Turning radius reduced.

-

Cope

Fusing with fire
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
6,737
Reaction score
10,191
Location
San Jose, Ca.
So I got my 73 and up disk conversion on my 71 dart and the turning radius is garbage...

Is this a normal thing?

The car turned great before the swap.
Any ideas why it sucks so bad now?
 
Did you take it to an alignment shop after the swap?
 
Hit the gas a little harder in the turn. Were the spindles the same size where it attached to the tie rods? Longer tie rod mounts will increase the turning radius and your track did increase 1" per side IIRC going to disks.
 
If the turning radius were actually reduced, I'd be bragging about that!
I think that you mean that it has increased, meaning the turning circle is larger now.
On the lower ball joint steering arms, there are "steering stops" that make contact with a section of the lower control arm. Those nubs can be ground down, allowing the steering linkage to travel further.
 
Do you mean reduced or increased?

I can still remember I had a 63 Ranchero for a short while, while I still had the 70RR. I lived one way from a friend's house, and sometimes I'd pull a "u-ey" in the street to park in front. The little Falcon based Ranchero WOULD NOT turn a U in that street, but the big RR did, no problem LOL
 
Lower ball joint bolts need to have the bolt heads to the inside. I bet you have the nuts to the inside.

Brian
 
Don't you have a spool? It's likely that the locked rear axle is "pushing" the front end while trying to make a tight turn. Been there, done that, won't do it again.
 
Are the calipers on the front or rear side of the rotors? If they are on the front, (incorrect) they are hitting the strut rods and stopping from turning any sharper.
 
The 73-76 A body setup had the calipers forward of axle centerline.
 
The 73-76 A body setup had the calipers forward of axle centerline.

Right, but seems I remember the calipers have to be swapped to the rear on the earlier cars. I might be imagining things, but I am almost certain I have had to do it before. Something about the early strut rods were in a different spot. Hell, I might be crazy.
 
Are the calipers on the front or rear side of the rotors? If they are on the front, (incorrect) they are hitting the strut rods and stopping from turning any sharper.

The 73-76 A body setup had the calipers forward of axle centerline.

So I’ll clean this up some. The 73+ cars do have their calipers mounted to the front, they don’t hit the strut rods. And that’s true on any 67-76 car, the strut rods don’t change locations.

But, since this is talking about 73+ calipers on a ‘71, the front mounted calipers can interfere with the 67-72 style sway bar. You can either mount the calipers to the rear or modify the end links to clear the sway bar.
 
So I’ll clean this up some. The 73+ cars do have their calipers mounted to the front, they don’t hit the strut rods. And that’s true on any 67-76 car, the strut rods don’t change locations.

But, since this is talking about 73+ calipers on a ‘71, the front mounted calipers can interfere with the 67-72 style sway bar. You can either mount the calipers to the rear or modify the end links to clear the sway bar.

That might have been what it was. I just remember doing a Dart years ago and the calipers hit SOMETHING. Might have been the sway bar.
 
I'll check the bolt heads on the lower ball joint.

Yeah I didn't think about the spool pushing the front but that could be it....
 
remove / grind about 1/8th" off the stops on the ball joints.

This.

Had to do this exact thing on my old 66 Barracuda when I did this upgrade several years ago. Measure them before starting and carefully grind them the same amount so the turning radius is the same in both directions.
 
Would this have anything to do with the wider track width? Aren't 73+ spindles/discs out further than earlier models?
 
I have a spool and 12" wide rear tires and it turns a tight turn well, manual steering, you can hear and feel some scuffing
 
I am saying driving on the street with a spool is no big deal, doing it since 1985. I have 1969 10" front drums and 1968 11" rear drums. no grinding
 
Turning was great with the drums, it changed when I went to the 73 disks.
 
I am saying driving on the street with a spool is no big deal, doing it since 1985. I have 1969 10" front drums and 1968 11" rear drums. no grinding

It's not from a spool. It's from the fact that the lower ball joint has a nub on it that limits how far the ball joint can travel. Grinding it down fixes the problem.

10" front drum brake cars don't have this issue.
 
-
Back
Top