What is the best way to align the fron end at home? The lasy time I did it I took off the wheels and clamped 4' levels to the brake rotors. I continued to measure in front of and behind the rotor until I got the same number and then toed it in just a hair. The hassle was knocking out the rod end. Do I need to or is the coupling rod made with a right and left hand thread? Also the reason I am having to do this again is that one wheel fell out of adjustment when I cranked the wheel hard one way and heard a pop. When I looked one of the wheels was badly toed out. Is it possible I stripped the threads in one of the couplings?

I'm not saying it can't be done, I would however advise that without the proper tools you will be extremely lucky to get it right. The cost to replace a pair of prematurely worn tires will more than offset the cost of a front end alignment. It also is most certain there is a steering or suspension issue in that the pop when cranking the wheel and sudden & bad change in toe should not happen. Steering should be considered as one, if not THE most important thing on the car from a safety standpoint.
Please reconsider doing this at home.

I planned on taking it in for a professional alignment. I was just wanting to get it close it enough to drive it to the shop. Right now one tire is so toed in I am afraid to drive it.

Greg makes a good point about having it professionally done. They have better equipment. I do mine at home just to get the car on the road. Most times it's good enough but it's probably not as good as a professional could get it.
To address a couple of your concerns;
First, you don't need to pop off the rod end of the tierod because they have forward and reverse threads so when you turn the collar it shortens or lengthens on it's own.
Second, when the wheel changed position after alignment, it was a warning. Something is very bad on your front end. I could take a guess at what it is. Since you probably have looked at all the parts and do not see an obvious problem I'll shoot for something that's hard to see, the lower control arm bushings. These can be bad and it's hard to detect.

I replaced the upper and lower control arm bushings. I also replaced the upper and lower ball joints and tie rod ends. My thought was that the threads inside the tie rod adjustment sleeve sheared or slipped. I torqued down on the adjustment sleeve clamps but I just dont know.

Without cluttering things with the internal logic I have applied to come to this conclusion, I'll just say that your post speaks loud enough that you need someone who has a higher mechanical aptitude level to totally redo the front end. I make mention because imo, I see a major safety issue.

There are a lot of things that may be wrong, from a lower ball joint that popped out of its press fit to wrong parts or wrongly installed parts. Do NOT drive the car. Have it towed to a repair facility. It's not worth risking your life and your car guessing at possibilities.

Ive gotta ride with Vik on this one.....dont drive it as is! Not even for 3 blocks. Im guessing youre correct in your assumption that you stripped the threads in the sleeve when you "knocked out" the tie rod. I would definitely check that before I even took it to be aligned, as they may or may not be proficient at checking this as thoroughly as needed, in which case theyd align the wheels, call it good, and turn you loose on the road with a still-stripped sleeve that gives way after 2 or 3 turns

After I rebuilt my front end, I put the upper control arm shims back in the best I could remember then set the toe so I could just barely see some toe in, by eyeball. That was fine to drive about 20 min to my mechanic for an excellent alignment.

The problem is that if it moved after it was initially assembled and rough-aligned, and it changed just by turning the wheel, then something is definitely not right.

There is more to do than an alignment here.

Here is a photo of my front end alignment kit.



In addition to this, you need a set of four pizza pans set under the front wheels. I didn't photo them, but most everyone knows what aluminum pizza pans look like. Layers of news paper or two sheets of hardboard under the tires will let them spin free for these checks. Put a bunch of grease between the pizza pans. Raise the car on each side, slip the pans under the front tires and lower the car down. Or buy tome turntables on ebay for $175.

The caster/camber gauge shown will help you set caster and camber, through the front upper control arm shim pack. You can buy shims from autozone or others, but expect to order a $10 package since they won't have them in stock. You cannot set caster and camber without altering this shim pack. You move shims from front to back or vise versa to set caster on each side. You add or subtract shims from the front or rear pack for the side you're adjusting to alter camber. When caster/camber is right on both sides, you set toe. I've not had any alignment shop turn the bolts to access these shim pack in decades. They turn the car back with excuses and estimates, so in disgust, I figured out the DIY method. Shops turn the car back with "out of spec" documented on the alignment print-out and advise it's good enough or it's an old car and "we can't fix it because its old crap". Utter BS when they didn't even try. I'll bet many of these shops don't even have these older shims on hand. It's like McDonalds not having fries.

You can measure toe with various methods. A home made bar, with metal pointers will work. I think Jim described that a few weeks back. Just measure behind and in front of the tires with your trammel gauge. Even a 2x4 and plywood is enough to construct such a gauge. Spin the tire and scribe a line around the tread.

I use laser levels to project a line referenced the rim to the front and rear wall of the garage. Some high school trig tells me the exact numbers. To set toe, turn each tie rod sleeve opposite directions, the same amount. To set "clear view", turn both sleeves exactly the same amount and the same direction. That adjustment will center the steering for the spokes to align with the car riding straight on level road. I think they call it "clear view" because it gives clear view of the odometer through the air bag containing steering wheels when it's set right on new cars. A correct setting would set the car heading straight with the wheel straigh, or just slightly to the right side of the road for safety. Some specs call for slightly extra caster on one side to encourage the car to drift away from oncomming traffic.

If you DIY, you can shoot for handling specs. That would mean higher caster than stock and as much or at least 1/2 to 1 degree of negative camber. You may not get such settings from a shop, even if they will make the adjustment, becausue it's not specs. Original specs are for bias ply tires.

I don't save any labor hours with DIY; it takes half a day to DIY a good alignment. But I've not found any shops who ever set caster and camber for me. They turn the car keys back to me with rusty bolts on the upper shim pack or on the upper strut tower. They all wanna "set the toe and let her go". Long explanations of high costs, bent crap and can't do this to specs follow the return of my car where they didn't even try to set things up.

You can set the toe at home with lots of methods, including string alignment which is well documented on the net.

One thing is for sure... If you set it up and measure things, then drive it around the block, it should read the same as when you started. If not, you have worn out parts somewhere.

It's not always easy to locate worn parts, but prying, hammering , supporting the lower arm while pulling on the tire and looking while a buddy pulls on the wheel helps. A drive around and rechecking alignment helps too.

I'm a strong believer in DIY for alighment, not because of the cost savings, but because of the chance it affords you to get it aligned right on. You also get a chance to try more camber for handling or more caster for better high speed stability. These numbers are not fixed in concrete, the depend on what you want for handling.

If you have ever handed your keys to an 18 year old tech who has that 'I'm lost on this one' look in his eye you will know the value of the info above. It's priceless. I took the 1st 69 that I rebuilt to a Rowleys that specializes in front end alignment. It was just after I finished it. I hadn't even drove it 5 miles yet. He spent an hour on it. I noticed the owner of the place was hovering around. When the car was done the owner took the keys and test drove the car. He was gone for 20 minutes with it. He pulled in like nothing was amiss. He charged me and I was on my way. The car pulled to the right and the steering wheel was crooked when going straight down the road. That was exactly how it was when I drove it there. Since then, I do it myself. Never again will the owner of a Rowleys get the first test beat on one of my projects!

The tire toed out when I really cranked the wheel while trying to turn it on grass and put it up onto a trailer. I figure the wheel caught on the ground and pulled the tie rod adjustment sleeve out. My suspicions were confirmed last night when I replaced the sleeve. I had not torqued down one of the clamps which allowed the sleeve to spread and lose thread engagement. I have realigned the wheels close enough that I can drive it to get a professional alignment. Thank you for everyones help and advice.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns(pun) out.

Good thing it happened on a soft surface at low speed. I suggest you let them know at the alignment shop that you replaced everything yourself and have them check it over.