"Roger M. and talked about this, this afternoon. "
My ears were ringing...
"My opinion is this -
Mustang II R&P, after it's verified that the width is right for minimum "bumpsteer". Flaming River will make the width you need. The R&P "pivots" need to be the same width as the lower control arm pivot point. Yea....try that with the lower control arm on a Stude!!!! "
1) So the inner ends of the r&p control rods 'should be' as close to the width of the lower control arms pivot from each other? Also, should the pivot on the r&p be in line with an imaginary line drawn thru both pivots on the bottom of the 'A' arms (angled back not straight back) causing the rack to be shorter (narrower) than the rear pivot points of the bottom 'A' arms on the backside of the crossmember? So that's like a 5-6" long r&p?
And what do you mean 'verified'? Sounds like a dis-claimer to me...
What do you suppose is the maximum length before it goes from slight bumpsteer to excessive?
I imagine as the width of the rack grows (shorter arms), so 'grows' the bumpsteer (exponentially). I would think getting the shortest possible unit may still be too long. This would make it almost
necessary to switch to quicksteer arms (below) due to the short size of the rack and it's inherrant limitations (short 'throw').
"Second thing that's needed is the modified "quick steering arms" that are available. "Not" for their quick steering abilities but for their shorter length. Again...back to the bump steer problem. The R&P only has a small amount of space it'll fit between the pan and cross member. It needs to go "back" farther thAn the pan will allow. So with the quick steering arms moving that pivot "foward" and mounting the R&P as far "backward" as possible.....that will minumize that part of the problem. "
2) Is this a complete spindle assy or just the arm? I got too much crud on mine to see well. Does this arm come off? It looks like it's part of the spindle. Are these arms a stock part produced by the factory, or an aftermarket part made for the Hawk and Avanti crowd?
If it is the whole spindle, I guess this would be the point to look for a dropped spindle and disc brakes. I had planned to go with the Turner Brake adapters for my discs, but if I gotta replace the spindles...
This seems like I should try to get as much straight push/pull as I can with the rack located (as close to) directly in plane (both horizontal and vertical) with the steering arm pivot points (mounting points) with the car at rest (unladen).
"Just in case you're not sure....the problem comes up while driving down the street, (...snip...) With the steering now set up "perfectly" (64 - 67 Chevy II's and many others are NOT!) (... snip...)"
I read a piece years ago about the Novas and an article about a 'T' bucket... I'll have to do more research...
Logic dictates that I should locate the r&p as close to the same plane as the lower control arms or above it slightly, although it's restricted from going too high by the engine's underside. I'm thinking, with the car at rest, the rack arms 'should' be as parallel to the ground as possible for minimum b-steer as the suspension works.
"More than enough for now.... "
Man, I'm glad there are forums like this. I never considered the length of the rack to be a factor, just it's location... This is my first r&p install and bumpsteer wasn't even a factor for me... til now...Thank you for opening my eyes!
I have been working on a bumpsteer remedy on my 4x4 Chevy rockcrawler (crossover steering) but that design isn't an option for me on the Stude.
If you can relate any other peculiarities with mounting a rack to a stude (I asked in other 'hotrod' forums and got NO response so far) I would appreciate it immensely. Thanks for the heads up and giving me a better understanding of the Stude's steering geometry and how to work with it instead of aginst' it.
Makes a complete chassis swap look more affordable all the time...imagine...a S10 chassised 4x4 Conestoga...
No more chains in the mountains...no fabbed motor mounts...just a few body to chassis mounts to make...
I'm just rambling at this point...(drool down the side of my face...)...
I haven't been able to post pics as all my pics are monster file size and I havn't figgered out how to downsize the file without downsizing the size of the pic...
You can see some lame pics here
www.pbase.com/conestogaman