Rack and Pinion and Front Suspension..... Done!

BBShark

Garage Monkey
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I have the front suspension hung on the frame and the rack installed. Now I have to make a center bracket for the rack. I needed to lengthen the stock tie rod sleeves to deal with bump steer issues.

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Total approval on the use of the 'stock' tie rod ends....like I did......

I note the extra support on the pass/RT side of the rack..why?? seems silly in that the rack is free to slide on that end...

nice work though I never did paint/finish my supports, they been on there since spring '02......maybe 20k miles worth too.....even though it gets maybe as much as 2-5 miles when it does go out, that's about once every 3 daze.....

:drink:
 
What should it cost to have them made? Where or who can make them?

My brackets were just hardware store steel stock, and a buddy did the welding, after I bent the pieces up, and clamped in position until it all lined up to support the rack properly, and on the above sketches, I would take a piece of flat steel and weld to the bottom of the main support/steering bracket and out to forward bolt on the underside of the frame, where the old p/s ram bracket was mounted...to triangulate the mount, and together with a cross support between a upper A arms, that thing is stiff as a.....well you know.....:eek:
It took two attempts to get it right......

on the center section, almost 20 years ago it was only 80 bux to get a local machine shop, the only one in town with the taper cutting tool to get the tie rod holes correct....and at that I screwed up the design, and had a hell of a bump steer problem, and one of the fellows on the .net said to raise the inner tie rod ends, so to cut/weld the bracket to raise the ends high as possible, about 2-3" worth.....

Tie rod ends done very similar to the ones above....

:drink:
 
What should it cost to have them made? Where or who can make them?

Hard to say. I had a bunch of other stuff laser cut at the same time. I'm guessing $100 but you have to find someone willing to fit in a little job. Then you have to have them bent and welded. Thats probably $200 and you have to find someone willing to fit in a little job.
 
Thanks. I still have the R&P center bracket to make. Then it's wheels and tires and putting the body on. That will be a big help since this is taking up both sides of my garage.
 
Trying to determine the best position for the inner tie rods to eliminate bump steer. The arcs you see on the paper are at ride height, 2" up and 2"down (at the wheel). The second picture is with the wheel turned to the limit. You can see how close the tie rod is to the lower a-arm pivot.

What this told me is that I have to get the inner tie rod up as far as possible.

Next step is to make a bracket.

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The bump steer blocks being sold lower the outer ball joint, at the steering arm. Are you raising the inner?

Probably need to sketch it up with all parts (or cad).
 
Yes I am raising the inner joint over the stock setup. Next step is to make a bracket for the rack & pinion.

I did lay it out in CAD. This just confirms what I found.
 
Continuing to follow with great interest.

Are you changing the length of the tie rods, or just the height of the inner tie rod end?
 
Yes. The tie rods have been lengthened (18 3/8 L) by welding a piece in the middle.

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Yes I am raising the inner joint over the stock setup. Next step is to make a bracket for the rack & pinion.

I did lay it out in CAD. This just confirms what I found.

Okay. Good job.
 
Yes. The tie rods have been lengthened (18 3/8 L) by welding a piece in the middle.

How are you measuring the length of the rods?? I measured center to center, on grease fittings with car aligned.....

I added 3 1/2 inches to the stock tie rod sleeves. Of course the length is adjustable but the C to C (at the grease fittings) is 18 3/8L
 
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