Wheel Alignment

[AustHaflinger]

In the process of replacing the shock absorbers I found there were washers between some of the drag links and swing arms. Unfortunately I only noticed them when they fell out when pulling the bottom of the shock out of the drag link and I am now not sure how many were inserted in each position. It is not such an issue with the front wheels as a standard wheel alignment will take any misalignment into account.

However the rear wheels are different - I do not see any alignment spaces in the parts manual so I assume that when I get a wheel alignment done and they come to do the rear wheels they will just place spacers/shims between the rear drag links and swing arms if required.

Am I correct? or how are the wheel wheels aligned.

Thanks

Garry

[heinkeljb]

In the parts book, in section 4, you have a washer(s) item 38. This controls how far forward or backward that side of the swing arm is compared to the prop shaft / diff. In the worse case, with big difference between the two sides you could end up with vehicle that "crabs" when driving down the road even though the wheel alignment is correct..

There is a section in the repair manual which covers this, or was it the operator manual?

The parts book list item 39 (as being for the rear axle) which might mean they are not fitted on the front? All I can see that item doing is altering the length of the available thread.

Somehow you have to make sure that he rear axle on both sides is 90 degrees to the prop shaft / rear diff. I suppose you could make a tool / jig which you could bolt to the prop shaft, come out at 90 degrees far enough for you to use a threaded rod and a couple of lock nuts to butt it up against a point on the rear swing arm. then do the same on the other side. Depending on how strong you make the Jig, you should be able to the accuracy down to at least .5mm

All this assume you can find a suitable place on the prop shaft that is the same on both sides! The mounting points for the drag arms are NOT suitable as they might be A: welded on in slightly different places and B: might be slightly different lengths (batch production and all that).

I wonder if you might be able just to measure from the back plates of the hubs to the same points on the diff to get your distances correct to make the swing axle 90 degrees to the diff?

Good luck!

John

[heinkeljb]

I have just re-read the post and realize I have not answered the fundamental question!

Wheel alignment usually starts from the rear of the vehicle. Most rear wheels setups are no adjustable so they base the laser beam light system on those wheels, shine it forward to a gauge on the front wheels, then using manufactures data, alter the steering tie rods in or out till the correct measurement is shown on the gauge.

So you need to get the rear axles at 90 degrees to the prop shaft / diff to start with.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Thanks John - yes I haven't touched the drag link setup on the chassis tube. The page you referred to in the parts book does not show any washers/shims on the hub end but mine did have some.

I will have to get a front wheel alignment done as I had pulled some steering stuff off and on so I will get them to just check the rears as well - I will remove the extra washers so it is like the parts book and take it from there.

Maybe the previous owner found it easier to align the rear by adding/removing washers at the hub end rather than at the chassis end.

Cheers

Garry

[heinkeljb]

I have just had a "quick" squint at the shock absorber end on mine.

Both sides seem to have at least 1 washer between (section 4), item 31 and item 1 (On the front axle.) - it is all still a bit "cruddy" just there as I did not clean that bit whilst dealing with my hubs. (which is still on going!)

Unfortunately with the rear wheels on it is too difficult to get a good look to see if there are any on the rear. As soon as I can get there, I will check and let you know. Even if you put it back together without any washers like the book shows, you can always put them in at a later date if it becomes apparent they really are needed.

John

[heinkeljb]

The repair manual says to do wheel alignment with 2 people in the cab, and then ZERO toe in. What weight are these 2 people? - The description of how to carry it out is quite good.

I wonder if you can "borrow" 6 bags of cement / sand / gravel etc, (should come to ~75kg) when you have a go at it? It should be easy to make an expanding threaded bar system with a 10cm threaded bar joiner. Then expand it so that it touches the inside (rear) edge of the front wheel,. Make a chalk mark where you made the measurement to on the rim. Push the Hafi forward until the mark is in front of the axle at the same height as when you measure with it when it was behind the axle. Adjust the tie rods until you get ZERO difference.
Just remember if you have disturbed both side steering tie rods, you have to make adjustment on BOTH. If you only disturbed one side it should be OK just to make adjustments on that side.

Push the Hafi back and forwards a few times before you start taking measurements to allow the suspension to settle with the weight in the cab. Take at least 4 readings from around the rims to allow for bent rims / dings where you are measuring to.

(Anybody would think we are the only two who ever do any thing to their Hafi's! )

John

[heinkeljb]

Found this in the operators manual:-

Toe In.jpg (51.15 KiB) Viewed 1221 times

Pretty diagram to help explain it and all!

John

Only it says 2 - 4 mm and the repair manual says ZERO, Must be down to updating of specifications, I wonder which was produced last? The diagram above was "stolen" (hope he doesn't mind..) from the manual uploaded to Goatwerks.

Anybody got any preferences as to what he Toe in should be?