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3/08/2017 5:13 PM  #1


reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Just thought I would share the post I have made on a thread I started on my galaxie forum.

On the Galaxie forum on 3/01/17 Daze wrote:

I am working on modifying my steering arms to correct the reduced turning radios after installing home built R&P setup. 

In the long run the arm will be cut from angle iron but as I design it I will probably make it out of wood. (more to come)  I think I have figured it out and  have started the process today of building a fixture that will locate the OEM mounting location and orientation.  I need this so I can completely cut off the original arms to get them out of my way as I design the new arm.    Best part is  I think I have a fixture design that can be used for both sides by making it two piece and bolting the two pieces together I can remove the pieces reverse them and bolt them back together.  More to come as the project develops.

 

On the Galaxie forum on 3/04/17 Daze wrote:

 The first thing I did was build a fixture to hold the spindle and locate the two important points, the spindle pivot point, the OEM tie rod location.   

You need these points to insure the correct Ackerman angle.  Ackerman is what allows the inside tire (when turning) to turn more sharply than the outside tire.  Ideal Ackerman (not all cars use ideal Ackerman) is calculated by drawing a line from the spindle pivot to the center of the rear axle.  


As long as the tie rod mount is some where along that line than Ackerman will be correct.  The closer it is to the spindle pivot the quicker the arm will turn and the further away the slower.  In my case I have less steering travel so will need it to turn quicker. Before starting I used a piece of string and confirmed that the Ackerman angle on my car was ideal.

Once I had the two points I took the jig apart and located where the new tie-rod location should be.  I used photoshop to mark the picture.  White is the Ackerman line, black is the spindle pivot, red is the OEM tie rod location and blue is 1.5" in from the red and is the new location.  Moving it in that far should give me the extra travel I need.


After I got it all mocked up I drilled a 1/4" hole in the new tie-rod location on my fixture so that I can use a transfer punch to correctly locate the new hole as I design the replacement arm.

Once I had my fixture done I put a 4.5" cutoff wheel in my angle grinder and cut the steering arm off.  I am really glad this is an extra set of spindles so that if I fail I am only out a spare part.


Thats all the further I got yesterday.  I will now build the arm on the fixture and spindle (probably out of wood first) so that I can get the correct shape and pattern before making it out of steel.

My idea for this project came from that "other car maker"

On the Galaxie forum on 3/05/17 Daze wrote:

 Here is a picture of a Chevy II spindle with removable arm and below it is a Chevy bolt on arm but I'm not sure what car it is designed to fit on.


[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODcwWDEyMDA=/z/DeYAAOxyA4ZRLU5v/$T2eC16FHJGYE9nooiLRzBRLU5vZgMw~~60_35.JPG[/img]

Below is another bolt on set up that inspired me to make mine out of angle iron however mine will be totally different as the steering arm on my car hangs way below the lower ball joint mount.  Also the arm on the right is made of 3/8" steel so I have a baseline as to what I need my thicknesses to be as I use my back yard engineering philosophy  "Make a good educated guess as to what will be strong enough based on whats available in the aftermarket and then reinforce it and increase its strength to be more than strong enough."



As far as my calculations to determine that removing 1.5" will be just right, I used "close enough math"  converting lateral movement into an arc is a far more complicated calculation than I felt like doing, but I knew I could get close enough using ratios.  The OEM arm from ball joint hole to tie rod hole, is 7" the OEM steering travel was 6.75" and the rack travel is 5.625"

5.625/6.75 = .83 the ratio between the rack and OEM steering

.83 * 7 =  5.81  My ratio * to OEM steering arm

So by creating a ratio of the Rack travel to the OEM travel and then multiplying that ratio by the OEM steering arm length I get a new length of 5.81.  I would rather have to much travel and need to limit it with some sort of stop than not have enough travel so I rounded down to 5.5" as the new length for my steering arm.

On the Galaxie forum on 3/05/17 Daze wrote:

 This has been one of the harder projects I have done so far because there is so much in that area of the suspension trying to take up the same space.  The OEM arm doesn't even follow the Ackerman line (even though the final tie-rod location is correct)  because it has to clear the LCA.  The most obvious and "easy" ways to do this won't work due to interference.  I think I have it all figured out but until I get it mocked up I only give it a 75% chance of being a success.

