spoke with PA racing, Racecraft Inc, and also AJE.
all the talk of a shortened steering arm will fix the turning radius associated with a rack and pinion "they say" is not true.
ive been told by all of them, and a local chassis builder that the steering arm length is irrelavant. the pinto rack or the mustang rack only has 5.25"-6" of travel and is only 3 turns lock to lock.
that physically, you are hitting the steering lock way before the spindle even comes into play.

anyones opinion on this?
obvisouly its been beat to death, and in my months worth of searching this forums and others have no solid feel on this one way or the other. losing the 40 pounds worth of steering would be nice, though.

 

Sounds like someone didn't understand the question.

The length of the arc created by sweeping through a given number of degrees, increases as the radius increases. Duh. That's the fundamental problem at hand: you have only so much arc length available to you (rack travel), meaning that at any given radius (steering arm length), you get only so many degrees of rotation (turning the wheels). Duh. You never even GET to the steering stops, because the wheels only turn just a small amount.

You need about 10" or so of steering travel in these cars to turn the wheels from lock to lock, with the stock steering arm length on the spindles. If the steering system (rack, gear, rudder, WHATEVER) only has 5½" of available motion, the wheels will only get turned about half as far. Duh.

It's so simple, so basic, and so obvious, that it's easy to overlook and outsmart yourself trying to think your way around it. Or, to ask the question in such a way that the person on the other end answers some other question besides the one you thought you were asking.

 

That part is true. You turn the wheel to the lock, and it hits the limits of the steering box first and your turning radius sucks worse than it already did.

 

Here's a picture for you. Just some random lengths but it doesn't matter. I used a 5" and then 7" long steering arm, CL of spindle to CL of tie rod. Just guessing but those numbers are likely short. With 3.5" travel, both examples. The top one is a 5", bottom is 7". Note the difference in the angle of the spindle/tire. So the location of where the tie rod end connects is totally relevant, as far as the turning radius is concerned and thats the issue everyone complains about.

 

Why don`t you try some 87-93 mustang spindles, then you can run those strange struts w/ coil overs too, I`m betting they`ll bolt right in LMK if you do it.


I`m planning a trip to the pick and pull, I`m thinking if I have time I`ll yank a late 80`s mustang spindle and then pull a 3rd gen camaro`s spindle....Then install the mustang spindle onto the camaro`s a arm and strut...obviously the test will be just that...a test fit. I know, I know there will be problems

 

you should be a politician.
i dont understand half of what you said. your last sentance sounds exactly right. maybe i asked the wrong thing, or maybe you typed up the answer to the question you thought i asked.
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i could go to a mustang spindle if i already didnt have front brakes.
aerospace informed me the hub, and the bracket for the caliper is different than the 3rd gen version. he actually looked up some bearing ID and OD sizes and said i wouldnt be able to reuse any of my kit except the caliper.
so 700 bucks in brakes, i could only get 400-450 in return(used) and have to buy 700 worth of brakes again. also, the mustang spindle is on a 10 degree angle, whereas the camaro version is on a 15 degree angle. id think 5 degrees makes a big difference on the other end when it needs to bolt up in the strut tower.
for 70 bucks labor at my buddy's machine shop, he will cut the spindle down at the strut mount so i can bolt up the mustang strut on my spindle.
thats the easiest method i have for what im working with.
if you were starting fresh, a mustang spindle may work out for the better.

i dont drive the car all that much anyway. its not like i do 3 point turns or parallel park the car everyday. it is nice to have the ablility to turn decent, even in a drag application.

any input is appreciated.

 

That hurt....

Imagine you're loosineing a bolt. You have a breaker bar and a socket, on the bolt; only thing is, you're in a limited space, and you can only move your hand 6". The breaker bar is 2' long.

How far does the breaker bar turn the bolt, in degrees, if you put your 6" of travel out at the end of the handle?

Just over 15°.

So now, move your hand down to the middle of the handle; 1' out from the socket. How far, in degrees, does the bolt turn now?

30°.

Now, move your hand to a point 6" from the socket, and move it 6". How far, in degrees, does the bolt turn NOW?

Almost 60°.

Same 6" of linear travel (rack motion); all we did to turn the bolt farther, was shorten the lever arm. By halving the lever arm (radius, same as steering arm length), we almost doubled the angular displacement (how far the wheels turn). Of course, we had to pull twice as hard each time we moved our hand, too (more steering effort).

Steering works the same way.

Fyzix yz phun.

 

i understand that a lil better than your 1st post.
similar to using a 1/4" ratchet for a 1/2" job.
i think im going to give it a shot on the stock arms. i can always work from there.
beauty of fabbing.
im open to all tech if anyone could share.
thanks!