Steeroids
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,500
Likes: 0
From: N.Y
Steeroids
Ok I'm fed up with this setup cant get rid of the binding (tried every possible adjustment). Not to mention all the movement in all the brackets. Have someone sit in your car and turn the steering wheel back and forth with it running so there is power assist. look at all the deflection everywhere. Look at the heim joint movement the whole bracket moves back and forth about a 1/8 of an inch. I even cut my steering shaft a 1/4 of an inch to try and straighten the joints out more (helped slightly). How have others solved this problem? :mad
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
Re: Steeroids (78 Vette)
78, from your description, I"m a bit foggy as to what bracket is moving....is it the main bracket holding the driver's end of the rack...allowing the entire rack to deflect right and left??? if so, from the look of that bracket Steeroids uses,....I see NO WAY that bracket is at fault...unless broken weld??? makes NO sense to me...MY own install has a bracket not nearly as strong as their design, and is fine....
NOW having said that....the bracket will allow the rack to deflect about 1/4 to 1/2 inch side to side in twisting the frame from the power needed to turn the wheels.....
jack the car up, and see if the steering wheel input requires a bit of force to overcome U joint binding....if that's smooth as silk from right to left, that's not it...assuming the car is supported as if the wheels were on the ground...in other words by the A frames...NOT the chassis....
NOW after all that, when the bracket deflects....IF it's the adaptor bracket on the rack, holding the inner tie rods ends....that's of super interest to me....
I"d like to know....IM me if that's the case....
please lemme know what's up....no matter what the solution is....
GENE
NOW having said that....the bracket will allow the rack to deflect about 1/4 to 1/2 inch side to side in twisting the frame from the power needed to turn the wheels.....
jack the car up, and see if the steering wheel input requires a bit of force to overcome U joint binding....if that's smooth as silk from right to left, that's not it...assuming the car is supported as if the wheels were on the ground...in other words by the A frames...NOT the chassis....
NOW after all that, when the bracket deflects....IF it's the adaptor bracket on the rack, holding the inner tie rods ends....that's of super interest to me....
I"d like to know....IM me if that's the case....
please lemme know what's up....no matter what the solution is....
GENE
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,500
Likes: 0
From: N.Y
Re: Steeroids (mrvette)
.What is really moving is the heim joint bracket (spherical end). And this is part of the binding problem when the steering wheel turns this bracket moves left or right (from the binding). No matter what I try I cant get rid of the binding. I know this bracket is going to crack sooner or later. The bottom brackets seem pretty sturdy they only have a small amount of deflection mainly the bushings. I lived with it for about a year and a half now and I guess I am finally fed up with it. I know I can make a better way to hook up the steering shaft to the rack and eliminate the binding. What gets me mad :mad is I spent 1,200 on this thing so I didn't have to spend the time designing something from scratch. I have many years of experience of working on race cars, street cars, all kinds of wired projects so I figured I would let someone else do the designing for once. I could have made my own for about 3 or 4 hundred dollars. Not sure if I answered your question fully. If needed I can take some pics
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,500
Likes: 0
From: N.Y
Re: Steeroids (page62)
Yes that shiny thing in the middle is called a heim joint or a spherical end it is between the two universal joints. The bracket that the spherical end is double nutted to flexes allot do to the binding of the joints. This binding is transfured up to the steering wheel. If the rack was closer to the left (drivers side) of the car the joints would be more in line and would not bind. All that would be needed to do then is to move the tie rod ends back to center. That is just one crude solution but would work.
[Modified by 78 Vette, 11:11 PM 12/25/2003]
[Modified by 78 Vette, 11:11 PM 12/25/2003]
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Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,411
Likes: 1
From: Okeechobee Florida
Re: Steeroids (78 Vette)
almost none...
absolutly none while driving...
a little while manuvering around parking lots etc...
i feel a little while turning the wheel back and forth while car is suspended...
absolutly none while driving...
a little while manuvering around parking lots etc...
i feel a little while turning the wheel back and forth while car is suspended...
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
Re: Steeroids (78 Vette)
78, as most of these thread followers know by now, I did my own install before/as the kits were being designed/tested/tooled up for production, and have been moddifying my install with help from guys here....
I have my rack sitting to the left about the same, BUT, tilted more upward on the input shaft, so much so I took a hole saw and cut the rear lower engine mount/frame section to make room for the steering input universal...this allowed the input linkage to be done with just two universals....of course I did collapse the steering wheel assy output shaft about 3-4 inches worth toward the fire wall, which relaxed the universals' angles a LOT....but I never have any binding ever.....
see the web site there for pix....an early shot of the tie rod ends shows them lower, the later upper position is the final install so far....
GENE
I have my rack sitting to the left about the same, BUT, tilted more upward on the input shaft, so much so I took a hole saw and cut the rear lower engine mount/frame section to make room for the steering input universal...this allowed the input linkage to be done with just two universals....of course I did collapse the steering wheel assy output shaft about 3-4 inches worth toward the fire wall, which relaxed the universals' angles a LOT....but I never have any binding ever.....
see the web site there for pix....an early shot of the tie rod ends shows them lower, the later upper position is the final install so far....
GENE
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,500
Likes: 0
From: N.Y
Re: Steeroids (mrvette)
You did what I was thinking they should have done. I guess they were to focused on a bolt in installation in stead making a quality piece. :nono: . I also never really cared for the aluminum tie rods and spherical rod ends. I should have made it like I was going to do :mad .
By the way my name is John, hope everyone is enjoing there Holidays. :party:
By the way my name is John, hope everyone is enjoing there Holidays. :party:
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
Re: Steeroids (78 Vette)
John, 78, YOu have a good/happy holiday season too.....relax, we all can sort that out one way or another....fellow name Burners, and also Steeroids may well chime in on this thread yet, suspect everyone is pretty much horizontal for this time/year.....
so the tie rod are mostly aluminum?? the adjustment collars?? but the heim joints are steel??? hummm...didn't realize that...try a magnet on the collars to be sure you correct....
GENE
so the tie rod are mostly aluminum?? the adjustment collars?? but the heim joints are steel??? hummm...didn't realize that...try a magnet on the collars to be sure you correct....
GENE
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,500
Likes: 0
From: N.Y
Re: Steeroids (mrvette)
The sleeves are aluminum rod ends are steel locking nuts are steel. And there are steel adaptors that mount to the spindles for the rod ends. If I get a chance I will take some pics.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,426
Likes: 1
From: VetteMOD
St. Jude Donor '05-'07
Re: Steeroids (mrvette)
Gene, I am just now installing my Steeroids setup and would like your advise on this binding issue. First, when you say you collapsed the steering 3-4 inches, what does that mean? Can you move the steering column out (towards the driver) in order to decrease the angle of the joints? I realize that would mean making a new (longer) coupling shaft and the steering wheel would be closer. Also, would a column from a C4 fit or be better? What about "cheating" the rack over to the left a little, how much is OK? Last should the universal joints that make up the coupling be phased (again a new coupling shaft).