How Does One Convert "Angular" Alignment ...

[Mako Koiwai]

... specs to millimeters?

[Jason Flores]

this is what i have in my notes from the days you taught me all the tricks of home alignment..=)

1in = 25.4mm (corrrected) =) thanks steve
1/2" = 12.3 mm
1.4" = 6.2mm

4 degrees = 1/8" = 3.1mm
2 degrees = 1/16" = 1.5mm
1 degree = 1/32" = .75mm

Put them all there for completion.. =)

Anyone feel free to correct me, if its incorrect..=)

[Kristoffer Gjevre]

hmmm, interesting:
http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB91-049.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

5. Toe is measured as a distance or as an angle. When measuring toe as a distance, it
is found by measuring the difference between the center of the front of the tire and the
center of the rear of the tire at spindle height. The difference between the distances
is Total Toe.
When measured as an angle, the center line of the vehicle is zero degrees (0o, 0.00 o,
or 0o 00') and the angle of a line drawn through the center of the tire and wheel, as
viewed from the top, is the Toe angle for the individual wheel.

6. Nissan Total Toe specifications are given two (2) ways:
Distance: Millimeters and Decimal Inches
Angle: Degrees and Minutes
The following chart (Figure 5) shows the relationship between the common units of Total
Toe measurement. Conversions vary with wheel size. Reference the appropriate service
manual for exact specifications.
...
NOTE: When adjusting Total Toe on a vehicle with oversized tires, use the angle
values on the alignment machine. Oversized tires have a larger diameter.

Seems that if the spec is given in mm or inches one need to know how that was done or it will not be too accurate...

Anyway, seems like this table should do the conversion:
http://www.smartracingproducts.com/pdfd ... ersion.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And this may help:
http://www.smartracingproducts.com/pdfd ... ttings.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(I had to refresh the browser a couple of times to get the pdf to show up)

So in the case of my car, stock front toe is specified as 0.10 (and I assume toe-in and for each side) and if I were to measure on the wheel rim I can use the 18 inch column, which gives 0.0314 (for 6 minutes or 0.10 degrees), which also matches with google "sin(0.10 degree) * 18" which returns 0.0314159106, and that is approximately 1/32 inch toe-in...

Or in mm:
sin(0.10 degree) * 18 * 25.4 = 0.797964129

[Steve Towers]

y Jason Flores on 27 Dec 2010 21:23
this is what i have in my notes from the days you taught me all the tricks of home alignment..=)
1in = 24.5mm

It's actually 25.4

[Mako Koiwai]

Not if you dyslexic! Thanks Steve ... sorry Jason

[Marshall Grice]

you need to know the distance between the tape measures to convert distance to angle. Then it's just simple trig.

[Steve Towers]

Just put in your numbers. http://www.csgnetwork.com/righttricalc.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Will Kalman]

Or you can just use the linear measurements, figure out what works best for your car and driving style, and forget about the conversion to angles.

The tires don't know trig out on course

[Steve Towers]

Will is right of course, tires are stupid. Much like a fence post.

[Mako Koiwai]

? The shop manual is in degrees. I want to know what they recommend as stock oem settings. Remember the Vette is going back to milder street settings. Raised the car 1/4 inch, reduced Rebound, softened the nitrogen pressures a bit and looking at the stock alignment settings. I bought the the 3 volume shop manual off of Brian P.

For fun I tried the car out with almost no Caster. So Odd ... very light steering and virtually no centering. The car goes where you point it and just keeps going in that direction if you put no load on the steering wheel.

Put the Falken 452 street tires on the newly polished CCW wheels ... looks Sharp!

[Marshall Grice]

? The shop manual is in degrees. I want to know what they recommend as stock oem settings.

turns out the trig works both directions. you don't even need a calculator if you use the link that was given to you.