|
Steering Quickeners
Has anyone used steering quickeners to overcome slow rack problems and are these things safe & legal for use on a road car i Aust ? I understand they use them a fair bit in speedway and circuit racing.
Thanks -Andy |
Show us what you mean?
Do you have a link. |
|
Quote:
I have a really slow rack in mine and given I'm a big fella and there's not much room for elbows if doing circuits I'd struggle with crossing hands all the time, and also if I was to get the cobra crossed up id have a hard time catching it. My choices are build/buy a new rack or install one of these. -Andy |
I recall that racing ratios were being fitted to some Police pursuit vehicles back in the 80's in the far north. In regular traffic, they were great, but at speed, with regular suspension bounce and movement, on ordinary road surfaces, they were dangerous.
There were a few police pack VK commodores parked at the workshops for parts vehicles in very quick time. Having said that, I think the ratios were a bit more radical. from memory, half turn to full lock. Crazy Hogster |
andyl,
I'd research those quickeners thoroughly. If it introduced any slop at all into the steering, I'd run away. My steering had 3 u-joints originally. When I was able to reduce to two, I had a whole new car! A quicker rack (which is what I have and really, really like) is a much better solution if it is practical and economic. The change from a 1993 Mustang 18:1 to a 15:1 was just what the doctor ordered. I agree with the other poster that a 2:1 up-ratio might bring the opposite problem. Dunno what rack you now have, and whether there's one you could substitute for 20% or so quicker. Not familiar with the available parts over there, sorry. My two cents, Tom |
Two U joints
Tom, did you re-engineer something or did you eliminate a joint? I've got a little side to side play in my steering linkage with a new rack and a virtually straight shot through my rag joint I'm considering installing a steel connector ("rag joint eliminator").
Any advice? Thanks! Dirk |
Quote:
Rog |
Dirk,
I endorse the elimination of any sloppy or unnecessary joints in the steering. As Rog says, the difference can be dramatic. In my case, the original E-M design involved three steel u-joints and a pillow block bearing to locate the center shaft. From the steering wheel there is a short shaft and a u-joint, followed by another short shaft and a second u-joint; this second shaft was supported by a pillow block bearing since it had a u-joint at each end. Then a third short shaft connects to the rack via a third u-joint. Kinda like this: ------(X)-------(X)------(X)-| Strg Wheel - - - - - - - - - - - - - rack After the mod, the center u-joint is gone, leaving something like this: ------(X)----------------(X)-| Strg Wheel - - - - - - - - - - - - - rack The original steering layout was designed to clear the headers for a side exhaust setup. I have the undercar exhaust so the clearance was fine with a one-piece steering shaft. Something to assess before you start changing things. If you have a rag joint anywhere, substituting a steel joint can likely offer improved steering accuracy. None of this has anything to do with how quick the steering is, as requested by andyl in his original post.... Tom |
you can also eliminate a u-joint by using the pinto oem flex shaft--did that on my pro stocker and it works super
|
eliminating various types of joints will improve responsive "feel" but the amount of turns lock to lock will be exactly the same.
. |
Steering Quickeners
I have seen a gear reduction setup half way down the column which was very much like a set of timing gears, this worked well on a vintage mustang.
Does this make the steering heavier, and the part from Summit must have 3 or more gears working together to keep the same direction. |
Thanks for your feedback everyone, and yes any extra slop has to be bad.
Quote:
They will make steering heavier even disregarding friction. A 2:1 will reduce turns lock to lock by half but will make the steering twice as heavy. There is always a tradeoff. The one I'd get is the 1.5:1 Thanks again -Andy |
Yep..I installed one and at parking speeds it feels like power steering with the pump not working. Extremely heavy..I am watching the uni joints for damage.
|
Why not just fit a power steering rack? They are usually fewer turns lock to lock than their manual equivalent. You can run one with no pump connected or hook up a pump to your motor and have the best of both worlds, light steering and a quick rack.
I'm putting a commodore power rack in mine at the moment. Cheers |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I'll try to take a pic tonight to compare. The other good thing about PS is you can run more positive castor and still have light steering. After driving Phil Mizzi's PS equipped car I'm a convert. The steering was nicely weighted but still had heaps of feel. Cheers |
Not physical weight but the weight used to steer the car. without the pump I guess that it would be heavy....how heavy ? I also thought that the steering would get slightly lighter with more castor ?
|
| All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:20 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
The representations expressed are the representations and opinions of the clubcobra.com forum members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the site owners, moderators, Shelby American, any other replica manufacturer, Ford Motor Company. This website has been planned and developed by clubcobra.com and its forum members and should not be construed as being endorsed by Ford Motor Company, or Shelby American or any other manufacturer unless expressly noted by that entity. "Cobra" and the Cobra logo are registered trademarks for Ford Motor Co., Inc. clubcobra.com forum members agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyrighted material is owned by you. Although we do not and cannot review the messages posted and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). Thank you for visiting clubcobra.com. For full policy documentation refer to the following link: