[Healeys] Tow in question

Richard Ewald richard.ewald at gmail.com
Sun Aug 17 10:36:24 MDT 2008


Dick,
I have never run an AH through it's suspension travel to check toe in but in
general when going from full rebound (springs fully extended) to full
compression( springs fully compressed) the toe in should either increase or
stay the same.  If the tires toe out, that is called bump steer and it is
considered a bad thing.  Bump steer causes the car to want to self steer.
In other words hit a bump and the car wants to dart to the right or left
even though the steering wheel has not moved.
A perfectly designed suspension will have zero toe change during normal
suspension travel.  A well designed one will have a small toe change going
from full rebound to full compression becoming more toed in as the
suspension compresses.  A poorly designed suspension will toe out on
compression.
The greater the suspension travel, the harder it is to accomplish zero toe
change.  Off road race cars with huge amounts of suspension travel (15"+)
have a serious time getting this right.
Rick

On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 3:49 PM, Dick Matson <medlabinc at msn.com> wrote:

> OK.
>
> While its 105 degrees outside so during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
> Trampoline
> event intermission I have a front end alignment question re a no-hyphen
> model
> Austin Healey.
>
> Tow in is set with the car static on the ground.  What normally happens or
> is
> supposed to happen to tow in setting when car is in motion and front
> suspension is un weighted or compressed.  Does tow in increase or decrease
> from its 1/8 or 3/16 setting as suspension travels up and down.  If so why
> ?
>
> DM / Bj8
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