2007 Chrysler Town & Country Alignment Settings

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Hey all,

I'll most likely be buying new tires for my 2007 Chrysler Town & Country in the next year or so, and may be getting an alignment done on it soon. I recently replaced the outer tie rod ends, and did a home alignment on the toe. And it's decent; it drives stable and straight. There's a mild-to-moderate amount of edge feathering on the right side front tire, but interestingly, the left side seems to be wearing perfect. I have almost 40,000 miles on the current tires, so I plan to get an alignment done soon to maximize the life I have left on them (about 6/32").

I will list the alignment settings, as noted by the Factory Service Manual.

Preferred {and range}

Camber: +0.10* {-0.30* to +0.50*}
Caster: +2.31* {+1.31* to +3.31*} Total toe: +0.10* {-0.10* to +0.30*}

In my experience, a little camber can be helpful for tire wear, if within reason. I'm thinking about asking for -0.10* to -0.20* of camber. I also prefer the least amount of total toe (Left/Right toe is not given). I've had this van at both extremes when doing my home alignment (toe in and toe out), and the van drove pretty stable at all settings. It didn't seem to be wandery, even when toed out quite a bit. I'm guessing that I'd want a slight amount of static toe OUT here, right? Is a positive total toe, toe out, and a negative total toe, toe in?

I have no idea what my alignment settings are right now. It's never been checked, and tire wear has been okay. It's always feathered the outer edges of the front tires. It's a heavy FWD minivan with a MacPherson strut front suspension.

Alignment experts, what do you recommend for me so that I can achieve the most even tire wear? I understand that tire wear is often sacrificed for vehicle stability. I also understand that factory preferences and tolerance ranges are not always great either. What do you think about my preference for a slight amount of negative camber and a slight amount of static toe out?

Thanks!
 
I would skip the toe out and try to toe in just a little.

Describe your jig: Mine is a laser level held at 4 and 8 oclock on the front tire sidewall bulges. Aim the level at the rear tires and miss them by 1/2 inch or so for very minor toe in.

Isn't feathering a strut/shock issue? Halfway through a set of tires at 40k on a van, you're doing something right.
 
Most alignment racks at any service center have not been cal'd in over a year and are WAY out. Ask tehm for certicicate of calibration. I was lucky once and got a good alignment at a Nissam place - nissan require 2x/year alignment rack cal for the z cars. So, Might as well NOT have anyone align the van if they cant show cal certificate. Most FWD geometry work best with 0 to POSITIVE camber since the way ackermann steering geo works with (crummy) mac struts. Good luck. Toyota Service ruined my steering!
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
.....In my experience, a little camber can be helpful for tire wear, if within reason.........


I can see where that might be true, but certainly high levels of camber cause problems.

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
........I also prefer the least amount of total toe (Left/Right toe is not given)........


Toe is the most important alignment setting - and you want to get as close to nominal as possible.

There is a bit of compliance (meaning, the suspension moves a bit when subjected to driving forces.) and the toe under power changes. I strongly suspect that the static nominal values published by the car manufacturers takes this into account - although I don't even have anecdotal evidence for that!
 
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Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Most FWD geometry work best with 0 to POSITIVE camber since the way ackermann steering geo works with (crummy) mac struts.


Both of my Mopars specify neutral or slightly positive camber; one sports MacPherson struts and the other has a traditional short/long arm front suspension. And both will feather the outer edge of the front tires predictably.

Both Toyotas I've owned (both with MacPherson front struts) have specified slightly negative front camber, and while both have/will feather the outer edge of the front tires, it's not nearly as quick to happen, and the pattern seems much slighter. Although suspension design plays a part I'm sure, the only significant difference in alignment setting is the camber.

Since Chrysler allows for some negative camber on this minivan, I think I'm going to ask for as close to zero as they can get it, erring on the negative side I guess.

Regarding total toe, am I correct to assume that positive total toe is toe out, and negative total toe is toe in? If that's the case, Chrysler wants just a hint of total toe out.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I would skip the toe out and try to toe in just a little.