On the Galaxie forum on 3/07/17 Daze wrote:

 Made some more progress today.  I mocked up the general shape of the arm out of two pieces of 1/2" pine.  The board I was using was 5.5" so the top part above the ball joint will be 1/2" thicker.  I actually glued a piece to the top to get the correct thickness and I have shaped the square section to the left to clear my dual piston brake calipers.  (more pictures of the further progress probably tomorrow)



The arm will require spacers machined out of 1" round bar stock to max strength and will be 1" on one side and 1.5" on the other side.  I don't like how far the arm is off of the spindle but the 1" bar stock should make it strong enough and I have a couple of other strengthening ideas.


Obviously the bolts I used are way to long, but they are what I had.  Once I confirm this will work I will get the correct mounting hardware.

On the Galaxie forum on 3/08/17 Daze wrote:

 OK so here it is, including the brake caliper.  


Next step is to pull the car in the garage and make sure there are no clearance issues.  I am worried about the tie-rod mounting hitting the steering stop on the LCA before I get my full OEM steering travel.  If that is the case than this project was nothing more than an excursive in wood working  Might be a few weeks before I can get this part tested due to needing to do it on the car, but as soon as I have a result I will report back.  If it works than I will begin cutting the arms out of angle iron and once I have them done and shaped I will fabricate the understructure that will support the rest of the brake caliper and tie the arm into the caliper mount. 

 


If it isn't broken...modify it anyway! http://www.DazeCars.com https://galaxieforum.boardhost.com
 

3/09/2017 12:59 AM  #2


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Bitchin work! I'm sure that will be killer on the car.  I was honestly thinking about doing something similar on the 65 mustang but at this time I have other stuff to do on the car. You could also check out the early ford dropped spindle bolt on steering arms.

 

3/09/2017 12:17 PM  #3


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Nice Work.

 

3/09/2017 1:21 PM  #4


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Great Job!

 

3/09/2017 4:00 PM  #5


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Dang but I like what you do!  It must be nice to have all that time on your hands 
You're really luck that those full size Fords already have some of the best suspension geometry around.  I remember back in the mid 60's, Smoky Yunick put a Ford chassis under the Mystery Malibu becaue it was so much better than the GM version.

Last edited by 66 coupe (3/09/2017 4:02 PM)

 

3/09/2017 6:53 PM  #6


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

I see you mentioned the length of the lever having much to do with the turning radius speed,  does the length also have anything to do with the force needed to turn?   How does that all compare to LTDII or Granada spindles?  Dont go out of your way to find out, just curious if you have measured those spindles to compare.    

Nice work btw.


If multiple things can go wrong, the one that will go wrong will be the one that causes the most damage.
 

3/09/2017 10:17 PM  #7


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Nice job!
One thought thou.........be sure and use treated wood.
6s6


Get busy Liv'in or get busy Die'n....Host of the 2020 Bash at the Beach/The only Bash that got cancelled  )8
 

3/09/2017 10:39 PM  #8


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Greg B wrote:

I see you mentioned the length of the lever having much to do with the turning radius speed,  does the length also have anything to do with the force needed to turn?   How does that all compare to LTDII or Granada spindles?  Dont go out of your way to find out, just curious if you have measured those spindles to compare.    

Nice work btw.

Thanks!!

The LTD II spindles have the same geometry as the galaxie spindles (thats what I have on the car now and the same steering arm length)   Granada spindles have about the same steering arm length might be about .5" shorter if memory serves but the Ackerman angle is different.
 


If it isn't broken...modify it anyway! http://www.DazeCars.com https://galaxieforum.boardhost.com
     Thread Starter
 

3/12/2017 12:37 AM  #9


Re: reengineering steering arm on my Galaxie to improve turning radius

Hot rodders do this all the time to early ford spindles when they want to do a dropped axle.  I don't see why it would be any different on another type of spindle. Still takes guts. Keep us updated.

Last edited by True74yamaha (3/12/2017 12:37 AM)

 

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