Front arms, bushings, tie rods replaced, now darty steering?

[LTDScott]

I just replaced the front lower control arms, control arm bushings (OEM rubber M3 offset), and inner/outer tie rods on my '87 325e. The job was remarkably easy compared to some of the horror stories I've read online. I adjusted the new tie rods to be the same length as the old ones, but I know that due to the added caster, an alignment is definitely needed.

Once I got the car back together, I decided to drive it down the street just to make sure everything was put together properly, and immediately turning out of the driveway, the steering wheel wanted to continue turning instead of returning back to center naturally. The steering felt kinda "vague" too. My immediate thought was that I left the lug nuts loose, but nope. I checked everything underneath and it's all tight, no play anywhere.

I drove it down the street and it felt very wandery. WTF, I thought the additional caster is supposed to make straight line stability better! The only thing I'm not 100% sure of is whether the M3 CABs were oriented correctly. I think they are -- the holes on the bushings are oriented to the outside of the car, which in turn moved the front of the control arm forward giving more caster. That's correct, right?

I'm hoping I'm just being paranoid and the alignment is the issue. This presents a problem for me though as my car isn't street legal and I was planning on flat towing it to the alignment shop (I have a tow bar that I bolt to the front end), and I don't want to do this with a whacked suspension since the caster and returnability to center is what keeps the front tires straight while towing. I suppose I could check the toe first.

Opinions?

[StereoInstaller1]

Get your toe adjusted before panic eats your brain

[Curt Hayes]

Get your toe adjusted before panic eats your brain

Definitely. Moving the wheels forward with the tie rods the same length as they were will give you a huge amount of toe out. No wonder it feels weird. If these cars had the rack in front of the axle, then you'd have the opposite problem.

[LTDScott]

I didn't think that increasing caster would affect the toe that much. But I guess the easy solution for now to make sure is to center the steering and check the distance from tire to tire in front of and behind the axle line, and make em pretty equal. If I can get it to be stable enough to flat tow, I'd be happy, since I'd to it straight to the alignment shop.

[jlevie]

It isn't difficult to adjust the front toe. You'll need a couple of toe plates, which are just L shaped aluminum a bit longer than with width of the tires. The foot of the L is only to make the toe plate stand up. A field expedient is plywood. Put the toe plates against the wheels and measure the between the plates on the front and back of the wheels. Adjust the tie rods to have 1/16-3/32" of toe in. It is a bit help to have a helper for this and two tape measures make the process go faster.

If when you are done the steering wheel isn't centered, turn both tie in the same direction to center the wheel.

[Curt Hayes]

If all you want to do is get down the road to the alignment shop, you might try what I did:
I just used a carpenter's square and pencil on my garage floor. My tires have a center groove, which made it easy. Mark on the floor in front and behind the tire on both sides, using the square to go straight down from the same side of the groove both front and rear. Measure the distance between each set of marks and adjust by HALF of the difference. Do half or you just end up making the error be in the opposite direction.
It's not all that accurate, but pretty easy.

[LTDScott]

Yeah, I just want it good enough to not have wacky self steering while towing to the alignment shop. I've done a quick and dirty toe set before. I don't have toe plates or carpenter's squares, so a couple of 2x4s will have to do. I just want to get the toe near 0 with the steering centered (check lock to lock and divide by two).

[whodwho]

You can use two jack stands on each side with a string stretched between them for reference.

[jlevie]

That works too and is how I align the race car. It is a bit overkill for the front wheels but is necessary for the rear wheels. One of these days I'm going to make some string anchors that clamp onto my DB bumpers. That would make four wheel alignment a trivial process.

[StereoInstaller1]

guy charged me $20 at a local shop to set the toe on mine...screw all that string and measuring tape crap, I will drive a mile and a half and pay $20 any damn day rather than crawl my fat ass under the car!

[LTDScott]

guy charged me $20 at a local shop to set the toe on mine...screw all that string and measuring tape crap, I will drive a mile and a half and pay $20 any damn day rather than crawl my fat ass under the car!

Reading is fundamental - my car isn't street legal, so I have to get the tow close enough to correct that I can tow the car to the alignment shop and THEN pay someone to do it accurately, heh.

[JoeyBones]

get a reputable shop too...i went to a mieneke here and paid $65 for a 4wheel alignment...what a damn waste...I know it still isn't correct although it shows within spec on his computer...but mine handles just as yours does.

[Curt Hayes]

get a reputable shop too...i went to a mieneke here and paid $65 for a 4wheel alignment...what a damn waste...I know it still isn't correct although it shows within spec on his computer...but mine handles just as yours does.

Maybe your car's just worn out. :)

[LTDScott]

It was just the toe as suspected. The toe was WAY in. Adjusted it out to as close to 0 as I could, took it for a quick drive, and it's back to normal.

Next week I'll tow it into an alignment shop to get it done properly, but at least I can tow it now.