bumpsteer issues

[POISON PINTO]

Anyone have any ideas of what I can do to cure my bumpsteer issues? I have a bad "toe in" when the weight comes off the front. I've tried moving the outer tie rod to every possible position up and down, doesn't seem to change much. Now toying with the idea of shortening the drag links and making some sort of block to attach to the spindal to try to get close to proper geometry, either that or get a shorter rack..

Ideally the rack should be back closer to the control arms, but I don't have that option. Will adding limiting chains to limit the travel help at all?

[fourspeed409]

From what I understand the tie rod must run parallel to an imaginary line between the lower control arm bolt and where the lower ball joint pivots.
For example if the inner tie rod is 3/4" lower than the control arm bolt the outer tie rod must be 3/4" lower than the ball joint.
On my car I could not get the outer tie rod low enough. The inner tie rod had to be moved up to compensate.
Measure the bump steer on one wheel at a time. It is easier to keep track of what direction to make adjustments.

[mario428]

When I built the front crossmember for the Fairmont I dropped the rack 3 inches to get more oil pan room. I switched the tie rod ends for rod ends and put spacers at the spindles to fix the bumpsteer. Ford racks usually have a standard fine thread where the tie rod goes on so easy to switch to a female rod end.

[POISON PINTO]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure if there is a limit to the length of spacer at the spindal, but I have a 5" grade 12 bolt through the spacer and I'm right at the rim. I also added a few degrees of caster to the spindal which helped. It's close, and I do have room to shim the rack up a little, so I'm gonna try that.

Oh, and had the 460 fired up for a few seconds last night, that got the blood pumping a little! ;D Got a coolant leak behind the timing cover, tried 3 times to seal it, so it looks like a new cover. Must be cracked or corroded.