Drifting- Increasing Steering Angle?

[theastronaut]

I'm thinking about possibly taking my '66 C10 to some of the local open track/drift practice events once its finished. I'll be using No Limit's rack and pinion kit so I can't get any extra steering angle there. What is involved in modifying the spindle arm, say if I wanted two holes for the tie rod end- one in the normal place and one closer in for more steering angle? Also, I'll be building my own A-arms so I can leave more room for the inside of the wheel at full lock. Anything else that needs to be addressed? The brake hose would need to be longer for more travel. Just kicking the idea around to see if its doable.


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[mongoose]

you could.. tho i don't know how strong it would be as there isnt as much meat in the part of the a arm.. at best i'd make something that bolted to the stock location and then clamped on the arm so i could make a new mount.. like sleeving it almost.. first i'd want a steering quickener first unless the rack is a lot faster.. than a stock truck..


i hope you're not using the pipe bender to make those drift lowers with the huge bend in em to clear stuff... not exactly.. safe either.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mongoose

you could.. tho i don't know how strong it would be as there isnt as much meat in the part of the a arm.. at best i'd make something that bolted to the stock location and then clamped on the arm so i could make a new mount.. like sleeving it almost.. first i'd want a steering quickener first unless the rack is a lot faster.. than a stock truck..


i hope you're not using the pipe bender to make those drift lowers with the huge bend in em to clear stuff... not exactly.. safe either.

I hadn't thought of making a bolt on piece for the second hole, I like that idea a lot. The rack is 2.75 turns lock-to-lock, and keeps the original amount of travel. Moving the tie rod mount inward will quicken the steering in itself.

I'm undecided on bending the arms... I did try a piece of 1 5/16" OD 3/16" wall tubing and it bent it perfectly- no kinking or distortion. All the reviews I read that mentioned kinking were with thinwall tube. The dies fit 1 5/16 tightly, which helped with that. With air bags, I won't be able to make the arms kick in much more than normal due to the diameter of the bags, so the bends won't be extreme. I definitely won't use it if there is any distortion in the tubing for the A-arms.

[wraprail]

If you are making new arms anyway then look around for a normal type spindle, maybe one that already has shorter steering arms and build your control arms with balljoints to fit your new spindles. Mustang II perhaps.
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[jhrusk]

John I dont know if you would be interested but I have JD squared mandrel bender with 1" ,1 1/4 and 1 5/8 dies you are welcome to use. just cost you a trip to 30625. They work well for doing A-Arms and such.

[DURG]

Check out Howe Racing enterprises, Lefthander, Port City, Allstar Performance etc. and look at their circle track spindles MOST all of them have spindle arms with tie rod location that is adjustible. They may sell just the piece that goes on the end of the arm as lots of guys are building their own front spindles now. If you have access to a good racing chassis shop, they can build you new spindles with adjustible arms and if you desired a different pin inclination angle 7 degree 10 degree or whatever you want. The stock spindles can be cut up and rewelded no problem, they are cast steel not cast iron. I did it all the time when I raced. Use trig to figure out how much you will gain in turning angle based on how much further back you move the eye. I used to move just the left eye back about 1/2"-3/4" so the left wheel would turn farther than the right when turning left. (I only had to worry about left hand turns in oval track racing).

[DURG]

Spindle on Ebay item 110823686338 shows just one example of an arm that has the adjustibility feature built into it.

[DURG]

Better yet go to Howe Racing and look for part 34802 It is under spindle parts, it is the adjustible block for the steering arm. 27.00 but I think you need the washer for 12.00 too.

[jhrusk]

One thing you may consider when doing this mod is that you will reduce the amount of ackerman angle you will have, dont know how much it will affect it since you would be moving both sides. Just a thought