Racer-X-

Wiper motor pics for questions in electrical area.

This bracket is on the frame just in front of the rear wheel.  What's the purpose of it?  Can I remove it?

While in the process of repairing the tie rod failure, including installing the correct (for the car) outer tie rods and the redesiged tie rod adjusters used with the rack and pinion conversion for the larger, stronger outer tie rods, I encountered this conundrum. 
 
Elvis has different (very different) steering arms on each front wheel. The pics show the story.

These pics are from the right side tie rod failure on Elvis, a 1947 DeSoto Custom Sedan that's been heavily modified, and not all in a good way.
 
This car has a "rack and pinion conversion kit" that used an early GM J/L/N body rack (Cavalier, Corsica/Beretta, Grand Am, etc.) and 2004-2005 Ford Explorer outer tie rods. 
 
If you're using 2004-2005 Ford Explorer outer tie rods, you're risking this type of failure.  The failure occured in the thinner section of the threaded adjuster/coupler that mates with the Ford outer tie rod. That section is just too thin (14mm major diameter to the threaded section) for the loads present in this car.
 
I'm not a big fan of any of this kit, and I'm currently going through everything and analyzing for any remaining potential safety issues or performance issues.