I have a weird problem.............my car is a '63 Plymouth Savoy, it has '74 Plymouth Fury disc brakes in place of the standard drum brakes, it also has a Pinto steering setup, the rest of the suspension is stock. All of the stock suspension parts are brand new, except the Torsion Bars, which are weak, and new ones are on back order..........So, here is my problem, when i backup the car, the front tires immediately splay out, the tops fold in about 4" and the bottoms splay out about 4".........this is without turning or anything, they just flop right out at the bottom.....now, as soon as i start to go forward, they snap right back to where they should be.........the pinto steering is tight, no slack, and all of the other components are brand new........the car did not always do this, it started about a year ago, and has gotten progressively worse........i wonder if there is a stop or something that has broken.......the car does wheelstands, usually around three to four feet and comes down straight, without any wobble, The toe in and out looks like it changes when the car is in the air, but has been normal when the car is on the ground, this more of a Castor/Camber failure to my way of thinking..........anybody have any ideas?

The commonly used lifts of today that pick up by the rocker panels or chassis rails are not effective in checking front end parts. A front end pit or a twin post lift, that picks up by the rear axle housing and under the front lower control arms thereby unloading the balljoints, was always my most effective checking fixture. It allows you to stand underneath the vehicle and manipulate the parts without loading masking the actual play in the parts. Standing in front of the car between both front tires try to push them apart and pull the together, by grasping them at mid tire height pushing then pulling together. A pry bar may also be used to manipulate too. The loose part OR cracked area will usually rear it's ugly head. Would also be good if you could find an assistant to help you spot. Good luck, you should be able to find it. Let us know what you find. Happy New Year! Bill

Too much negative caster?

I have a four post lift, and can jack the front end up on that

something is diffidently loose "forward/back" i would check strut rods

BUMPSTEER! That is the issue.

wouldn't that also effect it in the forward motion?

Will do it

only in reverse? Going forward, is just fine

Can you post a pic or short vid of the issue? I'm not sure of the problem you have here. I've seen something similar on a brand new nostalgia F/C. It was backing up to make a test pass when both front wheels turned out (left to left and right to right, like this -> \ ^ / ). IIRC when going backwards both wheels want to turn outwards and on the steering linkages / tie bars, they were going past / over "TDC" on the linkage, for want of a better phrase. Has it always done it?

If you were to stand at the front of the car, and watch, as soon as i start to back up, the part of the tire touching the pavement will splay out about 4", and the top of the tire will splay in about the same amount........../........\............<<<like this...........then when i go forward, it will resume the correct stance...........l.........l...........<<<.like this........No, it has not always done it, it started a year or so ago, and is getting worse

Something(s) obviously worn/cracked/or fatigued over hard use. My thought is that the actual condition was always there to some less noticable degree but has suffered due to high loads imposed on the steering/suspension parts. If you could get it on one of the rack fixtures I mentioned earlier you could rule out a lot of things. Bill

i am going to give it a try

OK, so the camber angle is changing, going way positive. As others have said, something has got to be seriously worn or busted. Weird that both sides do the same ?? I'd be stopping it in the "fault" condition and looking to see whats changed or moved under there.
Keep us updated, really intrigued to see whats happening

Just a hunch as we don't have a lot to go on. The Pinto rack was designed for use in a much lighter car with much less operating resistance loads and no wheelies. I would start with carefully checking those hidden to the naked eye, inner tie rod ends. They are not made of much and operate at quite an angle in some race cars. Like I said, a hunch ,as you don't seem to readily see any problems yet with your visual inspections. I am using the same rack in my car that is probably a few hundred lighter than yours and have gone to great lengths to keep those tie rods operating at the least possible angles so as to protect those inner ends and minimize bumpsteer. Good luck' you'll figure it out. Bill

The rack can’t change camber. I’d be looking at lower control arm pivots, upper and lower control arm bushings, strut rod bushings.
Doug

I am equally interested . My 63 does not do this , but I am not using the Pinto rack . Would like to see a picture as to how this was mounted . If it only does this in reverse I would be looking at what linkage is still on car that was not replaced by the rack & pinion . Gary

I am with dvw on strut rod bushings. Get some QA1 strut rods if you are running a stock style LCA.

Sorry not a fan of a pinto rack on a mopar. I have done a few for customers with the same results as you have, The rack is so short that the pivot points of the inner joint makes the rod real long giving it a lot of leverage. So when backing up it pulls the toe way in pulling on suspension sucking it in. I bett if you measure your front end height i bet the car actually is raised up higher after backing up so that it changes camber. I would also bet you have a lot of toe change when front end comes up. i would either find a longer rack or or go back to stock. This is not an easy task to chase. Jake

Heidi's. Has different width racks in Mustang 2 pattern. Qa1has rack extensions.
Doug