Everything you never wanted to know about wheel alignment on reverse trikes (or cars, trucks and all other front wheel steer vehicles)



First off just for simple validation purposes, not to be taken as chest pounding or arrogance in any degree. I am an engineer and designer of reverse trikes. It’s what I do and have patents and trademarks related to my work. And I do it all from design to fabrication and R&D, I have experienced much success and failure and learned valuable lessons from both.

The following is meant to be of assistance only, I do not do front end alignments for hire and this is not a solicitation of any kind.



There disclaimers aside;



One of the big questions people will ask me is “how do you do your front end alignment?”

Well on my designs there is no simple answer as my units have fully adjustable alignment configurations. Toe, caster, camber and ride height are all fully adjustable so several systems of alignment are involved.

But when it comes to the simplest and l do mean simplest – toe, there are several methods one may use.

Before going into this let’s see what toe really does. If you have positive camber (outward lean) on the wheels then each wheel will tend to drift apart so positive toe will compensate for this.

And then there is also a slight tire deflection that happens due to the rolling resistance of the tire so this also adds a slight amount of needed positive toe.

Will a simple toe alignment change the way the unit drives or handles? Well while the owner may think so the real answer is not really. I have purposely misaligned by using toe in of 1-1/2” to the other extreme of toe out 1-1/2” with only slight changes in handling and then only at slow speeds in tight corners. Excessive toe out will cause mild bump steer also. Caster and Camber do affect steering and handling to a great deal but toe just saves or destroys tires.

So how do you know if the wheels are in need of a toe adjustment?

The tires tell the tale, no matter what the manual says if the tire wear on the inside edges you need to add positive toe, wear on the outside then decrease the toe in. If the tires wear in the center then reduce air pressure (16 psi is about right on the spyders) If the tires are cupping then you have way too much air pressure and are getting excessive bounce which will cause all kinds of handling and wear issues.

Cupping is caused by the tires loosing contact and skidding, excessive pressure and bad shocks are the only thing that will cause cupping on automotive tires. Feathering is normally the result of improper toe adjustment to a major degree.

With correct adjustment you should see 50k as average run on normal radial automotive tires. The original Kenda tires are not the best but you should still see 30k on them.



Now normal toe in should be ¼” to 3/8” and to put this into perspective lets go with ¼” which is the measurement from axle to 12” radius front to back so the measurement at the front of the tires is 1/4” less than the measurement at the rear. This translates into 1/8” toe on each wheel which then translates into a difference of approximately .003 at the tire footprint. So what you are actually doing is altering the tracking difference in the footprint by about the thickness of a sheet of paper. This is why I say ¼” to 3/8” as 1/8” make very little difference.



So how to set the alignment? Simplest way is to get two pieces of 1x4x24” lean them against the outside of the tires and take your measurements. Adjust each tie rod to achieve the proper toe (3/8”)

Method #2 use a standard alignment fixture which mounts to the rim that has an arm at the bottom which is 24” long and allows the tape measuring front and back. Again adjust as needed. These units are commercially available or if you are really handy you can fabricate your own. Eastwood has these on hand also.



Method #3 laser alignment – most expensive and usually done by an alignment shop. Once again the wheels are simply aligned with the slight toe in. And the laser just eliminates the need to use a tape measure.



Which is most accurate? Well laser really sound techie but fact is the most accurate overall is the hard fixture that fastens to the rim where you use a tape measure. But in general all three do the same thing within perfectly allowable range.

While laser sounds cool the laser must be calibrated and inline and really all it does is replicate what you can do with a fixture and tape.



Myths include – improper toe will cause pulling to one side or the other. No that is not possible as if the tie rods are not adjusted in unison then the wheels self-center and the handlebars are crooked.

It is impossible for a vehicle to dog track due to faulty toe adjustment. Only if the rear wheel is crooked may the unit dog track.

Alignment should be done only after you replace the tires – false as you are not aligning the tires you are aligning the rims (or I should say using the rim as reference)

Pulling to one side – This is normally caused by a dragging brake or a substantial imbalance in tire pressure. Improper toe cannot cause pull.



How difficult is this process – if you can change a tire you can do a professional 100% accurate toe adjustment, it is that simple. The hardest part really is getting at the lock nuts on the tie rods the rest is a slam dunk. Also keep in mind the only adjustment possible on the Spyder is toe. All the complicated and meaningful adjustments are fixed and factory set so simple toe is it.