Any vintage mustang guys with power rack and pinion kits on their rides?

[67cougnut]

I have been shopping around for a power rack and pinion kit for my 67 cougar.I have installed a flaming river,unisteer and steeroids kits on other mustangs and they all have the same problem: loss of stock steering radius.I looked and t.c.p.(total control products) and the spokesman at the last goodguys show guarantees no loss in turning radius. id hate to spend $2k on a steering kit and put it on just to find out it does.

talked to RRS and the guy there said with his kit you will loose about a foot of steering radius. looked into the T.c.p. and randalls kit and well both of those kits use the cross member holes to bolt the rack up. meaning the rack will become a stress member and probably fail prematurely.

talked to a few guys who have done the mustang 2 deal and the had issues with loss of steering radius not to mention the motor sat higher and well I already have no hood clearance and the car was just painted so a hood scoop is not an option right now. and if it were that simple then i may go that route. just looking for feed back from those who have done this conversion ,pros,cons, what brands they used. fitment issues etc.

Thanks-Jeff

[funcars]

I have a modified TCP rack and made a link to tie the bottom mounts together (acts as a new lower crossmember). My lower mounts are relocated and lower so I had room to put the lower link. This takes the crossmember function away from the rack and transfers it to the link. You could do something similiar without relocating the mounts if you do some thoughtful fabrication. The TCP rack is made by woodward and their servo and other components are very well made. Look up woodward and see what else they make. I showed a picture with the stock motor and a wet sump pan another with a dry sump motor. Anyway, this might get you some ideas.

Good luck

[Freddiecougar]

I have a modified TCP rack and made a link to tie the bottom mounts together (acts as a new lower crossmember). My lower mounts are relocated and lower so I had room to put the lower link. This takes the crossmember function away from the rack and transfers it to the link. You could do something similiar without relocating the mounts if you do some thoughtful fabrication. The TCP rack is made by woodward and their servo and other components are very well made. Look up woodward and see what else they make. I showed a picture with the stock motor and a wet sump pan another with a dry sump motor. Anyway, this might get you some ideas.

Good luck

Yes, we did engineer our rack to take the place of the tubular crossmember. It also triangulates off of the LCA mount, and is structurally very sound. The servo is, in fact, made by Woodward, but the rest of the rack is made here in house. It is 100% bolt-in, and you will not lose turning radius. I have attached a data sheet and installation instructions, look them over and feel free to call us with any questions.
http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/download/instructions/7903-RCKP-02.pdf
http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/download/datasheets/RCK_DS_WEB.pdf

[Freddiecougar]

I have a modified TCP rack and made a link to tie the bottom mounts together (acts as a new lower crossmember). My lower mounts are relocated and lower so I had room to put the lower link. This takes the crossmember function away from the rack and transfers it to the link. You could do something similiar without relocating the mounts if you do some thoughtful fabrication. The TCP rack is made by woodward and their servo and other components are very well made. Look up woodward and see what else they make. I showed a picture with the stock motor and a wet sump pan another with a dry sump motor. Anyway, this might get you some ideas.

Good luck

Also, not that it is that important, but the rack tube is no longer blue (it is silver) and the anodized pieces on the servo are now blue instead of red. Just FYI...

[67cougnut]

spoke to one of your techs today and he assured me that i will not lose steering radius.I hate to be picky on steering radius BUT the other kits i've installed in friends cars have made the car no longer a pleasure to drive. I spoke with a guy recently who has a TCP manual rack in his 70 stang and he is very pleased with the rack but did notice a loss in turning radius. just wanted to make TCP is assuring no loss in turning radius.if you had driven these cars after i put the rack in you'd be pretty Anal about it as well. thanks again everyone for your replies and sorry about the delayed response been out of town all week for work.

[bret]

I have a 69 with the TCP power rack system. I can't imagine going back to the stock steering. I didn't measure the turning radius before or after but I have seen no real world difference there. The feel is great...firm but controllable. The Woodward servo makes the feel very customizeable.
It is expensive, but remember...what component could be more important on your car?

