[dark7068]

the drop bracket for the steering ram on the Fairlane broke thru the frame today. Just a little warning for you guys, to make sure that you check it out frequently if you have one so it won;t do this to your car. My wife was driving the car and she almost lost control. It got tight then really loose, so be careful. She's ok but freaked.
I check the car mechanically every month, I guess I need to do it more.

 

[66restomod]

Geez, this really hasn't been your year so far has it?

Sorry to hear about the damage, but at least everyone is ok!

-Brian

 

[89 coupe]

That really sucks especially when it happens to your wife and not you. When you're not the one driving, it's a whole different ballgame. I hope it's an easy fix.

 

[dark7068]

I took the picture at 9 pm tonight, in -2c weather and had 2x500 watt holegens as heat and light.
I examined the frame where the welded in nuts are, they ripped right out and F*UCKED the frame around the nut holes. I think I will have to weld in new metal and reinforce the whole steering components so it wont happen again. I will do a final check tomorrow and think of something. So far I think welding in a new piece of 1/4" plate with bolts welded in and reinforced is the best bet. The drop bracket is kinda bent too but is fixable, I will reinforce the top bolt hole of the drop bracket and use GR.8 boltz.

Guys, please check your bracket and any signs of stress crack, fix it before this happens to you or anyone that drives the car.
As far as I know, there was no problem with mine, it was good when I put it on, and check them regularly, just not regular enough I guess.

Rick

 

[dark7068]

My year hasnt been that good eh. First the battery in the truck blew up at night, flat tire on truck too, engine builder doing my Cleveland went on holidays without finishing my motor, cam not ready, window fell in Fairlane, P.S. bracket broke frame, been a wonderful couple of weeks.
Gotta think positive though, I got my fordmuscle stickers in the mail beginning of the week.

 

[dragman64]

Mine is welded on because I could only put in two bolts. I broke the welded in nut on the 3rd bolt when I was taking off the old braket. What a joy that was to try and cut off with a kicking Sawzall

 

[JohnnyRay]

Damn Bro!

That could have been a real catastrophe.

Thank goodness that everything came out ok.

 

[66GT289]

Do you need all the drop that the bracket
provides? If not, you might consider moving
the hole where the cylinder rod attaches
further up toward the frame. In that way the
bracket will be less of a lever and won't
have as much stress placed on the connection
to the frame. We used to use the factory
cast iron bracket, move it up slightly
toward the front of the car and use a
chunk of cold rolled to space it off the
frame. Then we welded the thing to the rail.
Moving the mounting point forward helped
quite a bit by lessening the angle that the
cylinder was working at.
Hope that helps......

 

[dark7068]

Worth a look, I will check it out tomorrow, I had to spend my day getting the truck running.

Rick

 

[Cyclone Joe]

My friend has a '70 mustang, and he has ripped his out twice. First, he ripped the bolts through the frame like yours did, then he broke the bracket where it was welded. He went back through the third time and put a brace at a 45 degree angle between the bracket and the frame. I'd suggest putting in the brace, since he hasn't had any problems since. Good luck!!

 

[dark7068]

Thanx for all the ideas guys. I fixed it just now, but will reinforce it and move the ram up higher. It hangs down about 1 1/4 inch from the header.
I used a 3in. squaretop ubolt, 3/8x3in. by 2 in. long, threaded all the way to the top, bought a gr.8 bolt for the top. Since both bottom welded nuts were broken, the ubolt worked out perfectly, only had to tweak it abit (open it slightly) and it went in the frame with no problem and was a good length, 1 1/2 long would of been better but thats easily trimmed.

Thanx alot for the help and keep an eye on your bracket, it will give you warning if it breaks but not much of one.

Here's a new picture,

Rick

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dark7068 on 1/7/02 5:36am ]</font>