Can anyone tell me where to go for a new replacement steering gear? also who makes the best tie-rod ends? (Longest lasting beefy etc.)
My 87 LX bird has 290,000 mi as of this morning and the front end is rattling and loose. i would like to replace the orig steering gear with something as good as a new factory unit. Someone told me to go to Flaming river for a brand new TRW unit for around $200.00. All i found there was a $900.00 unit. Any ideas?
any part store should have a new steering rack.
The part stores around here keep trying to sell me rebuilt for too much money.
How much should I expect to pay for a new power rack assembly?
Is there a place on-line I can go?
Any one have experience upgrading their Bird to a quick ratio Rack?
I've had good luck with A1 cardone racks. Reman from Rockauto 109. plus shipping for the 2.5 turn rack. (mine were for TC's so no experience in a mod.)
You can get a discount code for 5% off.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1140231,parttype,7388
rebuilt doesnt always mean .. I have a rebuilt rack in my 88 bird and its been there for about 5 years now with no problems.
A machine tool salesman friend of mine toured a A1 Cardone reman facility and was impressed. They have added a lot of new machines and processes in the last few years. My luck has been good with them or I wouldn't say anything. Of course you have to flush your system well or the metal in there may destroy the new one ahead of it's time.
YMMV as always.
I have run alot of their parts and never had problems.
You bitch because a reman rack is too much...a new one will be more, and no difference in quality.
As stated, A1 cardone is about the best unless you pony up some big $ and get a Ford replacement.
I found a nice shiny clean one on a Fox stang last fall, new tie rod ends and no issues. I had a leaky one before, hence why I swapped.
Don't mean to come off as a dick, had some tragedy in my hometown tonight and i'm upset to say the least...vacation time for a couple days I reckon :(
Just a thought why in the world would you put a new rack in a car that is 25 years old and has 290K on it. Makes no sense when you can buy a quality reman for a couple hundred bucks or less. Buy a close ratio or better know as a fast ratio rack from a turbo coupe . I use reman racks all the time and they work just fine. Anyone suggesting you can buy a new rack for 200 Bucks is way off base. Put in a reman and be dun with it. A new rack is app $1000.00 Their is nothing wrong with a reman. And you can order them with inners.
Def get a good reman. There's no reason a good reman isn't as good as a new unit, IF you can even FIND new unit. I'll bet anybody that any hardparts for our cars have all been obseleted by Ford a long time ago. All that's left new is NOS here and there. Buy reman, listen to these guys talking about a 15:1 (cast right into the housing) ratio A1 Cardone rack. They know what they're talking about. And guys like Tom, who work with reman parts all day everyday (figuratively speaking. I don't actually know how much work Tom does with remans) know even better. Seriously.
If you go with a 15:1 rack, get the pump to match.
Just spec out a rack for either an '87-8 TC, or '87-93 Mustang 5.0...same thing, same part number. '94-'95 racks will work as well, but you'll have to either reuse your inner and outer tie rod ends, or use sn95 inner/outers..as Fox outers won't thread onto SN95 inners and vice-versa.
Also, the '88 Tbird Sport had the quick ratio rack as well.
One more thing...it's been said that if you use a slower ratio pump with a faster ratio rack, you'll have problems if turn the wheel hard....I can't say for myself, but Chuck W does attest to this, so I'd pretty well take it for truth.
Edit...Chuck beat me to it....lol
Thanks guys for all the helpful info. I actually might try the 5.0 mustang rack ! Since it already has 11" TC brakes and spindles-struts up front that I added a few years ago.
I've been putting NEW replacement parts on the car since I bought it new when Reagan was president. I am on my 3rd water pump now, which have always been new Motorcraft and the second pump actually got more miles than the factory one, and I have no regrets paying the extra money for a new part. My experiences with rebuilt is that they dont last as long, at least when it comes to alternators, power steering pumps, starters, etc. So I suppose I was afraid to try rebuild for fear that turning in my core would be a mistake.
