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Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem #976450 04/19/11 04:34 PM 04/19/11 04:34 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	Finally got my 3+ year project car back on the road and for the first time I'm driving it with the unisteer conversion kit. I figured there was gonna be bugs to work out in that the kit came missing parts and their tech guy insisted that my 70 B-body wasn't supposed to have anything to support the lower column. Having said that has anyone here used the kit, experienced reduced turn radius and found a way to correct it? Thanks so much in advance.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976451 04/19/11 04:43 PM 04/19/11 04:43 PM
Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 4,942 WI Dcuda69 master
Dcuda69 master Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 4,942 WI	No personal experience...a friend fought with one,not good. You'll get some replies,I doubt you will like many of them. Could try a search,been well "discussed" here before. Good luck!

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976452 04/19/11 04:46 PM 04/19/11 04:46 PM
Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows? 1_WILD_RT Management Trainee
1_WILD_RT Management Trainee Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?	I can not believe people don't research stuff before buying it...... At least it's not anything important or safety related... Unisteer rack conversions have been a known problem for years... "The Armies of our ancestors were lucky, in that they were not trailed by a second army of pencil pushers."

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: 1_WILD_RT] #976453 04/19/11 04:54 PM 04/19/11 04:54 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal autoxcuda Too Many Posts
autoxcuda Too Many Posts Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal	Quote: I can not believe people don't research stuff before buying it...... At least it's not anything important or safety related... Unisteer rack conversions have been a known problem for years... He might have owned the kit for years too. Long term projects.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: autoxcuda] #976454 04/19/11 05:13 PM 04/19/11 05:13 PM
Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows? 1_WILD_RT Management Trainee
1_WILD_RT Management Trainee Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 27,347 Today? Who Knows?	Quote: Quote: I can not believe people don't research stuff before buying it...... At least it's not anything important or safety related... Unisteer rack conversions have been a known problem for years... He might have owned the kit for years too. Long term projects. True but I was hearing of problems within months of them coming to market... Probably read about it in a magazine that gave it a rave review about upgrading your old Mopar with modern technology.. Course there was a big ad in the magazine for a year cause articles aren't based on technical merit so much as advertising dollars.... Good reason to quit accepting tech for magazines as gospel & start paying more attention to posts on the internet where there is no $$$ changing hands.. Some posters may have agendas but hopefully you can read past that... This has been my single biggest pet peeve with magazines I know it's how the world works but endorsing crap should have consequences... Then again the fact magazines are failing due to the internet might be a consequence... "The Armies of our ancestors were lucky, in that they were not trailed by a second army of pencil pushers."

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976455 04/19/11 05:15 PM 04/19/11 05:15 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	Bought it in April '07 soon after they came out. Was shooting for Spring Fling but will make it in the Fall. Was there Saturday with my Charger but missed Leno with the Turbine car Damn!

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976456 04/19/11 05:18 PM 04/19/11 05:18 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal autoxcuda Too Many Posts
autoxcuda Too Many Posts Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal	Quote: Bought it in April '07 soon after they came out. Was shooting for Spring Fling but will make it in the Fall. Was there Saturday with my Charger but missed Leno with the Turbine car Damn! Which Charger? Bummer, I didn't know you were comming. Tough to tell which day Leno is showing up.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976457 04/19/11 05:26 PM 04/19/11 05:26 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,786 P Pauls69 super gas
Pauls69 super gas P Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,786	https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5803394&an=0&page=420

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: autoxcuda] #976458 04/19/11 07:39 PM 04/19/11 07:39 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	Quote: Which Charger? Bummer, I didn't know you were comming. Tough to tell which day Leno is showing up. I had a white '70 Charger RT SE with a 440 and 4 speed.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976459 04/19/11 07:54 PM 04/19/11 07:54 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal autoxcuda Too Many Posts
autoxcuda Too Many Posts Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,465 So Cal	Quote: Quote: Which Charger? Bummer, I didn't know you were comming. Tough to tell which day Leno is showing up. I had a white '70 Charger RT SE with a 440 and 4 speed. With the red interior?

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976460 04/19/11 11:36 PM 04/19/11 11:36 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio S Sport440 master
Sport440 master S Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio	Never used one. But a common problem installing any rack in these cars is a reduced steering radius. Reason being, is that the rack has to be offset to the drivers side due to engine interference issues. Viewing thier units installed you can see this offset. This is not good for Bumpsteer either. Both sides of the tierods should be equal length. Unless they made internal changes to thier racks, I bet your Left turning radius is very Short. Your right turning radius should be fine unless they incoporated a radius stop in that direction. There is a modification you can do, but its not for the average bear. But it would work.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: Sport440] #976461 04/20/11 08:00 PM 04/20/11 08:00 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	We'll if there's a way to make it work can someone fill me on on what to modify? I'll try that otherwise I'll start hunting down a replacement steering column in preparation to put my original steering components back.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976462 04/20/11 09:14 PM 04/20/11 09:14 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 7,978 Bethel Ct A AdamR master
AdamR master A Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 7,978 Bethel Ct	Junk, I installed one in a customers Cuda, Had the same issue with the lower column. Nothing to support it. There tech is a joke too.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: AdamR] #976463 04/20/11 10:03 PM 04/20/11 10:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio S Sport440 master
Sport440 master S Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio	Did you offset the universal jounts 45* instead of the typical 90* like they state you must. That angle joint does seem extreme and would cause binding as some have complained about. But I wonder if the users that are having problems installed the joints 45* offset as directed. I can see how that would be missed. Id install them at 90* if I didnt see that in the instructions.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976464 04/20/11 10:08 PM 04/20/11 10:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio S Sport440 master
Sport440 master S Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 6,591 Canton, Ohio	MCT, you have only complained about the Turning Radius. Is that the only problem your having? Any binding issues as well?

