steering question

[Cobra Dude]

Joe -- Can't say I was satisfied with the change or not cause I swapped it out before the Cobra ever drove. I can tell you that I am very happy with the current manual rack, even with the slight stiffness when stopped.

Yes, that sounds like a Mustang II, though I believe the Pinto's were the same arrangement. I *think* the main diffs on the Pinto's were a different rack and swaybar, but the arms should've been the same. I think you'll like the polyU's. It'll make the front end feel more solid/positive, with minimal change in ride harshness.

Another tip -- you'll be surprised how much your alignment settings will affect the steering feel at high speeds. Especially toe & caster. Make sure you experiment with this rather than just going with the default Mustang II specs.

mr0077 -- that's sounds like a good idea with the 2 spindle tie-rod pivots. The point further from the center of the hub would indeed be slower, but will also change the limits of turning radius. In this case, it would have a greater range if turning radius, so that's good, except there would probably have to be an external limiter to prevent scraping the wheels by turning them too much into the fenderwell or control arms. ALso, the ackerman on these cars are also a bit off since they were designed for a car with a 6" longer wheelbase. However, I've not seen any Mustang II spindles with multiple tie-rod pivots.

Jack21 -- I chose the JPL tubular units when I swapped them recently. I'm very happy with them.

Cheers,
-Neil.