Toe-In

[jimainiac]

I just did the scheduled maintenance on our Kubota L3830HST, and one of the items was to check and adjust the front wheels' toe-in. The front of the front tires is supposed to be a wee bit closer than the back of them. Upon measuring, they were a bit toed out. It was easy to screw the tie rods in a bit to correct it. It made me wonder why you wouldn't want them to be equal, in the straight-ahead position. I also wondered how this would change, assuming they were adjusted right in the first place. It has power steering, if this makes a difference.
I wonder if other makes and models mention this adjustment in their maintenance schedules.

 

[3RRL]

I just did the scheduled maintenance on our Kubota L3830HST, and one of the items was to check and adjust the front wheels' toe-in. The front of the front tires is supposed to be a wee bit closer than the back of them. Upon measuring, they were a bit toed out. It was easy to screw the tie rods in a bit to correct it. It made me wonder why you wouldn't want them to be equal, in the straight-ahead position. I also wondered how this would change, assuming they were adjusted right in the first place. It has power steering, if this makes a difference.
I wonder if other makes and models mention this adjustment in their maintenance schedules.

My Kama 554 mentions adjusting the toe-in in one of the scheduled maintenence periods. The tie rods get bent and out of whack over use.

 

[coveredbridge]

Toe-in adjustment is part of the 200 hr service on the BX1500. Mine was still ok, near as I could tell.

 

[Tig]

Toe in makes a vehicle turn (handle) better, although I don't think it makes any significant diference on a tractor. We just don't go fast enough to notice better conering. I just tweeked mine to spec. It was also toed out, not sure why.

 

[john_bud]

I just did the scheduled maintenance on our Kubota L3830HST, and one of the items was to check and adjust the front wheels' toe-in. The front of the front tires is supposed to be a wee bit closer than the back of them. Upon measuring, they were a bit toed out. It was easy to screw the tie rods in a bit to correct it. It made me wonder why you wouldn't want them to be equal, in the straight-ahead position. I also wondered how this would change, assuming they were adjusted right in the first place. It has power steering, if this makes a difference.
I wonder if other makes and models mention this adjustment in their maintenance schedules.

Toe in is for on road manners. When the tires are exactly parallel, the vehicle will feel loose and will tend to wander a bit. If the tires are toe out, the vehicle will feel real wobbly and will tend to dart to the sides. When the tires are toe in, it gives the vehicle a self centering capability and better control.

The adjustment may or may not have been correct in the first place. Like others have said, hit a pot hole and it can bend a link and go out. I tend to think that it is more likely that it was never adjusted correctly. On a tractor, it takes a HECK of a whack to get out of adjustment. Just look at the size of the bars and compare to your car. The tractor is larger, but hits holes at a much lower speed.

 

[ksmmoto]

I just checked mine today for the 600 hour and it was toed in slight about 3/4" total. I just left it alone.

ksmmoto

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

I just did the scheduled maintenance on our Kubota L3830HST, and one of the items was to check and adjust the front wheels' toe-in. The front of the front tires is supposed to be a wee bit closer than the back of them. Upon measuring, they were a bit toed out. It was easy to screw the tie rods in a bit to correct it. It made me wonder why you wouldn't want them to be equal, in the straight-ahead position. I also wondered how this would change, assuming they were adjusted right in the first place. It has power steering, if this makes a difference.
I wonder if other makes and models mention this adjustment in their maintenance schedules.

Rear wheel drive tries to make the tires toe out while rolling. Therefore the toe in spec will make the tires run straight while rolling.

To much toe in or toe out effects tire wear and handling.

A front wheel drive car tries to pull the tires in .... so instead of toe in it is adjusted to have toe out to keep them going straight.

Any play in tie rods, drag link, bearings etc will effect toe in. If all is tight it prob was not ever set.

Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

 

[scott_vt]

Toe in is for on road manners. When the tires are exactly parallel, the vehicle will feel loose and will tend to wander a bit. If the tires are toe out, the vehicle will feel real wobbly and will tend to dart to the sides. When the tires are toe in, it gives the vehicle a self centering capability and better control.

Mornin John,
Excellent explanation ! Thats it in a nutshell. When I was restoring my 49 Super A I adjusted the tires to have about a 1/4" toe-in and it seems to work great on the paved road in road gear !

 

[KICK]

what I remember from wheel alignment class 30 years ago, was on a rear wheel drive vehicle a little toe in would cause the wheels to be parallel under load or at speed, because the tolerance stackup in the steering system and the natural tendency for the tires to toe out would cancel each other out.

or something like that.

on a high speed vehicle like a tractor, you need all the help you can get when you are coming off the high banks of Talladega, trying to get around little E.

 

[N80]

A little off topic but not much, but what is the purpose of the amount of (pos or neg?) camber in my Kubota L4400 4wd. The tops of the tires are much further apart than the bottoms. It came this way and is not adjustable. I guess it gives a tighter turning radius? Seems like the narrow stance would decrease stability though.