coming home from NM the afternoon i got hurtabout 4 weeks ago i was going down I-10 somewhere east of Sonora when i started to doze off, my truck was out of alignment and pulled to the right pretty good. when i started dozing off i relaxed my left pressure on the wheel and drifted into a guard rail grinding my lug nuts and bending the wheel studs before i could correct it.

I'm feeling a lot better so i got my tape measure and fixed the alignment today, drives much better. I'll take it down and have it done at the tire place after i replace the wheel studs, but it drive pretty damn straight now.

Glad all you got out of that was an alignment, Roger!

Wow! Close call there.

Alignment has always been a mystery to me. My pickup's and Land Cruiser can go 100K+ miles and never need to be touched. Every car we have ever owned can't get through a single set of tires without being massaged.

Next time your tired set the auto pilot.



Driving and sleeping don't mix. Many moons ago I was on the freeway and dozed off, I woke up with a semi driver blowing his horn, I looked out my drivers window and could see the trailer inches from my car. Lucky for me the driver was alert and not only blowing his horn but moving towards the side of the road to give me room.

I have never dozed off since.

i learned how to do it using a tape measure, its not prefect but you can get it pretty damn close.

Running 'bout 3/4 to 7/8" Toe in ?

GTC

it was 2 1/4, i adjusted it to 3/4

this pretty much how i do it.

You were lucky

it should pull right but slowly, it's better than left which yields a head on collision.

....are you kicking the RHS of the rear axle forward (AGAIN 3/4 TO 7/8") a bit, Too ?
....in other words the wheel hub centers are than closer together on the drivers side ?

GTC

no i haven't, going to take it to the tire shop and have it all done once i change the wheel studs.

I've had a few close calls although not quite that bad. Just find the nearest convenient and safe spot, pull over and get a nap.

Glad you are ok. Yep you can get em close with a tape.

Rebuilt the front end on my FJ40 soon after I bought it.
Aligned it myself until I bought new tires, and then would have it done right.
Twenty-three years later I sold it, and never did another thing to the front end.
Read the book and got lucky I guess, never pulled, and the tires wore even, so it can happen.

stxhunter - glad you came out unhurt and with so little damage to the truck. Admire your doing the Q&D alignment yourself - good stuff - but fixing damage like that is minor compared to fixing your body. Hoping you don't have that problem again.

yeah i shouldn't of drove home after fracturing my collar bones, but i was worried if i didn't i'd be too stoved up the next day.

Bones? As in both?

yeah, they still hurt a little, going back to work next week. fell backwards out of a truck bed quail hunting.

A month or so ago I bought a kit to let me do my own alignment. This for my "modernized" 73 Mach One coil over system. Given my short of "experience" with the locals and their digital data I have no doubt I will nail it.

I-10 somewhere West of Sonora, maybe 1am, westbound doing maybe 80, nearly drove right into the back of a slower moving vehicle.

Snapped awake, oversteered, and ended up fishtailing in the fast lane, very nearly wrecked.

I do believe people fall asleep and wreck on I-10 somewhere in West Texas all the time.

Birdwatcher

Screw the alignment.
The rest of us drivers would appreciate you narcoleptics to just pull your a$$ over and take a nap BEFORE you kill someone!

...just sayin'.

Ed, if you happen across a set of Snap On gauges, snap em up. Easy to use and as good as the best but not very flashy.
In fact, one gauge is all you need along with a toe in bar.