How do you narrow a MII steering rack. I need one about 2 inches narrower then whats available for a future project. What process is involved. I don't have the $500 unisteer wants.
If you need the pivot points moved in to match control arm points for correct bumpsteer, you need to disassemble the rack and shorten the housing and the internal rack itself. This can get tricky since you need to keep the stock ends of the housing for the bushings and boot retention. Most are made of crappy cast aluminum so welding them gets a bit tough. In many cases you lose turning radius as well.
You could cut the outer tie rods 1" on each side (that would give you 2 "). There might be enough threads left to get the tie rod end on, but it could always be threaded to accept the tie rod end. Stu
Whaddaya buildin'? $500.00 is chicken feed today. Plus, you can subtract the cost of the MII unit that you want to shorten from the $500.00.
If this is for a customer car, pay the money and the problem is theirs not yours. If there is a problem. Personally, I never have never liked modifying steering components, the liability is just too great.
That only works if you are compensating for narrowed A Arms. It's the control arm pivot location that dictates where the tie rod arms pivot from in oder to control bump steer.
Ok I have a 59 Hillman Minx convertible. I plan on putting in a 289 Ford with an AOD 9 inch rear. The front suspension needs some help so I thought I would put in a MII front suspension. The current front suspension is a shade over 2 inches narrower then the standard 56 inch hub to hub MII unit. So I thought I would buy a MII coil over unit narrow the cross member then Narrow the Rack. That is what I was thinking. I under stand pivot points, bump steer ect. $$ are real tight now so its just in the thought process.
Dan: Pull the rubber boots off each end, turn to full lock both ways. If you are lucky, and the ends of the shaft stick out past the housing at full lock, it's just a matter of trimming the ends on the shaft. Then drill and tap the holes deeper. Not my first choice, but some racks can be narrowed by cutting and welding the housing, then shortening the shaft to match. You'll probably find examples on locostusa.com
http://www.webrodder.com/article.php?AID=393&SID=16&PHPSESSID=a9054ff632be951dd0be508cda39ac89 http://www.webrodder.com/article.php?AID=394&SID=16&CID=18
That only works if the crossmember is stock width, like I said above, you will induce bumpsteer if you do this method with a narrowed crossmember That's what I was talking about, only easier on the ones like that with the steel center tube. Forgot about that version, would look for that type to narrow.
I'm pretty sure that car shares its front suspension with the Sunbeam Alpine, which is the car the SBF powered Sunbeam Tiger is based on. ( both built by the Rootes Group, in the same period ) There might be a bolt in sollution for your problem...
The suspension and steering was modified on the Tigers from the Alpine. Steering rack versus box (Alpine) and I seem to recall ball joint versus king pins on the Alpines and Hillmans
Here's a MII rack I narrowed and had in my Anglia for a few years. Unfortunately I didn't narrow it quite enough so I tore it out and put a Fatman MII (whole front end) in it. Now, I'm going to use it in a fiberglass Fiat project. Pictured is the front suspension I'm building for it. Since I used an oem rack, the outer tube is steel and easy to shorten. The rack has a fairly long section that does not have teeth cut in it. It appears that only the teeth are hardened because the rack was easy to cut and weld. The rack needs to be very straight so it slides freely through the housing ends.
The Hillman was a Roots group car as was the Alpine & Tiger but the problem is the Alpine & Tiger front suspension's are tough to come by & pricey to rebuild. That is why I am thinking going the MII way. The current break system need's a total rebuild, parts are scarce & again pricey. I pulled the head, burnt valve head will need to be welded plus valves guides ect. The clutch is iffy. That stuff puts it out of running condition this driving season. So I figured I just put a better Ford type running gear sorta Tigerizing it. 289, AOD, 9inch rear & about 2400 to 2600 lbs it should scoot. The convertible has a boxed unibody X frame that is fairly stout. I have lots of 10 gage plate in stock to beef it up where needed or make brackets. So here is what it looks like. What do you think.
I talked to Brent at Fatman Fabrication this morning he can put me together a complete narrowed coil over system ready to weld in. He is sending me the chassis measurement's sheet I need to give him thanks guys.
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