any info. on taurus rack&pinion swap

[klg]

i'm considering a taurus r&p. swap for my 65 mustang . but i haven't been able to find any solid info. anyone done this or have info. ???? . i know there are alot of aftermarket r&p kits but 2 grand is a little steep when your on a budget . plus if you have a problem 5-10 years down the road . are some of these company's still going to be in buisness ??even if they are what's a new rack going to cost then 4-5 thousand

 

[StangDreamin']

I know of only one guy on here that has done a Taurus R&P swap (on his former '69 'vert); and he's afraid of the liability involved in passing out specific info. Or at least he was worried about it.... you might get "general info" from him; though. PM chepsk8.... it can't hurt to ask.

 

[rbohm]

the taurus rack is too wide for the 65-66 mustangs. it works better on the 67-70 cars.

 

[pazur]

taurus has too short spindles compared to stang's. their length basically determine the turning radius, which I guess is the most critical part of this conversion. You'd better look at j-car r&p - e.g. 95 pontiac grand am spindles are nearly the same length as at least 67 year

 

[red65]

2 grand is a little steep when your on a budget . plus if you have a problem 5-10 years down the road . are some of these company's still going to be in buisness ??

imho - the Unisteer rack is a pretty good deal, especially if you want manual steering - less than $1,000. Most installation haven't been without hiccups (search on Unisteer), but they're only hiccups, especially when compared to hacking a Taurus r&p to fit. Outside of a bit more bumpsteer than I'd have hoped for, I'm pretty happy with mine. It's definitely improved my lap times, and it's a different (better) car on the street than it ever was with wander-o-steer.

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...400618+4294908282+4294924707+115&autoview=sku

 

[68EFIvert]

I started out doing the Taurus rack and then scrapped it because I wasn't comfortable with the guestimate on the positioning. I didn't have any comfort that it wouldn't have bumpsteer or some other design flaw. I scrapped it and went with a Steeroids rack. I was into it about $500 before I went another way. Save your money and buy a proven kit. It will be cheaper and safer in the long run.

If you really want to build a rack and pinion start with a J car rack (cavalier). Most aftermarket racks start with one and then modify it to work with the mustang.

 

[Helmantel]

A Taurus rack is 24.5" wide (inner pivot cntr-cntr), where as the stock 65-66Mustang inner tie rods are ~19" apart. So, your total tie rod assy lenght would be reduced by 2.75": not very good for the steering geometry. On 67-70 Mustangs, the inner tie rods are even closer (~16"), so it would be even worse on those cars.

Than there is of course the rack travel, which is a bit over 5", and about 1.5-2" too short to match the Mustang's stock turn radius, so your turning radius will go from ~38ft to ~50ft.

 

[MightyMouse]

I have the Taurus R&P in my car and I love it. I used the 67 ps pump. I moved the mount points for the tie rods up 1.5" in the spindle. Turning radius is a little bigger, but not so bad I would throw it out. I have the article from Mustang Illustrated, just send me a email or pm and I will get that out to you. It was from ChepSK8 and his 69 vert.

ChepSK8, if you don't want me to give this article out, just let me know.

I will also be posting pics of mine soon. Can't get my car until labor day weekend. That stinks, but it will be back soon.