• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

randalls rack snaps in half horror

That is truly crazy!
I had a Randall's Rack on my car and hit a center divider at an angle at 45 mph. It remained intact and "mostly" undamaged. How hard did he hit a curb?...jeeze.
 
Um, yeah. When you hit a curb like that, you need to check every piece of your steering linkage, and then check it again. My old roommate ran his '97 Trans Am into a pole a couple years ago. In the process, he managed to actually break the p-side spindle where the tie rod connects, probably because he hit the curb before the pole. We didn't realize until we put it on a trailer later on, but we sure didn't blame GM for 'poor design.'

I don't see this as a manufacturing defect. Yes, it may be a weak point in the system, but the system just isn't designed to take impacts like that.
 
Curb or no curb, after seeing what little material is left of the rod after punching the mounting holes in it I'd think real hard about using one.
 
It's a simple design fix, as I posted elsewhere. Very inexpensive too. I would agree that, considering how stresses are applied, the captured area needs a redesign and some better attention paid to machining practices. In-service failures are great teachers. If the fix survives destructive testing well, it could be widely distributed. I'll bet there's a ton of gross profit in those racks, a significant portion going to liability insurance. Take some of it and make things better
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top