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976465 04/21/11 12:19 AM 04/21/11 12:19 AM
Joined: Sep 2008 Posts: 422 wisconsin united states K keith airgrabber Right in the Nutz!!!
keith airgrabber Right in the Nutz!!! K Joined: Sep 2008 Posts: 422 wisconsin united states	Not trying to be a looser. But why would you want to do this to your car? These cars turn fine with what they were born with. Missing parts in the kit and some so-called tech guy blowing you off. It's the same story like all the rest of this stuff. Spend hard earned money and have a product that is less than satisfactory.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: Sport440] #976466 04/21/11 01:03 AM 04/21/11 01:03 AM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	Quote: MCT, you have only complained about the Turning Radius. Is that the only problem your having? Any binding issues as well? The bind is so minor as to be almost undetectable... it's the inability to make a U-turn on a 6 lane road (3 lanes each direction) that makes this thing dangerous.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: keith airgrabber] #976467 04/21/11 01:16 AM 04/21/11 01:16 AM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ M MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast
MCTPhoenix OP enthusiast M Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 294 Phoenix, AZ	Quote: Not trying to be a looser. But why would you want to do this to your car? These cars turn fine with what they were born with. Missing parts in the kit and some so-called tech guy blowing you off. It's the same story like all the rest of this stuff. Spend hard earned money and have a product that is less than satisfactory. Hey it's cool so I'll answer... I'm fortunate enough so have a few cool stock cars but wanted a modernized "daily driver". I came up with a '70 RoadRunner with it's drivetrain long gone. So... in went a 5.7 Hemi with matching 5 speed auto from a Ram 1500, Dodge Viper Brembo brakes on the front with Mustang discs on the rear so a power rack kit seemed like the natural thing to do. Although the car is roticierried it would be a driver getting almost 20mpg and what's nicest to me is that it doesn't look like a restomoded car. It's still got the 15 inch body colored wheels with dog dish caps hiding the brembo's and it's still got a bench seat with column shifter. Annyway, the new Hemi is a lightweight plus the rack and pinion would lose more weight and make the car more balanced. I was auto crossing a '70 Charger years ago and had some fun with that but always thought it needed faster steering. Guess I just made a mistake with this unisteer thing.

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: MCTPhoenix] #976468 04/21/11 10:42 AM 04/21/11 10:42 AM
Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 299 East Brunswick, NJ F finadk enthusiast
finadk enthusiast F Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 299 East Brunswick, NJ	I have spent a lot of time researching a design for a rack for my 56 dodge. Turning radius and bump steer are the two biggest obstacles to overcome. You may be able to swap out the steering arms at the wheel for shorter ones from a different model car to give more wheel travel with the same amount of rack travel. You might also check with the manufacturer they may hav made improvements o design changes since you bought it. Good luck Scott Scott 1956 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer (408 Stroker, 4 Wheel Disc Brakes, Rack & Pinion, 6 speed) 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 1976 Corvette

Re: Unisteer Rack & pinion Turn Radius Problem [Re: 1_WILD_RT] #976469 04/21/11 11:40 AM 04/21/11 11:40 AM
Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 5,337 the house on the left. C cogen80 master
cogen80 master C Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 5,337 the house on the left.	Quote: Quote: Quote: I can not believe people don't research stuff before buying it...... At least it's not anything important or safety related... Unisteer rack conversions have been a known problem for years... He might have owned the kit for years too. Long term projects. True but I was hearing of problems within months of them coming to market... Probably read about it in a magazine that gave it a rave review about upgrading your old Mopar with modern technology.. Course there was a big ad in the magazine for a year cause articles aren't based on technical merit so much as advertising dollars.... Good reason to quit accepting tech for magazines as gospel & start paying more attention to posts on the internet where there is no $$$ changing hands.. Some posters may have agendas but hopefully you can read past that... This has been my single biggest pet peeve with magazines I know it's how the world works but endorsing crap should have consequences... Then again the fact magazines are failing due to the internet might be a consequence... isn't that the truth. most of the magazines will only feature products from advertisers so you know they will never say anything bad about the product that helps feed them. all the tech sections are anymore are new product release advertisements. should always search forums for real world experience with stuff like this.

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