Thread: Need help with steering setup

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I am building a ratrod. I am currently setting up the steering. I am using a reversed corvair box with a drag link. If I get the box placed where it needs to be the drag link hits the driver's tire turning left before I get 1.5 revolutions on the steering wheel ( about 1.25 turns )

My question is; Can I put a slight bend in the drag link to clear the tire ?

I'm concerned about bump steer but bending the drag link slightly shouldn't matter because I'm not changing the forward or rearward attachment points of the drag link.

Help appreciated.

This is one my Son and I are wrestling with on his'29. He has cowl steering, which puts the steering arm way to the outside, and it limits how far he can turn left.

We thought about the little bend you are describing, and decided to wait until he gets to drive the car to see if it is a problem. The bend really shouldn't affect anything, as some stock automobiles used a bent draglink, and it seems ok. But we were more concerned about the appearance....a straight one might just look better.

It also depends on how long your draglink ends up being. Obviouslly, a shorter one will tend to flex less than a real long one. You might step up to the next size tubing, or otherwise reinforce it to offset the bend.

That's the problem with building any custom car, there are always compromises.

I previously owned a 28 Ford with a similar setup and I found that 1.5 turns on the steering wheel left or right from center ( with a 5 turns stop to stop box ) was more than adequate . So if you can get 1.5 turns on the wheel you should be ok.

As to my problem I wasn't concerned about bending it as to how the car handled , I was just curious if anyone else has done it with bad effects or if something will change that I'm not thinking about ?

You'd be better off putting a dog-leg in the pitman arm.

Can you heat and bend the pitman arm inwards?

(Remove from steering box before heating . . . I'm sure you know that, but I've seen guys ask if they could heat it while installed on the steering box.)

Do you have steering stop nuts installed on the kingpin lock bolts?
You should, and it's conceivable they could be too short although when they're off in the length dept they're usually too long.

I'll post a pic later today with what I came up with.