front center link from 1990 camaro

[garvir]

by using the 1990 camaro centerlink , the tie rods are now level with ground. i was able to cut 2" off the lenth of the tie rods, i cut 1 1/2" off the outer, and 1/2" off the inners. on the inners i had to run a die down for 1 1/2" of new threads, my buddys were a bigger diameter so we had to put on lathe and cut the body past the threads down to the diameter of the threads so we could cut more threads.

 

[ssn696]

Maybe I missed an earlier post, but could you explain this modification - why you needed it? I am guessing it was to lower the car and correct the linkage geometry for bump-steer?

 

[garvir]

it didn't lower the car, but it did help the bumpsteer. these monte carlos have bad steering little things help. i have been trying to figure out how to install rack and pinion, no luck yet. i have another post coming up on relocating the rear shocks to to eliminate the shock bind and give more clearance for rear disc brakes. plus it put the shock nearer to vertical.

 

[pontiacgp]

I assumed you measured the bump steer to say it's improved so how much did it improve it. Also instead of rack and pinion take a look at a Delphi 600 box. The internals in the 600 box matches a rack and pinion. If you look at the reviews of the rack and pinions in a G body they are not very impressive.

 

[garvir]

i will not be able to measure bumpsteer till my buddy gets back from spending winter in florida, he has the front end machine and tools to measure bumpsteer. probably be winter here in michigan another 4 months.. i should be in florida..

AFCO sells a centerlink #30271 ($90.00) similar to this 90 camaro, they seem to only cut an inch off the lenth of of the total tie rod lenth, and it does help bumpsteer. this one cuts 2" off the total rod lenth, plus brings it down parallel to the ground.

i have run my monte three tims since the mods (centerlink and relocating rear shocks) i have a subdivion down the steet that folded up and never built, but they did have the asphalt in, about a 1/4 mile back with a big cul-de-sac with 4 square corners, i will run a few in one directions then a few laps in the other direction.. this is like having my own test track.

 

[pontiacgp]

the F body center link that you used does not keep the idler arm and pitman arm parallel so I would be concerned with that problem....

 

[garvir]

but it did give me positive ackerman, and helped the bumpsteer.

 

[pontiacgp]

There is no term positive ackerman, there is true ackerman, parallel steering and negative ackerman. What were your measurements for the ackerman because ackerman is adjusted by the steering arm on the spindle, not the center link or the length of the tie rod assemblies. Also if you read up on on the center link you used they are cut in the center to remove a section to keep the idler arm and pitman arm parallel and welded. The reason why the pitman arm and idler arm need to be parallel is so the center link is parallel to the ground. You can see your center linkage is not parallel and will cause problems with bump steer and alignment of the wheels...

 

[garvir]

as you are looking at the pic, the to the left of the centerlink is a lot thicker than toward the right, makes it look like it is running downhill. i have more pics, these are very close to be paralelle, 1/32" going by the ruler, and once i sit in the seat that will change. the guy helping me is a circle track and road racer, i am just starting to learn at how little i really known about suspension. we shimed the idle arm out a 1/2"adjusted the steering shaft two notchs, reset toe, now the idle arm and pitman arm are pointing to the outboard the same, not paralelle, uneven paralelle as he calls it, he says they do this on the circle track, but it should be good. i am in michigan so it will be a few months before i hit the track.

 

[pontiacgp]

I have been building and working on circle track cars for longer than I want to remember. The way we set the front end up is we squared up the front end meaning the idler and pitman arm had to be running exactly parallel. We did this on our metric cars. All the guys at the tracks we raced at squared their set up just like we did.

this article has good info

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/r ... ss.326355/