[67cougnut]

thanks bret I was hoping another person with the unit already installed would chime in.

[67cougnut]

been following my post on another site. i'm still having a hard time deciding:
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/showtopic.php?tid/1507193/

[kp.touring]

I'll chime in, as Tim stated the TCP rack will not/can not change the turning radius of a Mustang. The limit to your turning radius are the steering stops which are part of the strut rods, not the rack. FYI we have built cars with TCP power steering and they are great to drive.

Kevin

[67cougnut]

It looks like the rack uses the factory camber adjustments to bolt up. does this mean that the rack will need to be un bolted for a front end alignment?

[Freddiecougar]

It looks like the rack uses the factory camber adjustments to bolt up. does this mean that the rack will need to be un bolted for a front end alignment?

No, absolutely not. The rack brackets bolt in place of the removeable crossmember and the LCA mount. An alignment requires you to remove the LCA mounting bolt, but the rack stays in place.
Tim

[67cougnut]

Thanks Tim. Im going to check out the rack this weekend if you guys have a display at the goodguys show. If not whats your hours? my job has me working in grass valley during the week and I can swing by the shop on the way home and check it out.

[SVTforme]

Is your goal to have something that bolts right in with little mods to the car?

I am running a 2004 Mustang Cobra rack in my 1968 Torino.. lets just say it took a lot of cutting and fabrication to make it work but it sure will be worth it :). It was not really all that expensive since they are readily available. Just took time more than anything as you would imagine.

[67cougnut]

I have a modified TCP rack and made a link to tie the bottom mounts together (acts as a new lower crossmember). My lower mounts are relocated and lower so I had room to put the lower link. This takes the crossmember function away from the rack and transfers it to the link. You could do something similiar without relocating the mounts if you do some thoughtful fabrication. The TCP rack is made by woodward and their servo and other components are very well made. Look up woodward and see what else they make. I showed a picture with the stock motor and a wet sump pan another with a dry sump motor. Anyway, this might get you some ideas.

Good luck

Thanks! I wanted to ask, did u notice any loss in steering radius?

[Freddiecougar]

Thanks Tim. Im going to check out the rack this weekend if you guys have a display at the goodguys show. If not whats your hours? my job has me working in grass valley during the week and I can swing by the shop on the way home and check it out.

We will have a display at the Goodguys show. It would actually be the best way to see the rack, we have a display that is the front half of a Mustang, with all the parts bolted on. At the moment, we have no such setup at the shop, they are both on the road....but you are welcome to stop by, the showroom is open 8 to 5.
I won't be at the show this weekend, but either of the guys at the trailer can answer any questions you have.
Tim

[67cougnut]

Is your goal to have something that bolts right in with little mods to the car?

I am running a 2004 Mustang Cobra rack in my 1968 Torino.. lets just say it took a lot of cutting and fabrication to make it work but it sure will be worth it :). It was not really all that expensive since they are readily available. Just took time more than anything as you would imagine.

heres the criteria ive come up with:

-has to be a bolt in kit
-no loss in steering radius and if there is it has to be correctable with this kit:https://www.drgas.net/category.php?cid=30&catid=4
-has to work with a front sump oil pan
-price has a little bit to do with it
-work with stock steering column
-would like something that does not require me to lift or remove the motor to install.

The thing is I dont doubt that the TCP kit is a bad kit but with the rising price in CA sales tax and the fact the rack is $2100 or so plus another $7-800 for a p/s pump and then another almost $200 for a bump steer kit we are talking well over $3000.00 for a rack kit. this is not going on a track car. tunability is not of major concern. I just want reliable power steering with a better looking and performing pump while keeping the same steering radius. so if I can get something that fits the criteria for $2300 OTD as opposed to $3000+ OTD then I might do it.I will check out the TCP rack this weekend and I may end with it or decide the difference in price is not really worht it.Once again I dont doubt TCP makes a good product but It may be a bit over kill for my app. and hey the $1000 I save on arack could go towards better heads or use it to start saving for my pro charger.

