Hello All

[Toufs]

Bar far easiest is replace w rack originally used.  And theres not much room up there for those other rack and spreader bar I linked.

OH mannn so are you telling me this rack and bar will not fit? That sucks, I'm really looking for something heavy duty like that. I don't know how well this will work but what I could do is take the measurements of the rack from the site and mock one up using a shoe box. Then I could stick it in there and see how much room it would have.

[Toufs]

carl is right.......you should post some pics of the rack though.

ok will get on that.

[dsrace]

 pics will really helps us see what your dealing with and talking about.

[fabr]

I don't mean to sound rude but it seems you don't have a grasp of how technical front suspension/steering geometry is. Nothing wrong with that but you will get into serious issues if you start changing the rack without at least a good basic understanding of how changing just one thing with the rack positioning or the mount locations of the inner tie rod heims even a very small amount will make drastic changes ,usually to bump steer ,that can/will  ruin everything. There is a lot of discussion on here that I would suggest you search and study. We are,of course , always willing to answer any questions you have at any time but if you are set on changing out the rack to something different it will be in your best interest to study up a bit also. It will make a sometimes technically difficult task a lot easier.

[dsrace]

fabr is absolutely correct!           like i said earlier.....moving my tie rod up 1\8" at the steering arm creates a 3\8" toe change at the wheel, in other words, bump steer. everything is designed to move in a certain direction, on the same point, at the same time. that is over simplifying things but pretty close. i've seen that rail run in person and lance does very good work, if not dead on than very very close. this is why i said before, something must be bent, also why i suggested pics.  from what you've said i still wonder if the rack bar/arm is bent. i say this because the racks (rack and pinnion) i use are much stouter than those .  i have bent 2 now, although they took a pretty good shot. one in a small washout in the dirt sliding sideways that put me up on 2 wheels and the other when i tried to go under a dune rather than over it lol long story but hit so hard i blew the ball of the heim out of the heim (low carbon steel teflon lined) fyi that is why double shear is sooooo important lol kept me from losing my steering altogether and why i went to all chromolly heims on my front end including tie rods! 

[fabr]

Ditto on the cromo/alloy/4130 heims. I refuse to use mild steel or even worse aluminum heims. I use QA-1 but FK and Aurora are great as well. QA-1's are usually less expensive.

[Toufs]

I don't mean to sound rude but it seems you don't have a grasp of how technical front suspension/steering geometry is. Nothing wrong with that but you will get into serious issues if you start changing the rack without at least a good basic understanding of how changing just one thing with the rack positioning or the mount locations of the inner tie rod heims even a very small amount will make drastic changes ,usually to bump steer ,that can/will  ruin everything. There is a lot of discussion on here that I would suggest you search and study. We are,of course , always willing to answer any questions you have at any time but if you are set on changing out the rack to something different it will be in your best interest to study up a bit also. It will make a sometimes technically difficult task a lot easier.

Hey bro you are not rude at all but you are absolutely correct lol I am a bit clueless with this stuff lol some of the stuff you guys talk about I have to really think about what is being said to try to understand. That's why im grateful to be here so I could try to learn from some good guys with professional experience. What I have put a lot of thought into is trying to find a heavy duty rack that will line up exactly where the one in there is connected to the tie rod. Also I been looking at space in reference to the pedals. The rack mount in there is pretty high maybe like 2 1/2 inches (not sure) giving it a lot of room for change. Im thinking if I used an 11 inch rack and spread bar, move the rack mount and build a new one to accommodate, keeping the tie rods in the same position. I don't know bro, how does that sound?

[Carlriddle]

I don't mean to sound rude but it seems you don't have a grasp of how technical front suspension/steering geometry is. Nothing wrong with that but you will get into serious issues if you start changing the rack without at least a good basic understanding of how changing just one thing with the rack positioning or the mount locations of the inner tie rod heims even a very small amount will make drastic changes ,usually to bump steer ,that can/will  ruin everything. There is a lot of discussion on here that I would suggest you search and study. We are,of course , always willing to answer any questions you have at any time but if you are set on changing out the rack to something different it will be in your best interest to study up a bit also. It will make a sometimes technically difficult task a lot easier.

Hey bro you are not rude at all but you are absolutely correct lol I am a bit clueless with this stuff lol some of the stuff you guys talk about I have to really think about what is being said to try to understand. That's why im grateful to be here so I could try to learn from some good guys with professional experience. What I have put a lot of thought into is trying to find a heavy duty rack that will line up exactly where the one in there is connected to the tie rod. Also I been looking at space in reference to the pedals. The rack mount in there is pretty high maybe like 2 1/2 inches (not sure) giving it a lot of room for change. Im thinking if I used an 11 inch rack and spread bar, move the rack mount and build a new one to accommodate, keeping the tie rods in the same position. I don't know bro, how does that sound?

