Spiderbox rack and pinion--pulling my hair out!

[georgia mike]

I've been trying to figure out this weird problem with my Spiderbox's steering system. When turning to the right, the wheels will travel all the way until they are nearly perpendicular to the buggy frame; but when I turn to the left, the wheels don't turn nearly as far. If I am remembering correctly, when the steering rack is on center (true center judging by the amount of gear teeth showing on each side of the rack) the wheels are turned to the left a bit. I tried simply moving the rack over to the right 1-1/4" (which is the mounting bolt center spacing) and it basically reversed the problem. Everything is backward from where I started.


Another problem I have is that there just doesn't seem to be nearly enough length in the tie rods to achieve proper toe. As the wheels sit, they are toed out fairly badly. Is there something obvious that I'm overlooking. Sorry I don't have any pics right now, but I figured I'd ask in case it may be something common that I'm missing, even though I've searched and not really found much in the way of my particular problem on this particular buggy model.

[xlint89]

Pics would help greatly.

Did you install different front shocks?



You need to center the rack.

Then center your tires from that.

TIP: lock the steering wheel in place when adjusting tie rods. (I use a bungee cord)

Adjust the tires so you get 1/4" toe in. (a 1/4" less from center of tire to center of tire on the front VS. center to center on the rear part of the tires)

[x-bird]

the yerf's rack is mounted off center and the rack is designed for this with unequal pinion tooth length/position when "centered" in its original mounting position. Disconnect the tie rod ball joints from the spindles, rotate the steering wheel fully to one side, then turn it all the way to the other taking note of the total amount of turning. 1 1/4 or less iirc???. Turn it back half that amount (centering it) and set your tie rod length, then reconnect them. you may need to put something heavy next to the tires to hold them in the position you want. take some pics of how it's set up. I'm wondering if something's installed on the wrong side of the spindle.

[georgia mike]

There's no telling what's going on with this thing. The PO installed this front end, so there's no telling what he has on here. I'm no stranger to mechanics, having worked on cars and suspension systems for the last 15 years. It just seems that with the rack perfectly centered (or not centered, for that matter), there's not enough tie rod length to achieve proper toe. Maybe the PO installed loner shocks and that's the reason? Who knows. I'll get some pics this afternoon.

[ckau]

Examine your ball joints. if they are stock then chances are they have worn to the point they can no longer hold the spindle at proper camber, they tend to collapse in or out. This plays havoc when trying to center or adjust toe. Nealy danged impossible to get rack adjusted properly
grab a wheel top and bottom, give it a rock and see if the joints move with the spindle. if so there's your problem.
Replacing the joints with OEM is wasting your money! The BD HD joints are a good alternative and will hold camber better. They won't cure the problem 100% but you can work with them and are able to get a setup that's livable . The only positive/permanent cure is to convert to heims.

[georgia mike]

I'm not sure which ball joints are on there, but I believe they're the BD joints. They're definitely not the stock units, and they're all in pretty good shape, save for one that has a very slight bit of play.

[georgia mike]

I looked it all over again today and I think I found the main culprit. The spindles were both bent, the passenger's side was worse than the driver's side. I pulled them both off and straightened them out. Before I reinforce them, I figured I'd bolt them back on to see if that improved matters, and it did. It's still not 100% perfectly centered, but it'll do for a 6 year old (this will be my daughter's kart). Tomorrow I'll add some gusseting to reinforce them so hopefully it won't happen again. If it does, I'll build a beefier set sometime later down the line

Another thing I found was that although the front shocks look the same, one is around 1/2" shorter than the other. I guess I'll worry about that later; for now I need to worry with getting it running so she can actually ride it.