is autocrossed regularly. Caster is definitely supposed to be different, but mine was completely off. (I had more than a half degree spread of caster.)
And your "argument" with me on toe was little more than a misunderstanding. All I was saying was that on a flat surface, I had to cock the wheel to the left in order to go straight, because the front tie rods weren't adjusted to equal lengths. You maintained that I had no idea what I was talking about.
In reply to Sky_Render:
Well I also apologize if I misunderstood you, but you never provided any numbers, which makes it very hard to help. And what you described concerning toe indicated that a crooked steering wheel was the source of your problem, which it isn't. I wasn't trying to argue, I was trying to help you.
Just to be clear, on a dedicated autocross car, no , you most likely wouldn't have a camber spread. But your original post sounded like your problem was on the road, not the autocross course, so my understanding was that this was a street car that you autocrossed, not a dedicated autocross car. In any case, I'm glad your problem is solved. If you have a chance, please post your before and after numbers if you have them.
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