Toe in/out adjustment

Good people of the site.

I noticed a while ago that the tires were wearing unevenly on the ‘old bugger’ especially on the inner edge. After consulting the Haynes manual and feeling the tire it matched the description of the kind of wear that incorrect toe in/out could cause.

After a quick search on this site on how to do it I spent a happy afternoon trying to undo the track rod ends so that I could adjust the length to give me the desired measurements. Initially it was 2 cm out. I have now got it down to 2 mm.

Question 1…Is 2 cm waaaaaay out and would cause this kind of wear?

I could only get one end of the track rod undone so I adjusted the length using that one.

Question 2…Does it make any difference only adjusting the one end?

I took it for a test drive and it felt ok, no real difference to the steering (I didn’t go that far)

Question 3…If I got it badly wrong what behavior should I expect from the handling?

Many Thanks

1) yes
2) No but its alot more difficult.
3) Bad tyre wear

Sweet, Thanks MHM

Just take note, once tyres start wearing on one edge they will continue to wear a lot there, so you probably won't notice the wear on the inner edge has got better until you replace them.

I suspected as much. I'll be looking to replace them pretty soon I should imagine. Thanks for the info...

After doing the alignment, (you want parrallel to slight toe in) move your tyres front to back, and keep an eye on them.
Usually a sign of toe out is that the vehicle tends to follow white lines etc, i.e. not directionally stable (wanders a bit). that is apart from worn inner edges. Normally with defender you should be able to hold the wheel still about 99% of the time. HTSH

From the measurements I took I'm pretty confident its about 2mm toe in. Sadly the rear tires are ready for replacing too, so its cheap as I can find tires time, I'll probably ring round the local scrap yards. It doesn't seem to wander at all, so I think I'm ok. Its nice to know it fits your description. I'll see what the next set wear like.

Many thanks