tape measure.  .03 inches = 1.92/64ths, or about 1/32"

It's a lot of manual labor.  Roll car back and forth, measure, adjust,
repeat.  We do my race car that way, but since the guy at the end of the
street has an alignment machine now, I'm probably just going there
instead of spending all night with a tape measure.

Ray

   Use a steel tape!  Jack up front end.  Hold a pc of chalk against middle
of treads & have someone rotate tires to put marks all around
circumferences.  Measure mark-to-mark on front.  Do same, horizontally, on
back.  When your adjustment has them even, toe-in should be zero.  Would
prolly be best to re-check & re-adjust if needed, to get that zero when
weight of front end is resting on ground/floor/whatever--after it is resting
weight on floor, spring front up and down a couple of times before checking.
On older cars which called for 1/8 inch "in", that method was about as good
as anyone needed.  s

Google "Stringing a car", and you should get several hits. It's easier
than it sounds from the description - I've done it on my own car a few
times. Granted, I have no illusions that I got anywhere near hundredths
of an inch accuracy, but it was close enough. (And to be honest, I have
*SERIOUS* doubts that *ANY* vehicle - even a 2007 model, never mind a 20
year old pickup - specs toe-in to the hundredth of an inch. As you say,
it isn't exactly easy to even READ that, let alone SET it... As far as
that goes, I'd be surprised if any vehicle that age is even CAPABLE of
that tight an adjustment - slop in the tie-rod ends alone could easily
exceed that)

Another method is to chalk a centerline in the tread of each front tire,
then, with the wheels pointing straight ahead, measure from tire to tire
at the front of the tires, then, without moving anything but the tape,
measure again at the rear of the tires. Try to measure as close to the
level of the axle-spindle as possible in both cases. Ideally, if you're
looking at the driver's side wheel, you want to measure at the 3 o'clock
and 9 o'clock points on the tire.

Adjust your tie-rods and re-measure. Repeat as needed until both
measurements are the same. You'll be AT LEAST good enough to get to a
shop without completely eating your tires, and you may very well be
close enough that the shop won't end up doing anything meaningful. (But
*DON'T* rely on this method to get things "right". It's nothing more
than a "band-aid" so that you can get to someplace to do it right. Run
too long on this "fix", and chances are real good you're going to start
eating tires like there's gonna be no tomorrow.)

Thanks for the suggestions, that and a bit of research should get me on
my way to the alignment shop.

Out of curiosity, when the spec calls for 0.03 in (or whatever), is that
the difference at the edge of the rim or at the tread on the originally
equipped tires?

=======
=======

If you're not going more than 10 miles or so to get to the
alignment shop.....then use the tape measure method
that's been described.  The wear will be negligable
within that amount of mileage and virtually non-existant.

fact, not fiction........

here's what we used to use back in the 70's for damned acurate
toe alinement on vehicals at the body shop......

take a piece of pipe long enough to reach past the outter edge of
both tires when layed across the front of the vehicle......

scribe your center line on both tires as described in the other
posts......
all you need is a veriticle reference line..no need to be balls on
exact......eyeball will do the trick...ONLY about a 1/2  inch long.

bend 2 ......16 penny nails at 90 degrees and use hose clamps to
attach them to the pipe to make adjustable pointers.
(no nails ??....anything with a point on it.)

now.......read ray's post about roll'n the car back in forth...
because that is EXACTLY the BEST way to insure you're
balls on with yer toe setting.

put the vehicle on level ground...move forward a couple feet
insureing the STEERING WHEEL is straight...stop with the
reference mark DEAD CENTER of the radius of the tire, with
the mark on to the front.

SET..your toe gauge to those marks.

Then....KEEPING THE STEERING WHEEL STRAIGHT...
move the car to the rear making at least one full rotation of
the tire, with the reference mark to the rear.

Adjust your toe HALF of the amount that it's off by your
toe gauge.

Repeat proceedure untill your toe is set to ZERO.

then.........

when you git back from the alignment shop.......
do a repost...let us know what the PRE-ALIGNMENT..
toe setting was.

jest fer giggles.

~:~
MarshMonster
~takes a toke........tries to remember something else from
the 70's...............nope.....still don't remember where he
planted it~
~:~

.....jack each wheel up and put a few inches of masking tape on opposite sides (180 degrees front to rear).
Then with a firmly positioned ball point pen, mark lines on front and rear by rotating tire...not moving the
ball point pen.  To measure the distance between the rear marks, improvise a "caliper-like" U-shape device,
perhaps of wood and coat-hanger wire (to clear the body) and carefully set it to the rear distance between ink marks.
Then carefully move it to the front marks without changing its setting. Note the difference in the spacing,
zero for zero toe-in, or 1/8" less in front for 1/8" toe-in, for example.

Eastwood sells a Wheel Alignment Guage for $45. I have never used it,
but it might be worth a try.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=2450&itemType=PRODUCT
Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

Got a local race track?  As in circle track?  Go into the pits and watch
the crews between races.  I guarantee you'll see at least 3 different
ways to set toe.