reenmachine said:
Gee, what a bargain it turned out to be!
We've tried pretty much every rack out there and had all of the above problems with Steeroids. And yes, the bracket flex was visible. The Randall's Rack is my preferred system by far, and the difference in feel on the road over the Steeroids is very noticeable. TCP is nice of course, and functions very well, but I feel that the Randall's Rack performs just as well for a better price. It's just not so sexy looking.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. After installing my Randall's rack, I be holdin' an extra 500 smackers plus some. That's be a whole lot a beautiful to me!
But seriously, I'm very happy so far (about 1,000 twisty miles) with Randall's rack. I was even able to make it work with the "Z bar" clutch linkage by fabricating a bracket and modifying the "Z bar". After talking with Randall about this, he is looking to incorporate an even better design into the driver side bracket.
There are a couple of considerations though. Geometry is designed for a 1" upper control arm drop and a 1" spring drop. Otherwise you are going to need to correct for bump steer. This brings up the issue of how to do that, seeing as you use late model mustang inner tie rod ends and original spindles. So the bump steer kit you'd get would have to be custom on anything other than the above drop. Using a bump steer kit that moves the tie rod in, like pro-motorsports, would (IMO) make the steering too quick in a high speed panic situation.
So if you are thinking of an aggressive lowering, you may want to talk with some one who can set you up with the proper bump steer corrector.
BTW: After the first 500 miles, when I rechecked all the fastners and alignment, etcetera, I put the car through some pretty rough, fast and windy roads, with just about every type of bump, and turn you can think of. The steering is awesome! Because of the reduced turns lock to lock, it is easy to keep both hands on the wheel, and you butt anchored to the chair. Very confidence inspiring. The down side is your turning radius is about like a mid 80s Tarus, or 90s Mitsubishi Spyder. (IMO) a good trade off.
While I have not driven a car equiped with the TCP rack, I'd imagine it to be pretty much the same. I'd also suggest keeping the large (stock size) steering wheel, to help with precision steering inputs.
Good luck which ever way you go. (again, IMO) Between these two systems, it would be hard to go wrong.
Hey while I'm typing up "War and Peace". Huge props to Opentracker on both the roller perches and the
upper control arms. You can definitely tell the difference.
...and they all lived happily ever after at Laguna Seca. The end.
Scott