The Process of Alignment on a Car--Collected by 5D Wheel Alignment Factory (2)

Correcting Your Toe

Locate your tie rod ends. The tie rods are the connection between your steering system and your wheels. The rod ends are L-shaped parts sometimes found near the inside of the wheel.

• It's a good idea to look at your car's manual and/or at some pictures on the internet to get a sense of what tie rod ends look like and where exactly they are located on your specific car.

Loosen the lock nuts. Between the tie rod and each tie rod end is a nut that holds it in place. You'll need to loosen this nut with a wrench.

• Be aware that on some vehicles, the driver's side lock nut may be threaded counterclockwise, while the passenger side is threaded clockwise.
• Depending on your steering system, there may also be a clamp that needs to be removed at each end to make sure the bellows boot is not sticking to the inner tie rod. Consult your manual for details.
• If it has been a long time since you had an alignment, the threaded parts may be stubborn and require some lubrication, such as WD40, in order to make them turn.

Make your adjustments. Depending on the type of steering you have, there are two different ways you can adjust your toe.

• If you have rack and pinion steering, you should turn the inner tie rod itself. Spinning the rod will adjust the toe in or out.
• If you have a parallelogram linkage system, there will be adjusting sleeves that you can turn to adjust your toe. These sleeves can be damaged by this process, so be careful. There are special tools for rotating tie rods which can prevent damage.
• Whichever system you have, make sure to keep in mind that the change you are making to the toe will be distributed across two wheels. Each tie rod should be adjusted 1/2 of the total desired amount of change in or out.

Test drive the car. Take the car for a drive to verify that any obvious alignment issues have been corrected (e.g. that the car does not pull to one side or vibrate excessively).