Trying to center my steering to set the toe.

[mignum]

What is the best way to center the steering at the rack so its straight ahead? By the way its a appleton on a GRT 02'

[sj valley dave]

GRT gives you the LF tie rod length and set the toe with the RF

[mignum]

Does anyone know what the left front tie rod length should be on a 2002 GRT? I dont think the setup on the GRT website is correct for my car, this car came out with a wide front end some said it was a rocket front end, but know body liked it i heard so they went back to a standard width i heard.When i make my tie rod 16.5" on the left and straighten the wheel the right side is towed out so far i would have to get a shorter tie rod to get it straight,any suggestions? The ride heights on my car are different as well, the site says 3" but mine are 3-5/8" any help would be much appreciated.

[lovinlatemodels]

On are Swartz we set the RF the same lenght as the RF lower then set the toe with the LF. I'm sure every builder does it different.

[giffordracing]

that sounds like a drop snout..02 model....15 5/8 lf 19" rf.....lf tie rod 15 1/4 total set toe 1/4 w/ rf..3.50-3.75 ride hieght

[sj valley dave]

And go ahead and call Joe @ GRT, he has always been very friendly and helpful with us.

[grt74]

ride heights rf 3 5/8", lf 3 7/8",and rr 3 7/8" (from bottom of rearend tube to frame rail )that will do what they say "rock the car"setup if its to much for you than go back to 3 5/8"on the lf,but i would call and make sure its a 02 front end,one way to see if the ride heights on the car are close to correct is to look at the lower control arms they should be real close to level when looking at your car from the front at ride height,we have a 02 car and its still real fast (we run crates with it) we were testing it after putting it up for a year or two,put a new body on it and told everyone it was a new car (we smoked some fast supers with it)and then told them it was the old car and they didnt believe us,if its an 02 and straight it will win some races set up right,,but of coarse thats any car reguardless of its age

[Matt49]

In terms of "centered" it depends on how much steering you want in each direction. I prefer to have a little more to the right than the left so you can catch the car if it gets out from under you.
Personally (and I know it contradicts what some builders recommend) I like to start with the builder recommended lengths on both tie rods (which should give you more turning to the right than to the left). Then set the bump steer on the RF which may require a tie rod length change. Then set overall toe using the LF. I think RF bump steer is more critical than the LF bump steer so once I have it where I want it, I don't want to change the tie rod length on the RF.

[grt74]

I can agree with that matt49,I THINK ALOT OF PEOPLE OVER LOOK BUMP STEER

[billetbirdcage]

Measure between the lower control arm holes (center to center), if it's 18" it STD GRT front end - if it's 19" it's the 2002 front end that's more like a rocket.

The rack should be centered with the lower arms, meaning when the wheels are straight the inner tie rods holes on the rack should be equal distance from or line up with the lower control arm inner bolts. You can fudge this a little one way or the other if you like more turning direction one way or the other, but it should be close to centered to be correct.

If you have the 2002 front end it takes a longer rack then the std front end.

[mignum]

The inner control arm bolts (center to center) measure 19" so i guess its similar to the rocket, thanks for all the replies, i think i am getting close to where i need to be. i called joe this morning he said that the ride heights in front were 3-5/8 and 12-1/2 on the right rear,he also said the LF tie rod was 15-1/2 to 15-5/8 long. I started racing last year with a super old warrior and did ok, so thanks again, its a big learning curve- building my own engines and setting up the car without any help is a real challenge when you really dont know what your doing.