[67cougnut]

I'll chime in, as Tim stated the TCP rack will not/can not change the turning radius of a Mustang. The limit to your turning radius are the steering stops which are part of the strut rods, not the rack. FYI we have built cars with TCP power steering and they are great to drive.

Kevin

I actually looked at the rack they had on display and the spindles wouldn't even touch the steering stops on the strut rod. i even found a guy at the show who had that kit on his car and we checked it out and his wouldnt touch the steering stops either. he said he lost turning radius. but he said he really likes the rack. so am i assuming correctly that since the spindle ends up being an inch, inch and a half from the steering stop,once the rack is maxed either left or right. your going to lose radius?

[Freddiecougar]

This is going to make me sound like I am being evasive, but bear with me!
The display that we have is a power rack, and unless there is power to the rack, any measurement of travel, judgement of steering effort, etc, is pretty much useless. Also, that steering stop is where it needs to be for a stock spindle, (the display has 70-73 spindles)and stock steering. When you use our Rack and Pinion, the stop is internal, and the tabs on the Strut Rods are redundant. We made it this way so that if you use our Strut Rod on an otherwise stock car, everything you need will be there. Also, if you use Granada or some other spindles, all bets are off as far as turning radius, as we can not verify length and angle of the steering arm. SO.....on our display you can ignore the fact that the steering stops don't come into play, it really isn't representative of what is going on. Did all that make sense?

[67cougnut]

Yeah makes total sense.do you guys have a car in your shop with stock spindles that has this rack installed on it? wheres the shop located in sacramento?. thanks

[Freddiecougar]

Yeah makes total sense.do you guys have a car in your shop with stock spindles that has this rack installed on it? wheres the shop located in sacramento?. thanks

I am trying to make my 66 Convert road-worthy by summer....it has a rack with otherwise stock suspension. I fully plan on letting people drive it to see how the steering works.
We are south of 50 kind of by the old Army Depot.
8661 Younger Creek Road.

[67cougnut]

figured id give this a bump. I will make my mind up by the end of next week so far im about 98% sure im going to go with a randalls setup. but I am still interested in a TCP rack so its still in consideration.

Tried to come by the shop today Tim. but got off work in grass valley at 3:30 and dint make it to sac until a little after 5.I want to come by and check the rack out before I make my final decision.

[6fastback7]

Does Chassis works have a list of dealers in north dakota or Minniapolis/St Paul area? I think you had a display at Carcraft Nationals last year? Can you purchase directly from a show? my issue is im up in Canada but i do travel to a few US based carshows

[67cougnut]

Im going to call unisteer tomorrow as they have told me in a email that they machine the inner stops of the rack unit to maintain the factory 7" of steering travel.still have to swing by TCP to check them out.

[67cougnut]

hey Tim I stopped by yesterday to talk to you and dan helped me out. I'm still not sure yet which way i want to go. he showed me the display you had at good guys but i guess what im looking for is to find an actual car in my area with the rack on it and see it for myself with a motor exhaust and everything installed and functional.

[Bryce]

Cougnut,

i installed the TCP rack in my 65 mustang k-code. The reason was to clear the headers, TCP is the best option for that. However with stock spindles and suspension, I can no longer hit the stock steering stops almost 1/4" on each side. It bothers me that the kit cost so much and didnt meet one of its claims but its a drag car so i dont really care about making tight turns. The kit is a bolt in and good quality. I went with the manual rack for weight savings and it is hard to turn. Supposedly it needs 1000 miles to loosen up. i dont think my drag car will ever see that with a 1/4 mile at a time. HAHA.

I decided to build my own kit for my 65 falcon since the TCP requires me to cut the frame. Since i have built my own front suspension i think it will be easy to do my steering. It will be a complete bolt in with no modification to the car.

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54849

Here is a link to a thread i started.

