Lots of varying info on steering racks - Question on the spacers

1. The literature I have says these cars have " '96-'98 Cobra" racks.

2. In another area it says the GTWC and RA use '92 inner tie rods have to be trimmed 32 threads to fit.

3. My research shows that our car has a foxbody '87-'93 rack. The input shaft is a 36 spline piece vs. the "Pyramid" shaft used on the '94+ racks. Also the inner tie rods are a 9/16 x 18 SAE thread vs. the M14 metric thread of the '94+ stuff.

4. The Foxbody steering racks mount the same, but they use a shorter inner tie rod (the car's have shorter LCAs and a different spindle then SN-95+ cars). Different threads as mentioned above.

5. I think 1 & 2 above were trying to say these cars generally used '96-'98 cobra racks and since they came with the longer inner tie rods they had to be cut down some to work on the Panoz chassis?

6. Read, "The tie rods were cut to size. How much depends on if you have the 4" or 6" coupling. One side has a 3/4 inch spacer and the other has a 1/2 inch to center the steering rack"

Centering the rack doesn't make sense to me. The chassis already has the mount "studs" offset to account for the rack design. Our rack clearly has equal 7/8" spacers on each side.

I'm ordering a new manual rack from Flaming River. My research shows that the correct one for my application is the '93 mustang rack in 15:1 ratio. It would mount to the existing chassis and use the existing outer tie rod end adapters (9/16 x 18 threads). I'm planning on swapping the travel limiters, but curious if something is amiss on our car since the spacers are the same 7/8" each side.

Our rack had two mismatched inner tie rods. One side is clearly not cut and matches the length and threads for a fox-body rack. The other side is cut 1" shorter. Based on the adjustment available in the adapter sleeve there's no need to cut the inner tie rods at all if using the foxbody stuff.

Clear as mud?

Passenger tie rod is uncut making it 1" longer than the driver's side. No part numbers are visible on them. They're different brands as the base design is different, but the threads are the same. The SN-95 stuff is a M14 thread, longer, and the threads would start farther out along the tie rod. Also note the 36 spline input shaft denoting a Foxbody rack.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/12052_4568434540146_1861981315_n.jpg

Both sides have equal 7/8" travel limiter spacers
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/r270/395034_4568436380192_1921962671_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/r270/47341_4568436740201_1299053690_n.jpg

Uncut inner tie rod on passenger side
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/424901_4568437020208_117172042_n.jpg

Cut tie rod end on driver's side. Note the threads start the same distance from the inner joint as the one above. Makes me assume they're the same foxbody tie rod but this one is cut.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/598498_4568437380217_1340056488_n.jpg

Thanks,

Brian

Cliffs - Are the track travel limiters supposed to be different sizes on each side for some reason I don't understand?

Brian,
Thanks for the great info and especially the photos. Will add to the Tribal Wisdom documentation.

"3. My research shows that our car has a foxbody '87-'93 rack. The input shaft is a 36 spline piece vs. the "Pyramid" shaft used on the '94+ racks. Also the inner tie rods are a 9/16 x 18 SAE thread vs. the M14 metric thread of the '94+ stuff."

My GTRA is chassis # 43, 2000 build year, Texas Motor Speedway version. It has what you describe. When Panoz bought the 4.6 Cobra motor and transmissions on pallets from Ford for the WC cars they also got the rack. I saw one of these several years ago still on the original pallet at Gary Jones. He got it as part of spare parts he bought as a lot from PAD. I'm not completely sure which rack they use on the GTS cars, but I believe it is also the metric one since it is available as new, not rebuilt, OEM parts.

Since these cars were frequently repaired in house, it is very likely that parts were mixed and matched to get them back on track. When I replaced mine with a rebuilt Fox Mustang rack, it bolted in and hooked up without any modifications such as cutting off the ends. Has worked just fine.

Mike

Did you swap the travel limiter spacers? Were they the same size on both sides?

Brian,
I can't remember, it was a year or so ago. I must have retained the spacers because I have no issues with tire/frame interference. I know I reused the ends and did not cut the ends.

Mike

Very interesting info. Just an observation: the different lengths of the tierods (if not made up in the connections) pivot to pivot lengths will result in having different bump steer characteristics for the front wheels. I would think the cars response would feel different making left and right turns. I'm going to check my rack when I return from Sebring. G;-)

Correct, but in this case it was made up for by the outer tie rod adjusters to effectively make them equal.