Specs on the Pro Stangs??

[driftfox]

Hey driftfox- what cheap needle bearing steering shafts do you have experience with for Mustangs? I only know of the Flaming River shafts, which cost a couple hundred to start with, and even more for the ones intended for SN95's with power racks. How much angle do you have right now? Good tips, btw--from all ya guys.

I made my own Fox shaft from a single Borgenson bearing. Since the upper joint on a fox shaft is not made of rubber and doens't need to be replaced, I cut the lower rag joint flange off the stock shaft, cut the shaft to length, machined down flat spots to fit in the Borgenson bearing and slip fit it together, locking it with the set screws. Works just like the MM/Flaming River/Borgenson shafts at a fraction of the cost and is much safer since there is no chance the shaft can slide down, and possibly out if the set screws come loose. The joints cost ~$60 I believe and are much cheaper than the ~$160 market price for the entire shaft. I am not familiar with the design of the stock SN95 shaft other than it's a two piece shaft, different from the Fox 1 piece. The SN95 is more expensive, but you should be able to make something up cheaper than ~$250 (MM's price) if you do a little homework. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of one would you?

You can find bearings here:
http://www.borgeson.com/RacingProduct.htm

While I have never measured my steering angle, it is not enough counter for big angle pro level drifting. I use higher grip Kumho MX tires to help from spinning during practice. I am using the stock 14.7:1 rack with limiters removed. I have Fox MM arms and an MM K with 97 spindles and 8.5" wheels (+22mm) and have room to gain significantly more steering, but I am resisting doing any spindle modifications because I love to road race and wouldn't trust a set of welded spindles for track use (yet). Instead, I just picked up a complete stock rack to disect, study, and see if I can gain a little angle machining it here and there.

[Mike Peters]

Tubular control arms and different sway bars will only allow for additional clearance when adding steering angle. They obviously do not add any steering angle by themselves. The rack limiters, when removed, do allow a significant increase in steering angle, but in a Fox/SN95 Mustang, it's hardly what I would call serious angle. To increase steering angles you may want to consider custom spindles or modifying your existing spindles by either shortening the steering arms or welding on another mounting boss for the tie rod ball joint on the spindle. Here the 96+ spindles are problaby the best bet with their straight arms. They will also push the wheel out an additional 8mm per side (when installed on 95 and earlier cars) giving you a little more clearance for more steering angle. Also, somewhat related, an inexpensive needle-bearing U-joint steering shaft replacing the factory rubber rag joint shaft will do wonders for the car and you while drifting.

+1 on shortening the knuckes, its an easy way that works, thats all we have on the el camino (its still not as much steering angle as we need but its decent for free)

[scarredone]

steering shaft and modified knuckles

Thanks for the info, DriftFox. Sorry, I don't have a pic of an SN95 steering shaft. Good luck on the rack modification; I hear that they're a total pain in the *ss to work with (a la Maximum) for altering feel or deviating from stock parameters. By chance are you running the Max. K member with forward offset control arms and bushings? I'm still trying to decide whether or not to go with that setup on my 96, and don't wanna compromise tire clearance.

To all who are running modified steering arms, did you just drill another hole closer to the wheel bearing or cut and reweld the arm itself? Any drawbacks to this mod?

Thanks.

[driftfox]

Mike,

Your El Camino (along with every other car used in drifting, modified or not) has significantly more countersteer than mine. How long have you been running with shortened spindles? I assume because you said it was free, you cut and welded them yourself? Have you had any failure (minor or major) with them yet? I was trying to avoid this modifcation, but I may just bite the bullet and weld on a second set of mounting bosses closer to the ball joint just for drifting, leaving the original set for road racing to retain my steering geometry. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of your modified spindles would you?

Thanks


scarredone,

Yes, I am using the Maximum Motorsports K (increased the wheel base by .75") but with their standard location A-arms. My 89 Mustang has a smaller fender opening in front of the tire then the later model foxes with factory 16" wheels and your SN95. Had I gone with the forward offset arms, I would have had to do some major cutting and sheet metal massaging. I did run into minimal clearance issues with the .75" longer wheelbase, but I was able to resolve them with minor trimming of the fender entensions and without making my car look like an American Iron monstrosity by yanking the fenders outward. In your 96, you should have no clearance issues with the K and standard arms, but check the Mustang boards to see if the offset arms may interfere with the fenders. Although the price of these parts adds up quickly, you won't be disappointed with the results. Good Luck!