I plan on using a woodward or appleton rack and make an offset tie rod mounts just like TCP. another reason i dont want to buy the TCP rack is i built my own aluminum steering column, Its only 1.5" OD and the tcp column mounts are all for 2" and would need modifying anyway. So i would be throwing a few items.

LONG post sorry. But in conclusion the best bolt on kit is the TCP kit hands down, worth the price for the ease of instalation. Every other kit will reduce turning by inches not fractions of an inch. The header interference will be an issue with all other kits as well. The RRS kit looks good kinda like the TCP but it still looks like a donor OEM rack and the TCP is a lot stronger internally. Completely custom design for this application. I just wish i could buy just there rack with the center take off and fab my own brackets and steering conections.

Good luck hopefully this info helps you.

[desmo007]

4 years later, but I'll add to this topic.

TCP manual installed on a 1964 Comet... all I can say is this is MUCH harder to turn than a factory manual. In fact, my buddies 1965 with factory manual, feels like power steering compared to this. I am not kidding. Seems as if TCP isn't interested in taking this in return for a power upgrade either. So, I guess I'm stuck with it. Not a happy camper here... to the point that I'm now looking into alternatives with about 100 miles on this thing.

[ace_xp2]

I don't know if you're willing to throw in good money after bad, but you could try adding electric power steering, like so:
http://www.ezpowersteering.nl/23/Home.html
Uh, it seems that the website is down... Anyways, it's an electric assist that goes between the rack and the wheel. Something to look into anyways. There also used to be a guy online who sold a controller for IIRC a vauxhall assist unit of some kind, that way would have you doing the fab work though.

Aeroform has the cheapest rack conversion I've found:
http://www.aeroform.com/steeringsuspension.aspx

[medbali76]

I have to decide soon the way I want to go with my 69 Cougar project. There are so many rack and pinion kits on the market but I have read so many negative feedback about these. Since I have the 428bigblock with the Hooker long tube headers in my car it looks like none of those kits will bolt up into my car without problem.
I am thinking on a fully integrated power steering gearbox from Borgeson. They say their product will improve from 6 1/2 turn lock to lock to 3 1/2-4 turn. I does not sound bad. Does anybody use their product and have driving experience with it?

[MuscleRodz]

We are finishing a TCI (total cost involved) weld in front clip on a 67 cougar currently. Customer came to us wanting a rack and was about to buy a TCP kit, but I could not justify the cost for what we got. Since he also wanted some work done on the suspension, the TCI kit killed multiple birds with one fix. For someone just wanting to drive it on the street, this kit for the money is a good choice. There are a couple issues I do not like, but not a deal breaker for street use only. If you want to autocross, I would go a different route.

[medbali76]

We are finishing a TCI (total cost involved) weld in front clip on a 67 cougar currently. Customer came to us wanting a rack and was about to buy a TCP kit, but I could not justify the cost for what we got. Since he also wanted some work done on the suspension, the TCI kit killed multiple birds with one fix. For someone just wanting to drive it on the street, this kit for the money is a good choice. There are a couple issues I do not like, but not a deal breaker for street use only. If you want to autocross, I would go a different route.

What kind of issues you don't like?
One of my friend wants to buy their kit into his 68 Stang.

[Buckeye]

I have the AJE kit for my 68 Cougar and like it but have yet to drive it yet so I can speak to that yet

[MuscleRodz]

What kind of issues you don't like?
One of my friend wants to buy their kit into his 68 Stang.

The rack is not in line with the tie rods, which for street is not really a big deal on the street, but in autocross, major bumpsteer. Other thing is the control arms do not have a support ring to keep the ball joint boots seated, but that is an issue i have with several manufacturers, not just TCI. Neither one is a deal breaker, and have sold a few and everyone has been happy so far, all bought for strictly street use. Naturally kits that do not have these issue cost more money since they have alot more r&d in them. I like the TCi kit for what it is, a reasonably priced kit for the street.