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Justin_96gt

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Few questions for all you mustang veterans. I just picked up a 96gt with 115k on the clock. Full koni quad shock suspension, steeda springs, mac catback with off road h, upgraded intake manifold crossover, and steeda shifter. Now it has a cobra steering wheel and it is deffinetly not as tight as I would like it, is there a way to adjust the wheel or would I need a stock wheel, also the clutch grabs a little funky, are these clutches easily adjustable? Thanks!
 

mcglsr2

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Hi, welcome!

By "not as tight as you want it" for the steering wheel, do you mean there is play in the wheel (you can turn the wheel some without the wheels turning as well) or that the steering wheel is physically loose?

Also, regarding the clutch, assuming it's a stock clutch cable/pedal setup, they have a built-in adjustment mechanism. You are supposed to lift the clutch up as far as it will go, there's a ratcheting mechanism thing that is supposed to take slack out of the clutch cable as the clutch wears over time. However, the funky grabbing may or may not be a result of slack in the cable. So doing this might not have any affect for you, depends on what is actually funky about it. Lastly, if the previous owner swapping in an adjustable cable or some sort of adjustment part (like that from Maximum Motorsports) then the adjustment happens differently.
 
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Justin_96gt

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Hi, welcome!

By "not as tight as you want it" for the steering wheel, do you mean there is play in the wheel (you can turn the wheel some without the wheels turning as well) or that the steering wheel is physically loose?

Also, regarding the clutch, assuming it's a stock clutch cable/pedal setup, they have a built-in adjustment mechanism. You are supposed to lift the clutch up as far as it will go, there's a ratcheting mechanism thing that is supposed to take slack out of the clutch cable as the clutch wears over time. However, the funky grabbing may or may not be a result of slack in the cable. So doing this might not have any affect for you, depends on what is actually funky about it. Lastly, if the previous owner swapping in an adjustable cable or some sort of adjustment part (like that from Maximum Motorsports) then the adjustment happens differently.
Yes sir there is play when I turn the wheel left and right, I can be driving straight and keep going left, right, left, right slightly and the car keeps going straight. Any fix for this? Also for example I started the car to move it this morning, my foot was to the floor on the clutch and it grinded slightly going into first, when I first picked up the car I grinded second about 5 times in a row. I've been driving stick my whole life and I don't know what the deal is. I'll try looking up adjusting this clutch, thanks!
 

Orange 94

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Welcome!

The wheel definitely doesn't sound right... are you sure its installed correctly?

Is the clutch slipping? Try adjusting it first.
If you do need to do any clutch work just remember to:
1. Use ONLY ford TOB.
2. Use ONLY Ford cable

You can add fire wall adjusters and what not, but you will have massive problems using an aftermarket cable or tob.
 

mcglsr2

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Yes sir there is play when I turn the wheel left and right, I can be driving straight and keep going left, right, left, right slightly and the car keeps going straight. Any fix for this? Also for example I started the car to move it this morning, my foot was to the floor on the clutch and it grinded slightly going into first, when I first picked up the car I grinded second about 5 times in a row. I've been driving stick my whole life and I don't know what the deal is. I'll try looking up adjusting this clutch, thanks!

On the steering wheel: I had this same situation, there's a couple things that could be causing this. The first thing to check is to make sure that the bolt that holds the steering wheel onto the steering shaft is tight. If this bolt is not tight, it could allow some play when turning the wheel back and forth. If that bolt is tight, the next issue is probably the rag joint in the stock steering shaft. This is a rubber joint about mid-way on the shaft. This rubber deteriorates over time, and as it wears and loses stiffness, turning the steering shaft doesn't have the immediate reaction it used to. Lastly, and least likely, are the rubber bushings on the steering rack itself. These bushings allow some deflection, which means as you turn the wheel, the steering rack will move slightly before the wheels actually turn. Unless there is something physically wrong with these bushings, there really isn't a lot of play here.

I would suggest checking all 3 items above for wear and play. If the bolt on the steering wheel is tight, have a friend sit in the car and turn the steering wheel while you use a flashlight on the steering shaft. If the upper part of the steering shaft turns, but the lower part past the rag joint that connects to the rack is sluggish, the issue is in the rag joint. If the two parts of the shafts seem connected and turn together, inspect the bushings on your rack (there are two of them that connect the rack to the k member). If these look to be in good shape, then it's probably all the rubber is a little bit worn and combined add up to a good amount of play.

For the steering shaft, if that's the issue, you can replace it with a new (if available?) OEM part, or better yet use a Maximum Motorsports (MM) solid steering shaft. These are not cheap, but go a long way to improving steering feel. For the steering rack, if the bushings are worn/in bad shape, replace with either OEM rubber, or upgrade to a poly or solid bushing. Anything other than OEM rubber will increase NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), so it depends on your comfort level. Ultimately, though, that play sounds normal for a loose bolt or really worn rag joint. In my case, when it happened to me, my issue was the bolt on the steering wheel and where the shaft connects to the steering rack. I have the MM solid shaft, and there's a set screw used to pinch a U-shaped housing on the MM shaft to the rack input - this bolt would come loose on me. So I tighten the steering wheel bolt and used some blue loctite on shaft bolt. No problems since.

As for your clutch, it sounds like the cable has stretched (and/or your clutch is really worn). Assuming it's the stock pedal, lift up on the pedal bottom with your toe (lift the pedal towards the steering wheel) or get under there and use your hands to do the same thing. This adjusts the stock pedal tensioner thing. If this does nothing, then you will probably need to replace the cable. As Orange 94 said, you will want to 100% use a Ford OEM cable for this. If you want, you can also swap out the quadrant for a solid piece (MM and Steeda both make a good one) and use a clutch adjuster (I recommend the MM one). This will replace the Ford factory mechanism for adjusting the cable.
 

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