Toe in or out

Hey guys... I just installed new heavy duty tie rods from rugged ridge in my 74 cj5..... I then took it to an alignment shop and they zeroed out any toe......when driving over 50 mph it wonders from left to right...my steering box is definitely worn out and in need of replacement however should I have any toe? In or out? My tires are 33" ....before the tie rods the wondering was far less severe...
Any thoughts?

 

Toe-in, you want toe-in. Why would the shop set it at zero? Which, by the way, is why you are wandering all over the road.

 

Is it me or the pic that makes that left front look like it's leaning out at the top?

 

My old MB manual said 3/32 of toe in. IIRC the Commando manual said 1/16 to 1/8th of toe in.

 

I used a tape measure to set mine at approx 1/8" toe in. I should take it to get it aligned but I have not. It drives great as is and no tire wear.

 

Looks that way to me also.

 

What kind of shop would set zero toe?? Any four year old should know better.

For a simple toe-in adjustment you don't even neeed a shop, just a parking lot and a tape measure - - and "close" is good enough, as long as you have a little.

Did they check the caster?

 

So this morning I gave the alignment shop a call to help translate what these numbers and degrees mean...in their words the total amount of toeplaced kn my jeep is just a "tick" towards toe in, or " A hair" ......so I asked if a hair might mean an 1/8" towards toe in and he said no it's mostly dead centered.....I didn't want to be a dick ...but he insists zero to a hair is correct and any wandering is due to my warn out steering box...

 

Given rear toe out in addition to too little front toe in will give you lots of wander.

And don't worry bein' a dick. You can't be near as big a dick as the tech. I would insist they fix it.
Perhaps another shop can do a free "check", and take their print out as well as your specific Jeeps specs...

 

Never mind who is bigger. But a worn out steering box is irrelevant, even if true. "Large Richard" is having a problem with basic concepts.

If the alignment (toe) is correct, the jeep should track and the wheels return to 'center' even if the steering box was totally disconnected.

This assumes other actually important parts are not worn - such as king pins, tie rod ends, etc. I had a "alignment" done by a shop that completely ignored a dangerously worn out ball joint - which would actually make an accurate alignment impossible.

 

According to the alignment sheet, OP does have about a half degree more left camber.
Not enough to visualize...not enough to be a problem.
Pete is right on about toe in correcting wander-it will, on a flat surface road, self-center straight, hands off (or box disconnected).
I once hauled a 14000 pound Woods planer on a triple axle behind an E350 van which exceeded tongue weight, hence unloaded the front end. Those old twin I beams were hell to align-caster, ride height, front/rear weight distribution would affect the other parameters. After wrestling the load from Orlando to Savannah, i finally got under the front end with a tape measure and cranked in almost quarter inch of toe, was much easier driving afterwards. Of course, deadheading south required I re-toe it....

 

0,7 degree of caster on right on 1.2 on left, huge problem here. Should be around 6-8 degree. Caster is what make the wheel return to center. I would had a 6 degree shim betweeb leaf and axle.

Second a worn steering box will affect the handling a lot you need to fix this asap. Having a 1/32 of free steering wheel turn aint the best to keep it strait.

 

.05 degrees of total front toe is approx equal to .025 inches of toe.

You want .06 inches to .125 inches of front toe in.

Yes, your front caster is probably too low for radial tires, but it's not causing your wander, just poor steering returnability.
A full degree of camber on the left front tells me your front axle is beat. You are going to have tire wear issues.

The small amount of toe out on the rear axle will not affect you because it is a solid axle.
IF it was an independent rear suspension, when brake dive occurs, toe out and wander can occur. You have no appreciable amount of rear camber change to translate into toe out, so no wander caused by the rear.

 

The front toe-in and caster are too little. Front toe should be 1/16" ideally but I've set them as high as 1/8" in some circumstances. Front caster should be 3 degrees positive MINIMUM for good tracking regardless of radial or bias ply tires. 5-7 degrees if running oversized tires works well. Any less than 5 degrees with larger tires and it's common to have wandering issues. Couple the two together and I'm surprised you don't have serious death wobble. If that "technician" insists that 0 degrees toe in is ok and that caster is ok, take it somewhere else or do it yourself with a tape measure and a simple angle finder.

As far as the front camber difference goes, it was common for the factory to build a little excessive positive camber into the front axle due to the skinnier tires used in the old days and it typically put the load on the inner wheel bearing where the spindle was stronger. The difference has me a little concerned. I would suggest checking wheel bearing adjustment, ball joint condition, etc. as the difference can certainly cause a pull. As far as tire wear, it can accelerate it on the side that is more positive since you have wider tires.

The rear thrust angle indicates probably one spring has sagged a little bit or maybe spring bushings are worn a bit. Not enough to worry about though as far as thrust angle goes.