Describe your jig: Mine is a laser level held at 4 and 8 oclock on the front tire sidewall bulges. Aim the level at the rear tires and miss them by 1/2 inch or so for very minor toe in.

Isn't feathering a strut/shock issue? Halfway through a set of tires at 40k on a van, you're doing something right.


Right now, I think it's toed in some. Here's my jig: a set of ramps and a 7/8" wrench for the lock nut and a Vice Grips to turn the inner tie rod.
smile.gif
I've got the steering wheel dead on-center, so I adjust each side equally when I adjust it. It's been trial and error so far. I started with too much toe out, and that actually wore the INSIDE edge of the tires with the feather pattern. I over-compensated and now I think I have too much toe in. I need to toe them out a little more and see what happens. The front tire wear is my gauge here. I'm not far out either way. Slight adjustments here seem to make a big difference.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


Regarding total toe, am I correct to assume that positive total toe is toe out, and negative total toe is toe in? If that's the case, Chrysler wants just a hint of total toe out.


Positive toe is normally toe in, negative toe out. IIRC, some companies use the opposite.

Rule of thumb, on a FWD, close to 0 toe with a bit of toe out (negative) is usually good. When you are driving the thrust of the wheels on the pavement causes a small amount of toe in, so if you guess right on the toe out you end up neutral during average driving.

Quote:
Total toe: +0.10* {-0.10* to +0.30*}

Looks like Chrysler wants +0.10 toe in. It's prolly a good idea to start there instead of the old rule of the thumb unless you have other solid info.
 
I completely forgot about checking toe with a tape rule. I'm 1/4" toed in, which is at least double the old 1/8" rule of thumb. I'll set it to 0 toe and reassess. Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I completely forgot about checking toe with a tape rule. I'm 1/4" toed in, which is at least double the old 1/8" rule of thumb. I'll set it to 0 toe and reassess. Thanks!


1/8= total toe assuming 25 inch diameter tires = 0.14 degree total toe.

You didn't say how you were measuring toe with your tape, but...

If you jack the car up, spin each front wheel and mark it with a scribe, narrow marker or whatever, you will be able to get an accurate measurement.

For your final check, let the car roll with no steering or brake input and measure what you have then.
 
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Thanks. And I think you typically measure with the tape rule at 90* on the tire...at is, the very front and very back of the tire. With the vehicle height constraints, I was only able to measure about 35* up from the ground on the tire, front and back, so any measurement I get at that point should represent an even greater number at the 90* mark on the tires.

In other words, I have even more toe in than the number suggests.
 
I'm thinking that normal specs call for about 1/32" toe in per side, making the total toe in 2/32nds = 1/16".

You need to check to see what the published values are. If you don't, you may inadvertently set your vehicle to do toe out when driving - and that sometimes leads to some very strange handling.
 
The published values (posted in the first post) allow for 0 toe, so that's what I set it at today. It actually may be toed out just a hair at static ride height (less than 1/16" difference) but it's awfully close. And if I listen to the tires on a sharp turn, I hear almost no tread scrubbing now.

I think it'll be much better. I also swapped the front two tires, so I'll see how they wear from here. Thanks guys.
 
Positive is toe in and negative is toe out. So Chrysler calls for 0.10* of toe in, but acceptable values are 0.10* toe out to 0.30* toe in. I've got mine set right at zero, or maybe just a smidge of toe out. Being FWD, I should be nearly equal to zero toe while driving, or just a hair toed in. We'll see how the tires wear.
 
you def want them in just a bit rather than out. they will likely toe out some during hard braking, making the vehicle less stable, unless the rack is in front of the axles.
 
Originally Posted By: meep
you def want them in just a bit rather than out. they will likely toe out some during hard braking, making the vehicle less stable, unless the rack is in front of the axles.


Good point. Being FWD, the rack is behind the axle. Right now, it's close to dead-on neutral (at least as good as I can measure it), so we'll see how it wears. My Camry has had its alignment measured, and it's set at extremely close to zero toe (it actually has 0.03* of total toe in). I think I'll have the alignment checked on the van one of these days, and certainly before I buy new tires.
 
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