Since I have had such $hitty luck with rebuilt alternators, I started rebuilding my own. My latest is a 3G out of a 94 mustang that I got from the local Pick-N-pull. I took it apart, put new brushes, bearings, and a Motorcraft regulator in it and it has been working flawlessly for 9-years. My starter drive started slipping when the car hit 286,000 mi. So I took the starter apart and lubed the bushings, checked the brushes and slapped it back together with a new drive gear, and the original starter still starts the car every morning after 290,000 mi. So you might say I'm fed-up with sub-standard Piss-Poor-quality rebuilds.
The car is still working well with the original engine and trans and rear axle. I did put a new timing chain and sprocket set in the engine about one oil change ago replacing the plastic toothed aluminum cam gear with a Ford HO double-roller that the Ford parts counter guy recommended.
The original Bosch fuel pump failed at 230,000 mi. and all i could find was a Denso replacement, which I am not happy with. I hate dropping the gas tank, but am faced with doing it again when I am confident i have a better alternative solution.
I blew 2 AC clutches over the years and replaced them with new Motorcraft units. The AC system has had a few O-rings replaced at some of the joints where there was oil seepage. The AC system still sports the original compressor and still blows air out of the closest evap duct @ 37* deg. with ambient air temp @95*.
If it wasnt for 3 different occasions the car broke down for minor things, this car would have never seen a tow truck in it's entire life. All 3 breakdowns happened in 2011.
1) The AC clutch,
2) The fuel pump,
3) The smog pump siezed-up and broke the serpantine.
Needless to say it's been a good reliable daily driver, so I'm picky about the parts I put on it, maybe even a little obsessive.
It has a pump off a Later model Super Coupe, will that work?
Oh yeah, The orig power steering pump started leaking, so I got a junkyard SC pump and rebuilt it myself to reduce downtime. I had a known good pump in my hand before the old one was removed from the car. I still have the original pump somewhere in my garage.
...Chuck, you have a beautiful car...
Here we go this is how it is DUN. I make my own restrictors but you can buy them commercially made. Good luck!!!
CHOOSE WISELY!!!
http://www.jegs.com/p/KRC/KRC-Changeable-Power-Steering-Flow-Valves/1513387/10002/-1
This can work too. The main thing is to reduce the pressure from the pump (increase the effort of the rack). The factory solution is to use the matching pump, but there are aftermarket solutions to reduce the line pressure out of the std pump.
The 15:1 rack and the std pump don't play well together. Quick direction changes can result in the rack "locking up", usually when it's the least desirable time.
Chuck the steering pump is identical other than the valving. This is my experience . Can you add some other factors !! Just saying. As i looked through a bunch of engineering specks on pumps i found that FORD uses 850 PSI and GM uses 1100. Other than that i think the valving is the difference in the 2 pumps at hand. Can you confirm!!
I've ran the pumps from my 79 cougar on my TC's for several years now with no issues and my steering is very sensitive. the cougar has a steering box.
Word of warning with regards to using an SN95 (94-98) rack in a Fox car...it won't bolt up to the stock Fox steering shaft without the $200+ hybrid shaft from Maximum Motorsports. The input shaft design on the Fox rack and SN95 rack are totally different. I know this because both of my cars have the SN95 rack with the MM hybrid shafts.
Stick with the Fox rack and buy a long rack (has the inner tie rods). With your core you will be out about $100. Get some Moog outer tie-rods, get the car aligned, and call it a day. The only other thing that you may want to do is check the ball joints and lower control arm bushings for excessive wear as now would be the time to rebuild them. If you are worried about down time the lower control arms in your car (87-88) are the same ones on the SN95 mustangs so you could just snag a set and rebuild them off the car and then install them when you put the rack in. Just a thought.
Darren
Quote!!
If you are worried about down time
And pray to god the bolts are not seized in the bushings. Have a spare set before hand and a couple dozen SAW ZALL blades HANDY.
I use TRW tie rod ends on my Ford's, most are still made in USA!