OK, i just got back home from breakfast and the weekly fill-the-gas-tank, and i noticed a CONSIDERABLE anount of toe on BOTH rear tires...is this normal? i don't know how well i like it, i'm trying to diagnose a noise when going over bumps in the right rear of the car and that's what made me look at it...

What year is your Fiero? My Formula has a considerably different rear suspension geometry than my other two Fieros had.

Is it toe in or toe out? You can do some minor adjustments with the tie rod ends, but you shouldn't go too far if you have no clue what you are doing and do not know the proper procedures for adjusting toe. If you own a '84-'87 Fiero toe is like any normal FWD adjustment. If it's an '88, it has a slightly different rear tie rod assembly. You can do a quick and dirty measurement with a simple tape measure by measuring the inner sidewall of the front of one wheel and then have a helper pull the tape measure to the same point on the other wheel. Now move to the back of the wheel (180 degrees) and do the same measurement. The difference in measurements is the toe difference.

quote Originally posted by greasemonke50613: OK, i just got back home from breakfast and the weekly fill-the-gas-tank, and i noticed a CONSIDERABLE anount of toe on BOTH rear tires...is this normal? i don't know how well i like it, i'm trying to diagnose a noise when going over bumps in the right rear of the car and that's what made me look at it...

Tow or camber? (tilted in at the top). The Fiero likes tons of camber in the rear as long as it's in spec. If it's tow, that usually not as noticeable.

Most cars dont have any toe in the rear, if you have enough to see it then you're destroying tires. Camber on the other hand, That's supposed to be there. So which is it are they pointed in to the center of the car so it looks like you have rear wheel steering or are they cambered in at the top like you see on Porsche's and VW bugs?

Due to the nature and design of the Fiero body, the tires often look like there is toe in. Measure the tread from tire to tire in the front and in the rear to see if they are close.

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quote TK:Tow or camber? (tilted in at the top). The Fiero likes tons of camber in the rear as long as it's in spec. If it's tow, that usually not as noticeable.

Uhh, do you know the difference between toe and tow?

it's camber.

Rear camber is adjusted by loosening the two large bolts at the top of the knuckle that attach to the bottom of the strut. They should be torqued to 140 lbft. If they've loosened at all, the weight of your car will make the tires appear to fall inward at the tops. Every time you go over a bump, the joint between the two parts will pivot about the top bolt and make a terrible noise as you alternate from full positive to full negative camber. Also very dangerous as the sudden change in camber can make you lose control, that is, if the sheet metal at the bottom of the strut doesn't first tear and let the knuckle go.

You need to get it to an alignment shop, but before you drive it there, have someone reef on the top of the tire until it is approximately vertical while you tighten the two bolts to spec. If you don't have a torque wrench, then tighten them as tight as you can with a ratchet wrench, or use your impact wrench on the appropriate setting to give you approximately 140 lbft.

i'm going to jack the rear of the car up later on tonight and make sure the tire isn't just "flopping" around

the rear wheels should have 1 degree camber in the rear
which means the top should look slightly pushed in compared the the bottom.
but - either way - get it checked. the rear alignent on a Fiero is one of the single biggest factors in how the car behaves.