That is correct, tierod heims must go back exactly where they are now, both horizontally and vertically.  Rack I linked with spreader bar is about 4" from rack mount on frame to where tierods would mount.  Didn't know if enough room to make that work?  That one you have is prob 1-1/2" 
And pretty sure, Fastcorvaire's rack snuggy works on that.  Not needed to start, but over time they all wear inside, his snuggy has adjustment for takeing up slack.  Very slick piece.

[fabr]

I don't mean to sound rude but it seems you don't have a grasp of how technical front suspension/steering geometry is. Nothing wrong with that but you will get into serious issues if you start changing the rack without at least a good basic understanding of how changing just one thing with the rack positioning or the mount locations of the inner tie rod heims even a very small amount will make drastic changes ,usually to bump steer ,that can/will  ruin everything. There is a lot of discussion on here that I would suggest you search and study. We are,of course , always willing to answer any questions you have at any time but if you are set on changing out the rack to something different it will be in your best interest to study up a bit also. It will make a sometimes technically difficult task a lot easier.

Hey bro you are not rude at all but you are absolutely correct lol I am a bit clueless with this stuff lol some of the stuff you guys talk about I have to really think about what is being said to try to understand. That's why im grateful to be here so I could try to learn from some good guys with professional experience. What I have put a lot of thought into is trying to find a heavy duty rack that will line up exactly where the one in there is connected to the tie rod. Also I been looking at space in reference to the pedals. The rack mount in there is pretty high maybe like 2 1/2 inches (not sure) giving it a lot of room for change. Im thinking if I used an 11 inch rack and spread bar, move the rack mount and build a new one to accommodate, keeping the tie rods in the same position. I don't know bro, how does that sound?

That is correct, tierod heims must go back exactly where they are now, both horizontally and vertically.And don't forget front to rear placement as well. All 3 dimensions/placements will have to be identical.  Rack I linked with spreader bar is about 4" from rack mount on frame to where tierods would mount.  Didn't know if enough room to make that work?  That one you have is prob 1-1/2" 
And pretty sure, Fastcorvaire's rack snuggy works on that.  Not needed to start, but over time they all wear inside, his snuggy has adjustment for takeing up slack.  Very slick piece.

^^^^^

[Toufs]

fabr is absolutely correct!           like i said earlier.....moving my tie rod up 1\8" at the steering arm creates a 3\8" toe change at the wheel, in other words, bump steer. everything is designed to move in a certain direction, on the same point, at the same time. that is over simplifying things but pretty close. i've seen that rail run in person and lance does very good work, if not dead on than very very close. this is why i said before, something must be bent, also why i suggested pics.  from what you've said i still wonder if the rack bar/arm is bent. i say this because the racks (rack and pinnion) i use are much stouter than those .  i have bent 2 now, although they took a pretty good shot. one in a small washout in the dirt sliding sideways that put me up on 2 wheels and the other when i tried to go under a dune rather than over it lol long story but hit so hard i blew the ball of the heim out of the heim (low carbon steel teflon lined) fyi that is why double shear is sooooo important lol kept me from losing my steering altogether and why i went to all chromolly heims on my front end including tie rods!

Here is an idea I'm leaning towards. When i change the rack and either buy or fabricate the front suspension arms to be identical to each other (remember where the shock mounts to the arm is 3/4 off) if after putting it all back together i fail to get it lined up straight without bump steer, I was wondering if one of you guys were willing to take a trip out here and do the set up for me. All expenses paid. Ticket, place to stay, all meals and pay for the job. Plus i will make it fun with boating, partying, race track, you know whatever fun stuff. Who would be the best out of you guys for the job and would anyone be willing? (IF I CANT GET RIGHT)

[dsrace]

very tempting however what i was trying to suggest was,  align the front end properly before tearing it off. this will tell you a lot......if its easy pull the rack apart and verify its not bent. i do remember what you said about shock placement and what you said you saw by moving them up and down. but even that wouldn't or i should say shouldn`t effect bump steer or pulling while driving. if you stting still and it feels like it turns easier one way more than the other then i would say caster is off a tad on 1 side or rack bar is bent, or heim at the end of rack if thats what you have. now why is it off?? prev owner didnt realign or hit something who knows but i would start there imo. building new a arms and modifying for a new and stronger rack is great but ........figuring out the issue is always better before such things imo.

[fabr]

Totally agree with this.

[fabr]

 I don't know if lance has any CAD info on this available but if he does we could perhaps CAD up your needs for mounting a different rack.. Perhaps,,,,,,,,,,and that would be best way.Even then it takes very accurate fab work to accomplish what you want to do. 

Easiest ,by far ,would be to put it back together as lance originally designed/set up the car.

[dsrace]

honestly i have never seen on of those racks like you have taken apart so i don't know what the insides look like. here are a few pics of what the heavy duty endload racks like i use look like. i am installing glenns rack snuggy onto my rack in these pics.

[dsrace]

pm lance and ask for directions on how to properly align the front end.