I searched and searched for a practical way to do the alignment and this method was by far the easiest and most painless. Thank you SO much for sharing your expertise as it helped not only me but many people who struggle to keep our carts on the road. If you have any easy fix for bouncing after installing new tires, I am all ears. mine almost shakes my fillings loose.
a few things to keep in mind, make sure before you start to make any adjustments that the tires are properly inflated. I put them to 20psi then make sure the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position and check it after you make any toe adjustments, if I was doing an alignment on a car I would have a proper steering wheel lock and leave it on till I was finished all adjustments, also when doing a car there would be computer heads that attach to the 2 rear wheels that reference where the back wheels are and guarantee a straight wheel when done correctly . Cars are easy because the commuter tells you exactly which tie rod to turn. The way I do it in this video is still very simple in that you can adjust your total toe in fairly accurately in a couple of minutes. Before you start and with the steering wheel in the straight ahead position stand several feet in front and eyeball the front 2 wheels to see weather you need to make a toe in OR toe out adjustment .
won't the toe measurement depend on the both the size of the tires and the length of boards on the sides of the tires? Nothing was said about where along the length of the boards the measurement is made. A slight difference in that distance will result in a different toe measurement making it difficult to repeat the measurement in the same way.
thank you for pointing this out. It makes no difference how long the 2 side boards are, as long as you take the measurement as close to the front and back of the tire The size of the tire will not alter this reading, Of course as in any alignment all 4 tires should be equal, and the steering kept straight . If you have any other questions please ask
I have an 08 gas Club Car 4 seater. Is the steering supposed to automatically straighten out after a sharp turn on pavement? Like a car? On mine, I have to help the steering unwind. Thanks!
most definitely start by jacking it up and making sure there is nothing bent, and that the king pins are free, if everything is good then do a grease job and alignment
How do you alone front wheels to back wheels. I always seam to end up with one wheel off I deal with carts that have destroyed the rack after hitting a tree the mount plate is never perfect after I try to repair it and adjust the tie rods to accommodate. These are Yamaha cars
Iv'e watched several cart alignment videos and you are the first one too advise toe in. Everyone else goes for zero toe in or out. My yamaha cart ran great at high speeds with rather large toe out. I adjusted the toe for both wheels at zero toe. It was wildly all over the road and an inexperienced driver could probably flip it over in 100yds at full speed. Although it ran perfectwith toe out, I will' try slightly in now. Which is it 8/10 or 1/8 inch? Pretty big diference.
Honest question: If we're dealing with tiny increments of 1/8", will depending on a slat of wood (that may or may not be straight) pressed against a lumpy tire really give us accurate enough readings?
good question, I would not have put this on if i did not believe it works. Over the years I have done hundreds of carts . Every time one comes in for service I check the alignment.I have even worked as a car mechanic and when the Garage didn't have an alignment machine we used the same principle only with a metal bar instead of wood.
Great video. I used your method and it worked well to set my total toe in. I have a question. If someone previously worked on my cart, is there a way to determine that the toe is equal on both sides? Beyond eyeballing it, how can I determine that my front wheels are square to the rear with zero toe in or out? The distance across the rear tires is wider than the front on my Club Car Precedent.
Ok so in answer to your 1st question this does measure the total toe either in or out. Ideally the outer tie rods should have the same amount of thread showing. For safety reasons you would not want turned on by only a couple of turns. For example if you were replacing the str.rack you would start of by putting the tie rods on an equal amount of turns, say 10 or 20 and then do the alignment. Where you could get in trouble is if the cart has been in an accident. Besides checking the the a frame's make sure the front leaf spring has not shifted.Also when you set the toe make sure the str.wheel is in the straight ahead position. It is a good idea to turn the str. wheel lock to lock to confirm true center. So if it is 3 turns lock to lock , then when you are say all the way right then turn it back one and a half turns. The wheel should now be in the straight ahead position. If not remove the wheel and reposition it .
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have 9/16" exposed threads on the tie rod ends up to the lock nuts on both the right and left sides so I am probably good to go.
@@jerryberanek1310 that is a good sign. the bottom line is that once you have set the total toe the tires should wear evenly. Now if the str. wheel is not straight there are ways to fix that.
@@davidandsuzy2516 The top center of the steering wheel is closer to 11:00 than to 12:00. If I put the center of the steering wheel at 12:00 the cart travels to the right. I saw a picture of a club car precedent with the steering wheel removed and that particular cart showed a number of flats where the steering wheel sat on, not a thin splined shaft that would have minimal adjustments to center. I would guess if I moved the steering wheel one flat to the right I would overshoot center in that direction?
@@jerryberanek1310 there are 2 choices #1 you can remove the str. wheel and reposition it. #2 when the str. wheel is off to the left you turn the (adjust) the tie rods to the left. To do this lengthen the drivers side a quarter turn and shorten(toe in) the passenger side a quarter turn This all based on the fact that the total toe is correct. So remember if you shorten one side , then you lengthen the other side an equal amount.. All told with set up and adjustments it is still only a 10 minute job. But then I have done lots of them . Thanks for subscribing David
@@davidandsuzy2516 not sure, I did buy it from a golf club that was liqquidating old stock. I just know it is a 1991 CLub Car DS. Maybe I am just looking at it wrong? I was thinking that tie rods are connected to the hub spindles and then maybe the bar that is called a steering link or drag link and they just look like tie rods on the ends. Thanks for the reply
