Does anyone have the measurements of a Mondial steering track rod or housing? I am trying to determine if a 308 'quick rack' track rod will fit. Thanks
Dammit - no quick rack for me. That may not be exactly true, in order for the quick rack to work properly; you would need to fit it into the 308 rack housing. You could then add the 2 or 1 / side to the inner tie rod ends. I do not know how this would effect the bump steer calculation, but you could have a suspension professional check it on an alignment rack to insure you arent doing bad things to the car. I know the input Pinion shaft is the same diameter, and has the same spline count. Both racks are approximately 3.125 turns lock to lock. The only question which would need to be answered is the mounting. I know the Mondial rack mounting is 15.4 center of hole to center of hole, I dont know what the 308 is. On a side note, the Mondial has hard steering from the factory, is this a track car, or are you tired of driving to the gym, and want to simply drive more as your work out routine? ;-)
Actually, most of that reputation came from the original Mondial 8 fitment with 240 section TRX tires. As tire tech improved, the 3.2 and t have 205 series on the front. so combined with a pretty much zero scrub radius, it's no more difficult than other 205 series non power assist cars (Daytona ) - but it is still no girlie man car. I had thought of perhaps getting a quick rack kit and having a 2" extension simply welded and machined in or a longer rack made. The stories of how the steering is remarkably improved are very tempting, but realistically will probably just hold with what we have.
When new the highest and best use for TRX tires are for a fish habitat, after they are 20 years old, driving them at speed is a death wish. As stated, changing to a modern tire will lighten up the steering by 20 to 30 percent. A fresh rack will add another 10 points, but at speed, you must steer where you want to go, because a fresh rack will make the car steer like new, which most of us have not experienced or have forgotten. It takes a little getting use to because you will not have to steer back and forth to keep the car going straight, not even a little. Using the Heavy duty polyurethane rack mounting bushings will also take up some of the slop, as will adding another 10 degrees of rotation and tightness on the inner tie rods.
Hmm The Mondial steering shaft and mounting points prevent from using a 308 rack. I just need a longer track rod machined to match the quick pinion if I were to do this. Well, perhaps a middle ground option would be to replace the rack bushing with the harder polyurethane to tighten the steering somewhat. I also am looking at a heavier rear bar. I sent a note to Colin at Superformance about machining a rack - hopefully he will respond. Thanks again.
