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Does Strut Excursion Cause Toe-In Error?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by jimolson, Jul 5, 2024 at 4:20 PM.

  1. jimolson

    jimolson Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2006
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    Location:
    Indianapolis, USA
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    I replaced an outer tie rod end on my 2010 and stared briefly at the vehicle's front suspension. It's amazing that fragile suspension members can deal with Indiana's spring pothole season.

    The centroid of the outer tie rod end necessarily moves on a constant radius from the inner tie rod when the car hits a pot hole or over a lump in the road. That fixed radius is determined by the length of the outer and inner tie rods plus any connecting link that exists between the two tie rods.

    But the position of the front wheel relative to the car's frame changes during potholes or road lumps.

    As the wheels move up and down relative to the frame, is front toe-in changing a bit as a consequence of the fixed radius asserted by the steering linkage? It seems to me that toe-in should change.

    Said differently, wheel bounce on rough pavement should cause change to the toe-in setting, and probably causes tire wear. Is this correct?