NOVEMBER 2019 CARCRAFT.COM 41is nice to have when you are big boys
from Oklahoma.
You can do this project on a lift or on
the ground. This being a ’69 model
(where the column is separate from
the gearbox), on the ground with jack-
stands is easy. The ’65–’66 Mustangs
used an integral box with the steering
shaft built into the gearbox, so getting
it out on the ground is very difficult.
Most people just cut the shaft. We
have a drive-on lift, so we used it. You
can do this entire install with just a few
handtools. We started by first remov-
ing the steering column from the car.
There is a clamp-on rag joint at the end
of the column. It takes some effort to
get this pried off of the gearbox input
shaft. The column must be loose from
the dash and the lower firewall mount
removed before separating the column
from the gearbox.
Once the column is out, the entire
steering assembly is removed as a sin-
gle unit. Don’t take the steering com-
ponents apart at this time; you needsome measurements later, and there is
no point to taking it apart. First, drop
the tie-rod ends, then the idler arm
from the frame, then the gearbox. If
your car has a power-assist ram,
remove it as well. There are five bolts
holding the assembly to the frame—
eight if you have power steering.
If you have power assist, you are
good to move to assembly, but if not,
you may need to add some crush nuts
to the subframe. Most later-’60s
Mustangs have them, but not all. On
the bottom of the subframe, behind
the gearbox location are two holes; the
factory uses a crush nut in each to cre-
ate a threaded mounting point. A crush
nut is like a rivet, only there is a
threaded hole in the center. Speed
Direct sells a crush nut kit, but they do
not come with the system.
We bench-assembled the rack,
which is a lot easier than trying to put1.The process began with pulling the
steering column. The lower rag joint
was loosened after being sprayed with a
rust-penetrant.1
- Under the dash, the column is retained
by a dash mount and a firewall support,
shown here. The entire support must be
removed to get the column out of the car.
These parts are reused.
2
- Under the car, the tie rods were unbolted
and we used a hammer to knock them
loose. You can use a separator if necessary,
but the hammer usually gets the job done.
3
- Next, we removed the power-assist ram
mount. The two lower bolts use the factory-
installed crush nuts discussed in the story.
4
- Inside the driver-side inner fenderwell
are four bolts with truncated washers.
All four were removed, and only one hole
is reused. Once these are removed, the
gearbox will be loose, so be careful. There
are two similar bolts on the passenger side
that secure the idler arm, and those were
removed as well.
5
- The entire assembly is fairly heavy, so
be careful when removing it. We set the
arms in a straight line and measured it.
Ours came to 47.5 inches. This is our base
alignment setting.
6
- On the workbench, we started the
assembly. The center bracket bolts are a
special length; do not swap them out for
anything else. The Nord-Lock washers
install as shown. Be sure that the center
spacer behind the bellows on the rack is
aligned with the rack itself, otherwise you
may crack the rack case when installing the
bolts. Do not forget the red thread locker.
7
- Each Heim joint or rod end must be
coated with antiseize before assembly.
If you skip this step, the threads will gall
and you will have to replace them when
doing an alignment. The Heim joints
were torqued to 80 ft-lb, along with high-
strength Locktite.
8
- Once the tie-rod shafts were assembled,
we adjusted them to match the 47.5-inch
length from the original linkage. This gets
you close enough to drive to the alignment
shop, but it’s not good enough to leave as-is.
9