Georgia Fiero Club Forum

All Things Fiero => Expert Tech Advice => Topic started by: TopNotch on March 28, 2015, 03:25:53 pm

Title: String Wheel Alignment
Post by: TopNotch on March 28, 2015, 03:25:53 pm

The tires on the rear of my 88 coupe Fiero have been wearing too fast, and the wear pattern told me that the tow-in was too much. I've had it aligned in a tire place twice, but they never did the rear. The pipe wrench marks on one of the adjusters told me that someone tried to adjust it, but a pipe wrench is NOT the best way to do it. More on that later.
I decided to do it myself with a "string alignment". To do this, you tie a string around the wheels, like this:

Make sure the front wheels are pointed straight ahead. To do this, sight along the string on each side, and make sure it is straight. Now, check where the string hits the rear wheels, as in this picture

It's hard to tell from this picture, but the string is more than 1/4" from the front of this rear wheel. That's way too much tow-in.
The rear tow adjusters on an 88 Fiero are slotted sleeves secured by bands with nuts and bolts. The best way to turn these sleeves is with a tool like this:

After loosening the bands, you insert whichever end of the tool gives you the best angle into the sleeve's slot, and turn the sleeve. The tool spreads the sleeve apart a bit, making it easier to turn (but it still takes a lot of effort). To decrease tow-in, turn each sleeve so that the bottom turns toward the front of the car. Adjust each wheel so that the front of the wheel just touches the string. Since the front track is slightly narrower than the rear track (I checked this in the manual), you will still have a very slight amount of tow-in, which is fine.
Note: Other year Fieros have conventional tie rods in the rear, and adjusting these is a lot easier than the 88 adjusters. But the procedure would be similar.

Title: Re: String Wheel Alignment
Post by: Raydar on March 28, 2015, 05:29:24 pm

Excellent!
I didn't think about doing it that way.
I rigged up a couple of boards, supported by jackstands, across each end of the car. I marked off the same distance on both boards, and ran the strings between the marks, from front to rear. I used measurements from the wheel lips to the strings to set the toe.

Yours sounds like a lot less trouble.