Excessive toe in after sn95 spindle swap

[cnorman31]

I'm finishing up my 5-lug swap, but my front tires are severely toed in. I'm running out of thread on the tie rod while trying to straighten them, and I'm concerned that if I keep adjusting, I'll run out of threads where the rod connects to the tie rod, making it unsafe to drive. Do SN95 spindles require longer tie rods?

 

[cnorman31]

Do I need a bumpsteer kit? If so, do i got with 79-93 or 94-04?

 

[AeroCoupe]

Let’s back up in time here and tell us how you did the swap. If you just popped the spindles on and are reusing the fox inner and outer tie rods then yes they will be too short. Your options are Maximum Motorsports kit or swap the inner tie rods on your Fox rack to SN95 (they have the same thread) and then you will need SN95 outlets due to the metric threads of the SN95 parts.

 

[cnorman31]

Let’s back up in time here and tell us how you did the swap. If you just popped the spindles on and are reusing the fox inner and outer tie rods then yes they will be too short. Your options are Maximum Motorsports kit or swap the inner tie rods on your Fox rack to SN95 (they have the same thread) and then you will need SN95 outlets due to the metric threads of the SN95 parts.

Yes i just put the spindles on my original setup with fox inner and outer. So if I go with bumpsteer kit, can i stay with the fox inner?

 

[AeroCoupe]

Yes. According the Jack Holley with Maximum Motorsports you need to use their MMTR-7 kit and that will get you the additional length. The 94/95 spindles move the tie rod attachment point out about 1”.

 

[manicmechanic007]

Just use any of the longer rack rods like a T bird has or newer Mustang has Air rooster even
Even the old manual steer Pinto ones will screw onto the rack's sector shaft

 

[cnorman31]

Just use any of the longer rack rods like a T bird has or newer Mustang has Air rooster even
Even the old manual steer Pinto ones will screw onto the rack's sector shaft

So if I purchase these https://shorturl.at/NXn9V , they bolt directly onto the Fox rack and provide the extra length I need?

 

[CAMTWO1070]

A couple of eccentric ball joints are needed..

 

[Mustang5L5]

So if I purchase these https://shorturl.at/NXn9V , they bolt directly onto the Fox rack and provide the extra length I need?

No. SN95 tie rods are metric. Fox are SAE. You’d need to swap the inner tie rods as well to SN95 to run those.


Toe in after SN95 spindle swap is common. The mount points move out about 1”. I experienced this with my car, and it’s a common complaint from what I’ve seen on boards/forums.

However from what I’ve seen, most folks have had enough thread to adjust out the outer tie rods, and still have enough thread engagement. This is what I did on my car and I’ve seen others do this as well. 12 turns is the rough amount to move the tie rod outer, out.

Really what you need to do is install the others loosely on the spindle. Thread the outers out and eyeball a close alignment with the tires on. Then, disconnect the outers from the spindle, run a piece of tape where the threads enter the tie rod and remove it. You can then see how much thread engagement you have and determine if you need to address it buy buying additional parts.

Another concern is if the steering rack is centered. If it’s not it’s possible to run out of threads on one side and have enough on the other. Why both sides need to be checked


I would likely buy the MM bumpsteer kit as a buy-once, cry-once upgrade. The problem with bumpsteer kits are that you really need to measure bumpsteer to set them properly. Eyeballing based on reference points isn’t the best method but it will get you close.

 

[AeroCoupe]

I have the MM bumpsteer kits on both my cars and all I did was set the tie rods parallel to the control arms and they have been that way for almost 20 years on the Coupe and about 15 on the T-Bird. Like Mustang5L5 said its not 100% but for a street car its money. If either spent any amount of time on a track I would get my buddy's bumpsteer gauge and go through the process (and it sucks) to get them dialed in.

 

[cnorman31]

No. SN95 tie rods are metric. Fox are SAE. You’d need to swap the inner tie rods as well to SN95 to run those.


Toe in after SN95 spindle swap is common. The mount points move out about 1”. I experienced this with my car, and it’s a common complaint from what I’ve seen on boards/forums.

However from what I’ve seen, most folks have had enough thread to adjust out the outer tie rods, and still have enough thread engagement. This is what I did on my car and I’ve seen others do this as well. 12 turns is the rough amount to move the tie rod outer, out.

Really what you need to do is install the others loosely on the spindle. Thread the outers out and eyeball a close alignment with the tires on. Then, disconnect the outers from the spindle, run a piece of tape where the threads enter the tie rod and remove it. You can then see how much thread engagement you have and determine if you need to address it buy buying additional parts.

Another concern is if the steering rack is centered. If it’s not it’s possible to run out of threads on one side and have enough on the other. Why both sides need to be checked


I would likely buy the MM bumpsteer kit as a buy-once, cry-once upgrade. The problem with bumpsteer kits are that you really need to measure bumpsteer to set them properly. Eyeballing based on reference points isn’t the best method but it will get you close.

Right well that kit includes both inner and outer for sn95. I just did the string method to get a basline alignment and I have about 1" of thread engagement on the drive and 1 1/4 " on the passenger. Is that enough?

 

[AeroCoupe]

More than enough. Minimum thread engagement is typically 1 to 1.5 the diameter of the bolt with steel.

 

[manicmechanic007]

So if I purchase these https://shorturl.at/NXn9V , they bolt directly onto the Fox rack and provide the extra length I need?

Yes

 

[manicmechanic007]

Your existing outer tie rods ends will just screw right on the longer rack rods

 

[Mustang5L5]

Right well that kit includes both inner and outer for sn95. I just did the string method to get a basline alignment and I have about 1" of thread engagement on the drive and 1 1/4 " on the passenger. Is that enough?

You are right, I did not see that the kit had the inners.

IMHO it’s overpriced. Check Rockauto which may be potentially cheaper.

93 Taurus outers with SN95 inners is also another combo that folks run. The SN95 outers may actually be too long.

 

[manicmechanic007]

Right, I can get those inner tie rods for 18 bucks each at times

 

[AeroCoupe]

You can cut the SN95 inners down and use the SN95 outers.

 

[cnorman31]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! I'll explore my options. I might just stick with what i have for now since it looks like I have enough thread engagement.

 

[KRUISR]

Which SN spindles do you have - 94/95 or 96-04?

 

[cnorman31]

Which SN spindles do you have - 94/95 or 96-04?

94/95