what is this rack from? too short now what

Hi All,

I have a 55 chev PU project on the go; the truck came with a mustang II set up but the rack is too short by a couple of inches. can anone identify it and what are my budget options to get this set up to work? the tie rod ends only grab by a couple of threads...... Heidts apparently has an extension kit but it's not universal so I need to figure out if this is a mustang rack or not...any thoughts? Thanks

 

That looks like a MII rack. It's about as good as you can get with that setup. This is one of the issues with trying to apply the MII suspension to everything. About all you can do is buy the Heidt's parts to stretch the tie rods, or extend them with sleeve splices, cutting the existing tie-rods.

 

bump

 

The rack looks fine. The kit used appears to have widened the stance a few inches and the rack pivots are no longer in line with the a-arm pivots. That is what needs to be solved. It's not just a matter of moving the tie rods out - the pivot needs to be moved out by a few inches at least on each side. Call Heidts to see if they have an extender in the length you need.

 

You can make an adaptor-extension between the rack and the inner tie rod end out of bar stock (4140 to be in the safe side). I made the ones for my truck, they are about two inches long. Thread on the tie rod is as follows: 15/16-20 UNEF-2B (minor dia: .890-.900" ; pitch dia : .905-.9109" ; major dia: .9375 min). You will however need to pick larger dustboots. Hope this helps.
Fernando

 

your motor mounts don't seem to line up

 

It looks to be a Fat man Kit. I would probably talk to them before any other. That is a Mustang rack, and as Charlie Chops and others above said, you need to extend the rack's inner pivots. PLEASE don't let anyone tell you to "just extend the tie rods out to the spindles"...

 

This is a example of mustang II streached to wide. THe inner tie rod ends need to be even with a line drawn the upper and lower inner shafts to prevent bump steer.

 

Forgot to mention bump steer, your inner tie rod should follow the the same arc as your control arms to prevent bump steer, that will limit the lenght of your spacers.

 

This thread will likely be very helpful for you.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=537323

 

thanks guys, you saved me from a sh*t handling truck

your comments led me to 4 hours of interesting reading.....I get what the effects of proper location and length are now and am off to the garage with tape measure and scotch...........to put together a plan......what's the rule again.... measure one extra time for every gl*** I drink......or was it measure 2 extra times per gl***......Mmmmmmm scotchy, scotch, scotch

paying it forward; this was the most comprehensive article I found

http://www.woodwardsteering.com/images/cat05 pdf 64-79.pdf

 

Looks to me that the rack needs to be moved forward to keep the tierod ends at less angle. I think if the mounting brackets were built up to move the rack inline with the mounting points it would cure the lack of threads-too short issue, and also make the truck handle nicer.

 

thanks

 

A big thanks for posting the link to Woodward Steering. It gave me answers, in a way that I could understand, to questions I have had about Ackerman for a long time.

Ed