How does front toe change with camber?

[AlbertD]

I went through the same dilemma a while back and ultimately settled on running my track setup (-3 camber, 0 toe) on the street. Most of the tire wear comes from toe. How did you determine you need 3.5 on track? That is quite a bit of camber. If it is your first time out in the mustang, I would recommend to start out with 2.5 camber and check tire temps with a proper tire pyrometer right after your session. The temps across the tire will tell you if you need more camber or not.

Changing camber causes too much toe change to be within reasonable specs for both street and track in my opinion. There will be a compromise one way or the other and there is no guarantee toe will be exactly where it was before when changing back and forth between camber settings. The only way to be certain toe is exact is by doing an alignment every time camber is changed and that is resource intensive (whether you do it yourself or pay someone). Been there done that, gets old after a while if you are a frequent track rat.

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[Norm Peterson]

I think if you use a "gauge block" approach to setting the cambers that cambers and toes both will be sufficiently repeatable. Not all that different from adding/subtracting UCA shims on older cars. I'm only looking at adjusting camber at plates here.


Norm

 

[Cobrakit]

So it sounds like maybe 1/8in total toe in at street camber and then as negative track camber is added, you will get toe out for track setting. And i agree with jam nut comment, it helps keep you grounded when upside down under the car.

OBTW i have an aluminum fixture that goes the width of the car, with a vertical fixed pointer on one end and an adjustable on the other end. Manufacturer is out of business, but this works great. Also its measuring toe at widest point of tire.

 

[Norm Peterson]

So it sounds like maybe 1/8in total toe in at street camber and then as negative track camber is added, you will get toe out for track setting. And i agree with jam nut comment, it helps keep you grounded when upside down under the car.

That's the general idea. But I can't confirm that 1/8" in with street would be exactly what you want.

OBTW i have an aluminum fixture that goes the width of the car, with a vertical fixed pointer on one end and an adjustable on the other end. Manufacturer is out of business, but this works great. Also its measuring toe at widest point of tire.

The issue with referencing off the sidewall is that tires are sometimes uneven and they all include embossed numbers and lettering that one end of your toe gauge might land on and the other doesn't, or it does and the embossing isn't the same height. Sometimes there's a rub strip, which in some cases might be the widest location, but could be gouged by a curb strike.

Norm

 

[Cobrakit]

I run 1/8in total toe on the street for all my vehicles and it seems to work. Stable and no tire wear. Not saying its perfect. When i track, i go 1/8in toe out, again not racing just HPDE.

WRT to my toe fixture, i agree you need to be careful with were you measure. This device is used by the Legend aspalt oval guys and can measure anywhere on the wheel/tire and its repeatable. Toe measurements in inches is referenced to the OD of the tire, so measurement at rim would have to be adjusted accordingly.

 

[Gearz]

I have a GT350 with the factory adjustable camber plates. At the "street" setting the camber is -1.2° and the "track" setting it's -2.4°. The toe changes from zero to 1/4" out measuring with Longacre toe plates. To get it back to zero just turn each tie rod 1/2 a turn clockwise (shorten the tie rod) or if you don't mind the steering wheel being off, one full turn on one side only. I'm pretty sure the knuckle is different for the GT350 than the GT although it might be the same if the GT has the Magnaride shocks. Either way I think it's safe to assume the 1/2 turn = 1/8" toe change per side is similar and the 1/8" toe change/side for 1.2° of camber change is the same also.

 

[ronaldwalter]

I have a 2018 gt350, stock suspension and i will install Ground control adjustable camber plates up front. Will my Toe change once i adjust my camber to -3 for track days and than re-adjust back to street setting -1? Lets say your street setting on the front is camber -1 and toe 0. Than i adjust camber to -3 to go to the track. Once back home if i adjust the camber back to street -1, will the toe return to zero? I want to keep my toe set to Zero so I don’t end up with the inner tires worn out.
If toe settings get changed while adjusting camber. How do i adjust toe at home on my driveway?

 

[Norm Peterson]

I have a 2018 gt350, stock suspension and i will install Ground control adjustable camber plates up front. Will my Toe change once i adjust my camber to -3 for track days and than re-adjust back to street setting -1? Lets say your street setting on the front is camber -1 and toe 0. Than i adjust camber to -3 to go to the track. Once back home if i adjust the camber back to street -1, will the toe return to zero?

In theory, toe should return to whatever the original setting at -1° camber was. But at the very least it will be subject to how repeatably you can hit those -1° camber numbers. How repeatable your measuring setup is (and how even the area that you're setting up on is) also matters (not sure where or how you're doing your camber adjustment).

I want to keep my toe set to Zero so I don’t end up with the inner tires worn out.

I think you'll want just a tiny bit of toe in for the street for a little cushion against running into toe-out twitchiness. Might be a good thing for the track alignment to not make it end up with too much toe out, as that would tend to increase how badly the inner shoulder of the inside front tire gets dragged sort of sideways (it's already going to be running at a pretty severe amount of negative camber, further negative than your static setting due to roll).

If toe settings get changed while adjusting camber. How do i adjust toe at home on my driveway?

At the tie rods. You'll need a method for measuring how much toe you have (I use parallel strings and a 6" machinist's scale, but there are fancier and more expensive approaches). Loosen the jam nut and adjust. Keep in mind that steering wheel centering will be affected if you don't adjust both tierod lengths equally (and both shorter or both longer).


Norm

 

[NeverSatisfied]

so far I’ve settled at 2.9F/2.2R. 30psi front 28psi rear 305 RS-4 on stock PP2 magneride. 75F clear day at mid Ohio. Relatively consistent temps across each tire. I’m going to Just leave it there and roll with it daily.

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