Steering Rack Spacer Question.

[RedComet13]

I was looking under the cygnus Supra Website to get an idea via diagram on how long and Tedious the work should be to install my new Steering Rack Spacers i got From Wes Beech and Beech Performance. But Im having Trouble Finding the Correct Diagram, Is anyone Familiar With these installs?
I think Im going to PM Wes also.

 

[Altezza576]

Why would one need a Steering Rack Spacer? what are the benfits or purpose of it?

 

[ma71supraturbo]

From the Wiisass group buy thread:

Yeah, I'm in Sac. PM me the info on that meet. I think I'm free that evening.

And now....

ON TO THE WRITE-UP!! dun dun dun!

Step one, obviously, remove the wheel.

Loosen the clamp on the outer tie rod sleeve

Unscrew the inner tie rod from the outer tie rod

Remove the dust boot

Using our special tool, remove the inner tie rod from the rack

Thuroughly clean the tie rod. Brake cleaner and a towel works great! Notice how the old tie rod almost looks like new? Install the spacer over the threads of the tie rod.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

Thuroughly clean the threaded portion of the steering rock. Apply thread locker to the tie rod end. (I used medium strength with a breaking point of ~115lbs on a 3/8" fastener.) Reinstall the tie rod end in to the rack and tighten with tool.

Install dust boot. I bought new ones as the old ones were dry and rotting.

Thread the inner tie rod end back into the outer tie rod and adjust the toe angle. (I applied a small amount of WD40 to the tie rod adjusting threads to help prevent them from rusting stuck in the future.) While making sure the steering wheel stays straight, line the front wheels up with the rear. This gets the alignment close enough for a test drive to better adjust it yourself or to take it to a shop.

Reinstall the wheel and enjoy your new found steering angle!

Before:

After:

Sorry about the quality of the last two pics...

Hope that helps guys! Thanks to Wiisass for providing the MKIII community with another awesome mod, and thanks to Kragen for a kick ass tool!

Collin

 

[Altezza576]

Ahhh thats pretty cool. Now, to track down a tool to remove the inner tie rods!

 

[RedComet13]

Ehh Its still REALLY vague.... HAHAHA JK Dude thats exactly what I needed, and Complete with Pictures and a Write-up, Awesome!!!

BTW a special Thanks to Wes Beech for the Spacers, If you haven't had time to Check out his Catalog or Portfolio is Worth a look
www.beechperformance.com :naughty:

 

[boostindoo]

just what the mk3 needs!!! awesome mod, didnt know they had this for our cars!!
thanks!!

 

[san supra]

doesn't that bind the lower ball joint or do you adjust it so it doesn't?

 

[Enraged]

so wesbeech is selling the wisass spacers? i thought it was only one GB.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

It's basically just a really thick washer -- I'd bet wesbeech is making his own...

 

[IJ.]

It's basically just a really thick washer -- I'd bet wesbeech is making his own...

Check your PM's Jeff...

 

[RedComet13]

I believe Wes is manufacturing his own, All the parts under the portfolio are either One-off or template material. He Made some Cross drilled rotors with a yelow cadmium finish that were beautiful and Would look great with my Rims. I think Im going to have Him do Some of those for me at another point one half Mk3 rotor, and MkIV in the rear, It would take the bite out of a BBK into something that would look great and Be One-Off :biglaugh:
Then pair those with some driftmotion lines maybe with some mk3/mk4 speedbleeders yum. Oh and btw while Im in there im swapping out for Polyurethane Bushings Woot

 

[cjsupra90]

While we are on the subject of these rack spacers, can someone verify this, Does the inner tie rod sockets act as the steering rack stops???

I was under the impression that the stop is part of the Rack gear and housing which if this is the case, I dont see how you can gain any extra travel by adding the spacers.

The second thing that goes with this is My rack is 100% stock and I have no issues with hitting the steering stops that are built into the steering knuckle and Lower control arm so again, how would I gain any additional travel or lock with the spacers?????
No where do I see where it says that the factory steering stops on the the knuckle and LCA have to be modded or removed...

On a seperate note to the quote below....

