A Body Rack and Pinion Converison

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RedFish said:
Sure, it's best to shave your arms first. Dont overheat your elbows.
Sorry, couldn't resist. :)
If you are refering to the limbs of the lower ball joints, that is cast iron. It doesn't heat and bend like steel.
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Um, I am pretty sure they are forged steel and will heat and bend. Cherry them up and bend away.
 
604B1duster said:
Um, I am pretty sure they are forged steel and will heat and bend. Cherry them up and bend away.
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the "arms" on a rack and pinion setup (inner tie rods) are not cast they are steel like stated above, BUT I don't recommend heating them as it will take the temper out of the steel and then you have a reciepe for disaster!
 
66plyValiant said:
the "arms" on a rack and pinion setup (inner tie rods) are not cast they are steel like stated above, BUT I don't recommend heating them as it will take the temper out of the steel and then you have a reciepe for disaster!
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he's talking about the lower balljoint arm, where the outer tie rod attaches to the spindle
 
Hmmm... Very interested. I read the whole thread, but I'm still on the fence a bit. I'm not to worried about not being able to turn in small circles just the car being all over the place at a high speed on the road. Tons of pot hole where I live.
 
on my '71 Demon I'm going to try using the Knuckles/Arms (the Lower Ball Joint / Steering Arm assembly) from a 1970's D100.

from a comparison of the arms on my '72 D100 parts truck, and the arms on my Demon, they appear to be identical, except the trucks are "front steer" (the draglink would be in front of the hubs, instead of behind it like on an A-body)
 
74Dusted said:
on my '71 Demon I'm going to try using the Knuckles/Arms (the Lower Ball Joint / Steering Arm assembly) from a 1970's D100.

from a comparison of the arms on my '72 D100 parts truck, and the arms on my Demon, they appear to be identical, except the trucks are "front steer" (the draglink would be in front of the hubs, instead of behind it like on an A-body)
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can you please post a pic of the lower balljoint ? I have never heard that before, sounds to good to be true.
 
If those front steer arms are idential to A-body, switching the A-body arms left for right would have same result, correct ?
 
RedFish said:
If those front steer arms are idential to A-body, switching the A-body arms left for right would have same result, correct ?
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not quite. The arms are made at an angle that is specific to the left or right side of the vehicle. switch them to the opposite sides and it sends the alignment down the toilet.

Which is why i'm going to try the ones from my D100. they look the same as the a-body versions (only front steer). Provided I run them the same way they came off the D100 (left arm on left side of the car, right arm on right side of the car) it shouldn't cause any problems.

Of course, I could be talking out of my butt. I won't know for sure until I actually bolt them on and go from there :D
 
you know there are ups and downs to this. as this is my car the post is about that blackace posted. this car i sold to my brother. it has run 10.90. the car drives straight and stable under accel and decel. no complaints. the only issue is the lack of a tight steering circle i drove the car on the street when i had it. then put the big block in it at was running 10.90. so i for a fact know how the car handles and reacts. i would not be afraid to drive it anywhere. it does work better for a race car and with it you can run a truck rear sump oil pan with no issues. but it as well does drive perfectly fine on the street. so take it as you want to.
 
74Dusted said:
on my '71 Demon I'm going to try using the Knuckles/Arms (the Lower Ball Joint / Steering Arm assembly) from a 1970's D100.

from a comparison of the arms on my '72 D100 parts truck, and the arms on my Demon, they appear to be identical, except the trucks are "front steer" (the draglink would be in front of the hubs, instead of behind it like on an A-body)
Click to expand...

Was just looking at our 74 D100 this morning and thought of this same thing. I searched on Napa's website, it it lists different part numbers for the ball joints from the truck to the cars. Not sure if that is true, but if so...you would probably have to ream the holes(assuming they were too small), or some other sort of modification. Id be interested to see what anyone comes up with.
 
curleysracecars said:
Was just looking at our 74 D100 this morning and thought of this same thing. I searched on Napa's website, it it lists different part numbers for the ball joints from the truck to the cars. Not sure if that is true, but if so...you would probably have to ream the holes(assuming they were too small), or some other sort of modification. Id be interested to see what anyone comes up with.
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If I do the swap first, I'll let you know how it works out. Likewise if you get around to it before me, let me know.

It looks like a fairly straight forward conversion, if the D100 parts will swap on with little to no modifications.
 
The bolt on steering arm from the pickup trucks will not fit the A-body spindle. Interchanging the entire spindle and steering arm may work, but I am pretty sure the ball joints are all different. Then you run into diffenrent control arms and everything. I dont think it would work out and be an easy task, or weekend project.
 
I know this is old but I am stumped. all I lack is making the Dart steer and we can go down the road. wit hthe rear sump pan i do not have room for the drag link or steering box.
 
Sideways said:
I know this is old but I am stumped. all I lack is making the Dart steer and we can go down the road. wit hthe rear sump pan i do not have room for the drag link or steering box.
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The rear sump pan would require a front steer set up
 
I'm finally finding time to get mine together. I will be working on the front end this weekend and try and post some pictures.

AJ
 
RedFish said:
I'm still trying to sort out the steering geometry puzzle, akerman angle in particular.
In earlier posts it was stated that this angle is incoperated via the attaching arm on the lower ball joint, and the differences between the left and right hand arms.
I ask you to look at eaby item number 380161464370. Those appear to be mirror image alike. I know the later model arms differ from one another. I guess my question might be when was the akerman angle incorperated and why.
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Basic solution for proper ackerman:

Draw a line from the (centered) rearend pinion through the spindle.
The outer tie rod end, front or rear steer, should be on this line.
This is why you must never, ever use stock rear steer spindles on a
front steer rack conversion.

Basic solution for bump steer:

The tie rods must be the same length, have the same pivot points as
and be parallel with the lower control arms when viewed from the
front/rear or the top/bottom. They must move in complete unbinding
concert with each other.
 
ok i been thinking here..
if the stock lower ball joints are used, in the proper location (r&l)
if you cut off the arms, could a fixture be made and put on in front?
like cut it off the back and weld it on the front.(i know the problem with welding cast)
the pivots never change.. will that work?
 
Man you lost me big time. Since that thing uses custom lower arms how can anything work with stock LCA/ spindles?
 
67Dart273 said:
Man you lost me big time. Since that thing uses custom lower arms how can anything work with stock LCA/ spindles?
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I'm pretty sure the AJE uses stock spindles, not positive. I think I looked at their components at the Nats a few years ago.

you can use custom / tubular control arms with stock spindles..... making a rack and pinion front steer assembly with them is the challenge.
 
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