I need to shorten the tie rods to re-use the rack in my custom Contour powered car. The donor Contour is a 95. The manual doesn't mention anything special, just remove the tie rod with an arrow pointing to the ball socket part. There's no flats on either the rack or the ball socket. The later years must have added a flat on that ball socket part that the inner tie rod sits in because the manual shows it. I can grab the ball socket with a pipe wrench and it won't matter if I gall it, but how do I hold the rack? A strap wrench maybe? The manual calls for tightening back to 80 foot pounds, so holding the rack (so the case isn't overly stressed) is going to be a challange. Who has experience loosening this?
When I had the bellows off, I didn't run the rack out to the end of travel...... maybe the last gear teeth will poke out to grab as the instructions suggest. For now I've put the bellows and its clamp back together. Hyd fluid finds its way past the end seals of the rack and I made a mess of the shop floor once already. I was planning to spend Saturday morning in the salvage yard looking for a suitable donor. Since I've driven women away with my dirty fingernails, I might have another look Friday night. Thanks for the alternate to the Ford manual instructions.
Gar
I pulled the same side bellows off again and ran the rack to the stop..... no teeth show on this end (far end away from pinion). I held the rack case in the vise and put a pipe wrench on the inner tie rod ball socket and it came loose. I hope I didn't damage the lash. It's draining hyd fluid now in the other direction. I'm still going salvage yard shopping tomorrow, but I'll take the other side loose in the morning. To best align the tie rod relative to the steering arm of the spindle, the distance between the inner tie rod joints should be as short as possible (short rack width) in my application. I found an excellent model of the VW front end and bump steer math in an Austrailian VW site. That's where this rack is going. VW front end, not to Austrailia. The link you offered for taking the assembly apart wasn't applicable to the end I picked to disassemble first, but it still gave me the confidence to put the wrench to it. I think the teeth will show when I crank the rack in the direction of the pinion. I'll hold onto it here when putting both ends back together. Thanks Tony
Where's the Ray Charles "I can't see sh**" picture when you need it?