1952-59 Ford Fatman rack

So as I put more miles on the 55 I have become less satisfied with the steering rack. My biggest dislike is the vague feeling on sweeping turns. It seems to require more steering input than it should. Any one else have experience with this setup?

 

Hi Joe. Not sure I understand your description of the steering, but the issue I had on turns, particularly sweeping turns to the right going downhill , was it had a very light feeling, like the back end was wanting to come around. I have a rack, but not Fatman's, and not a 55 of course, but that may not matter. A lot of your issue may be in either front end alignment settings or too much rake. Lack of heavy sway bar up front would add to that. At least on '57s, as much positive castor as you can get will help alot. I can only get 1 1/2-2 * positive castor on mine, 4 would be ideal I'm told. (stock specs are around zero). The biggest difference in handling came when I added 1" lowering blocks to the back........totally eliminated the wanting to come around feeling on the car. (Lowering the back end increases the castor)
These cars were just not made for wide tires and, for the most part, power steering. I'm not sure why, but I'm told the rack conversions need more castor than power box setups.??
With all that said, the suspension on a '55 is totally different than a '57. Not sure if that matters.

 

Thanks Rich. I plan on playing with alignment specs and know that castor is limited. I do have one of Dave’s front sway bars and Posies two inch lowered springs n the rear. I appreciate your input.

 

I was in hopes that Dave might chime in on this, hope he is well.

 

I would recommend checking your bump steer. Every time your ch***is rolls it comes into play. I just got through checking/fixing bump steer on our 52 Chevy p/u. Fine on a straight smooth road, but any dip, bump or sweeping turn made the steering have a mind of its own.

 

No bump steer, thanks though.

 

I have a stock manual box in my car, 1 1/8" sway bar, full rebuilt front end and I aligned it myself at a shop. I went as far as I can get with caster, close to 2 degrees positive. The car handles like a slot car. A modern rack is a compromise, some things you will like, some you won't. I agree on a bigger sway bar, see what more air pressure up front does. Like I said, my box is manual and going from 30 to 33 up front makes it steer easier.