Dogtracking

To diagnose a dogtrack situation, find a stretch of empty road or an empty parking lot and perform the following steps.
1. Drive the vehicle while sighting down the hood. Use a hood ornament or a body style line to be able to see if the vehicle is going in a straight line or dogtracking.
2. Stop the vehicle when you notice the vehicle dogtracking. Have an assistant mark the position of the center tread of both front tires with chalk on the ground.
3. Slowly pull the vehicle forward until the rear tires are at the same position as the marks made for the front tires.
4. Have your assistant mark the ground as he did for the front tires, identifying which marks are for the front tires and which ones are for the rear tires.
5. Move the vehicle out of the way so all marks can be seen.





6. Proceed to measure the total amount of dogtracking as follows:
^ Measure the distance between the front tire marks.
^ Mark the ground exactly halfway between these marks.
^ Do the same for the rear tire marks.
^ The difference between the two center marks is the amount of dogtracking present in the vehicle.