well its towards the front of the car, that makes it count more.

 

Hold on a dran second. You guys are talking about ackerman issues but ackerman is when the outside wheel isn't turned as much since it has to drive a bigger arc through a corner making the car more stable. Are you saying that the outside wheel has more angle at full lock than the inside wheel? If it does that it means it has less ackerman thatn stock and that is a bad thing. If so this is a complete deal breaker for me. The biggest problem with the FB is when you lower it you lose ackerman so that's why people install spacers under the strut to correct it.

Yes I overexagerated it to show exactly what I'm talking about.

 

I take it those pictures are supposed to reflect a right hand turn?

I really don't think that Billy would screw up on something as important as the ackerman angle. He know a bazillion times more than me when it comes to suspension, and I ain't no dummy either.

 

Yes, a right hand turn. That's scary tto think that the rack might actually have negitive ackerman. Then if the rack was the only change made to the car you're going to see a drop in autoX times, because you end up dragging a tire everywhere. If it's bad enough to notice parking you're going to see it in times on the autoX. I'm just wondering here cause I actually have a CD just saving up for the rack. LOL!!

 

well it still looks like a kick *** system. is it(ackerman) better than stock? or were they just comparing an old version of the rack to a new version?

 

Stock has no ackerman problem. Once you lower a FB to competition levels then you lose ackerman. You put turn in spacers, roll center adjusters, ackerman plates what ever you want to call them, in to correct the difficancy that was created from lowering the car. If there is a ackerman problem with the kit I'm going to go ahead and jsut order the coilovers now w/o the rack.

 

ah... maybe its something else i'm feeling then. will know next week. respeed coilovers here i come

 

I've always wanted this kit. Its exspensive though. Billy, any customers with the kit that kept their ac system? Like to know how they made room for the a/c compressor?

 

Not really a matter of screwing up or not. It is a matter of cost verses gain. The rack system has replacement arms in order to "help" the ackerman issue of converting to front steer. The arms do not fix all the negative ackerman in the kit. They fixed about 80%. The arms would cost twice what they do in order to fix "all" the ackerman. I do not see the gain from that added cost in the kit.

There are some options to eliminate it if you are running stock brakes with using the stock arms. TII brake package sits inboard more and will not allow the arms to mount.

We have around 100 kits out at this time and have had great reviews on it. I am confident in the kit and its handling characteristics.

-billy

 

so if i install the TII brakes i cannot use the rack?

 

I did not say that. You can use the kit as delivered with or without TII brakes.

As far as AC, yes customers have done it with moving the AC pump up. Custom mod to the bracket.

-billy

 

i didn't think you did. i was just confused. thanks for the verification

 

sweet thanks for the info Billy!

 

There are a bunch of different a/c systems that came with our cars, but i'm running A/C on my 83 with this kit and all I needed to do was make a small notch on the bottom of the a/c bracket to clear the steering column going down to the rack. Other than that its untouched. Not sure whats needed to make it work on a 84/85 though as their a/c systems are totally different...

 

The AC bracket on my '82 bolted to a 13B clears the column.

 

Sweet, thanks guys doesn't sound like a big problem then. I have a GSL-SE motor in my 83 GSL with the r134 system.

 

Back from the dead for my useful data.

Right now My '82 GSL is of stock steering. My g/f hates to drive it because the steering is too tight. (she's used to ford's).

How does the 15:1 compare as far as physical steering input to turn in driveways/parking lots?

I'm going this route soon with the Re-Speed kit for various reasons. What about the option of a fox body mustang power rack and putting a small import p/s engine driven pump on? Fabrication is no problem, as I'll have to move the A/C anyways. I definitely want some steering feel, but less physical input and better ratio that there is now. It would make sense that going from 22:1 to 15:1 and remaining a manual "box" would cause the physical input to increase.

Never driven one and have no one around that I know personally with it.

Any info would be great!

 

Well I finally got my car running right and have driven the car about 150KM so far. The R&P kit is a fantastic improvement. Twilight, the steering effort is about the same if not slightly better at a dead stop and is leaps and bounds better while moving at any speed. The beauty is, if your GF hates to drive it then thats more time for you to drive it. This kit will likely make her enjoy it a little bit more.

The only issue I have noticed so far is when backing into a parking space with the wheels at full lock it seems like I'm not getting as much angle as I used to, and I think the wheels are rubbing the rear lower control arms, which I knew was a small issue beforehand. Otherwise it has been a pleasure to drive and feels great. Eventually I'm going to adjust the control arms up to the top holes to see if the Ackerman improves, but so far I haven't had enough time in it to tell if it's necessary. The engine vibration is noticeable only at idle, and gives it that race car feeling. Feels much tighter and more stable at high speeds, and also lighter at low speeds. A great upgrade for any 1st gen. Thanks Billy.

 

With the rack setup, the armstrong factor decreases significantly. It feels much lighter than with the recirculating ball.

 

Awesome setup. I have only driven on the street once and the track once. On the track you can feel everything. On the corners it pulls you out at the end--which is the fastest way to drive. You can fight it if you want to but you will have to work for it.

In other words, you feel the car better and it tells you where the limit is and when you are being an idiot.

I'm happy with mine. The only "issue" that I had were with the steering column due to my car having power steering. That was easy to fix with a little customization.

Great customer service from Re-Speed too!

 

Did you retain the powersteering?