Front end alignment

[RUNCHARGER]

Ha, ha: More stressful now that I don't have a deck truck. I remember taking the orange car to lunch one day and it wouldn't start (Chrome box went TU). Ran the 20 blocks to the yard and grabbed the decktruck to take it home. Generally I find that these new ignition parts are about the only thing that strands you. (I've croaked about 3 orange boxes, 2 chrome boxes and an MSD box within the last 10 years.

[HP2]

Specs - ask for '05 Mustang GT, since its new enough to be in most databases. The shop will not be able to hit them. Mopar's adjustment range is not wide enough, but it gives a good target to try for that will produce better results than the stock spec.

[headejm]

@RUNCHARGER (or others) Just did the string test to check initial toe-in. PS adjustor out of threads and still not straight with the rear tire. DS is square and has about 1.5" of exposed thread on both ends of the adjustor. Steering wheel is straight. Any ideas? 

[RUNCHARGER]

Rough guess but maybe your steering column is 180 degrees out where it goes into the steering coupler. Has the steering column been out recently?

[headejm]

Yes, steering column was out, rebuilt, and reinstalled. I wasn't aware that there was only one way that the column goes into the coupler. Just take out the column from the coupler, rotate 180 degrees, and reinstall?

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: That should allow you to have the wheel straight and the tie rods to be adjusted to approx the same length. What I do is set camber/caster first. Then I adjust the left side tire to be straight front to back with the steering wheel straight, then I adjust the right side to get the toe correct.
I would work on the DS and see if you can adjust it to get the threads inside the sleeves more and the steering wheel 180 degrees down. I imagine you can, then set your right side to get your toe in correct and lastly you can flip the steering shaft 180 degrees if it all works which it should.

[HP2]

Unfortunately it isn't as simple as drop the column and rotate 180*. There is a master spline in the coupler that has to align with the steering box input. Now its possible the coupler was assembled 180* out when the column was rebuilt.

If one tie rod is long and the other is short and the steering wheel appears centered, I'd almost bet that steering travel is not equal left to right. I'd check that first and see how much its out. If its close, I'd bet that by equalizing the tie rods, you can get the steering re-centered.

[RUNCHARGER]

I don't think there's enough in the tie rod sleeves to rotate the wheel 360 degrees. He can try it though. Obviously if he has 1.5 inches on one side and zero on the other he can see where the steering wheel is with 3/4" threads on both sides. That will tell the tale.

[headejm]

FWIW - the notch on the lower edge of the coupler and the alignment hole on the shaft are lined up per Cody's video. Rotating the coupler 180 degrees would violate that alignment.

[HP2]

I don't think there's enough in the tie rod sleeves to rotate the wheel 360 degrees. He can try it though. Obviously if he has 1.5 inches on one side and zero on the other he can see where the steering wheel is with 3/4" threads on both sides. That will tell the tale.

I don't think he needs to turn the steering wheel 360.  Turn the long tie rod in two turns, turn the short one out two turns. This will keep the steering centered while adjusting range on the tie rods.

FWIW - the notch on the lower edge of the coupler and the alignment hole on the shaft are lined up per Cody's video. Rotating the coupler 180 degrees would violate that alignment.

Great! You also must have the master spline aligned or the coupler would not have gone on the steering box. Do the adjustment above and it should get you the range to complete the job.

[headejm]

Update: Adjusted UCAs for max caster. Straight steering wheel, tie rods equal length, DS wheel straight, PS wheel toed in noticeably.

Steering wheeL turns 2 full turns to the right and 1.5 full turns to the left. Should they be equal?

[RUNCHARGER]

Well yes: However with both wheels straight ahead and the steering wheel straight, it's where it is supposed to be. I would set your toe in now by adjusting the right tie rod and recheck.

[HP2]

Problem is the tie rods are already equal length and the right tie rod is cranked all the way in with no more threads available to eliminate the toe in.

I suspect the pitman is installed 90* off. Since many new pitman arms come with 4 master splines or no master splines, there is plenty of opportunity to index this part incorrectly. Once this is corrected and the steering wheel centered, then the DS tire will be toed in and the PS tire will be toed out and tie rods can be adjusted equally to make things straight.

[RUNCHARGER]

I read the tie rods were equal length.

[HP2]

Yes, and I suspect if the tie rods are turned in/out to maintain equal length and produce matched thread counts on each side, then the PS tire will be toed in even more and the DS tire will be noticeably toed out. The solution is to split the difference in thread count and change the position of the pitman. As I mentioned, I have seen numerous pitmans over the last 20 years that have had either 4 master splines or no master splines. This means the pitman can be installed anywhere from 1 tooth to 90* off.

Perhaps after the rest of the membership comes down from the Carlisle high, they can contribute opinions.