..........He Made some Cross drilled rotors with a yelow cadmium finish that were beautiful and Would look great with my Rims. I think Im going to have Him do Some of those for me at another point one half Mk3 rotor, and MkIV in the rear, It would take the bite out of a BBK into something that would look great and Be One-Off :biglaugh:
.....

It is a bad idea to drill a stock rotor. The stock rotors for the MK3 are already lack enough mass for the weight of the chassis. Drilling them only worsens the situation. Not to mention the added risk of cracks forming. Yes you can chamfer (or even better, radius) the hole edges but rotors that are drilled from the factory (i.e. Porsche, Ferrari, Benz, etc....) have had the rotors designd specifically for the purpose of drilling by drastically adding mass to the disc's... Remember, The more mass, the more heat the rotor can absorb and dissapate and that is pretty much the main function of the disc... This is really the main reason for a BBK (bigger greater mass disc's)....

 

[TurboStreetCar]

Remember, The more mass, the more heat the rotor can absorb and dissipate and that is pretty much the main function of the disc... This is really the main reason for a BBK (bigger greater mass disc's)....

BBK's also offer greater leverage from larger diameter discs, the mass is there but the main point is the leverage or mechanical advantage.

I also don't quite get the extra angle, the wheels are at the same start position how does it add travel to the rack?

 

[cjsupra90]

BBK's also offer greater leverage from larger diameter discs, the mass is there but the main point is the leverage or mechanical advantage.

I also don't quite get the extra angle, the wheels are at the same start position how does it add travel to the rack?

True and false at the same time. Yes, you do get more mechanical leverage, but at the same time, most BBK's actually have less Piston area calipers then the stock calipers they are replacing and thus less clamping force and therefor a higher mechanical leverage need to equal out.... You could just simply increase the the piston area on a stock rotor and gain the same gains as going to a bigger rotor. Your simply refering to Rotor diameter. Im refering to rotor weight / mass... Simply adding to the diameter will give you more leverage as be both agree, but if you were to keep the same thickness and go to a 2pc disc (as most do), you are not really gaining any mass and thus will still overheat the rotor. Also, the larger the diameter, the more likely it will distort (warp) more for the same temp..... Rotor temp directly effects pad temp and pad temp directly effect the pads cf. (Coefficient of friction)...

Basically, it boils down to this, Brakes do not stop your car, the tires do and if you can lock up the wheel (obviously non ABS vehicles) then you have more then enough brakes, but this doesn't mean that you dont have a thermal managment issue. The only way to solve this issue is in rotor mass and cooling.

Perfect example is a LMP car (whether it be LMP1 or LMP2), teams generally run the same diameter rotor on all tracks but they run different thickness disc on different tracks depending on the brake demands of the track.......

I can go on for hours about this subject as I have spent many years studying brake system design and engineering (and have actually been offered a job as a design engineer with Wilwood but I refused as I will never live in CA.) but this is all off topic of this thread and I'll leave it at that.

Sorry, back on topic now. Being that Tim has done this, Im guessing that the Tie-Rod socket do act as a stop as this is the only way the spacers could possibly allow for more rack travel but this still doesn't explain the steering stops already in place on the knuckle / LCA... Does anyone have more insite to this?????

 

[yongai27]

sorry to bring back an old thread, do steering spacers wear down the tie rods a lot faster than they would normally wear?

 

[NashMan]

^ to answer your qestion no it does not ware them out



I had these on my car on my drift loose spec and ride hight


but it your car is lowered and want no srubbing toe you will need new tie rod arms or tie rods


how they work is they alow your rack to travle further befor hitting the stop


and for the love of good you have to readjust your streeing stops or it just point less mod

 

[yongai27]

oh ok, yeah whos car isnt lowered anyways

 

[drod23]

i bought these spacers and when i aligned my car the right tie rod ran out of threads and and was still toed out
did u have this problem?

 

[NashMan]

sigh didn't you read my last post


there are new rod end you can get but for the life of me I forgot the part number

so all ya can do now is got to parts store and open abunch of boxes up like I did to find a set like I did