Steering Rack Length too ong

[steve73]

.. sorry ... "Long"

I am in the early stages of front end assembly on the Mk IV and I am using the PS rack from my 1990LX Donor. The manual (I know..) says to use the rack extensions that were included with my kit if I am running PS, however now that I have it all assembled it is about 2 inches too long (serious toe out). The answer seems simple - just remove the extensions - but before I do that I thought I should check with someone who actually knows what they are doing. Any advise out there?

If I am correct that I have to remove them - should I remove both or just one?

Thanks in advance

[Tim Potts]

Steve, Hope this helps...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/entry.php?62-Steering-Rack-Extender

[steve73]

Thanks Tim - i will check it out.

[AC Bill]

Get shorter tie rod ends.

[steve73]

so if I understand Tim's post correctly, I should (re)install the rack extenders on both sides so that the pivot point of of the tie rod matches the mounting point of the lower Control arm, and then I need to purchase shorter tie rod ends..? Anyone know of a NAPA part number or other good source - preferably a Canadian one?

[MPTech]

These are the ones I walked into Autozone and bought.
Duralast/Tie Rod End - For your 1994 Ford Mustang 5.0L SFI HO 8cyl (http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Duralast-Tie-Rod-End/1994-Ford-Mustang/_/N-ix57yZ8oxky;jsessionid=C01913746CB8FB4EE3C22DF610B B0E10.diyprod5-b2c10?counter=2&itemIdentifier=120270_0_5770_)

open them and make sure they match before you leave, the 2 I bought were the same size, but looked different. They would have worked ok, but I wanted them to match, so they opened another box and we matched a pair and they worked fine. apparently they have 3 different sources / models.

[steve73]

thanks - much appreciated.

[Brian Z]

The rack extensions are important to use on a power steering rack for proper steering geometry. It puts the pivot points of the inner tie rods in line with the pivot points of the control arms on the chassis.

It is fairly common for people to cut some material off of the tie rods to achieve the proper toe in. Start with small 1/4" cuts on each side. It is better to have to make another cut than cutting off too much! If you can find shorter outer tie rods, that would also solve your problem. I was not aware that they existed. =)

Best regards,

Brian @ FFR

[AC Bill]

Just make sure that whatever outer tie rod ends you buy, are going to still allow a minimum of 3/4" of threaded in to them from the inner tie rods, after toe is set.

[rick8928]

If you do a search on ffcars.com, you'll see that most folks simply cut ~1 inch off the threaded end of each inner tie rod (about 7/8" worked for me). make sure you put the jam nut inside the cut, then it will clean up the cut threads when you remove it. on ffcars there's a link to a build manual that discusses this: http://mk3build.com/manual/doku.php?id=start

[steve73]

i'm pretty sure that cutting the inner rod won't do the trick - I will have to purchase shorter outer rods as the existing ones are screwed all the way in to the end of the treaded part of the inner rod. Cutting the inner rod in my situation doesn't do the trick.

Thanks by the way to all that responded - i know understand what I need to do and why!