rack and pinions

Gentlemen and Ladies,

I am pondering a remake of my steering. I wonder if anyone has a link to rack and pinion dimensions? I want to rewoek my steering to allow more header clearance and need to see if there is anything out there that would work.

Thanks in advance.

Most racks I've seen are about the same size. Some are longer, some have the inner connections at the ends of the rack and some have the inner connections at the center of the rack. Then there is front or rear steer racks, but nearly all are very close to the same diamiter. Suppose the center inner connection racks would take up more room in the header area, but I haven't seen much other differences. Gene

Well, what I wanted was lengths, not diameters. Basically what I want to do is put a rear steer rack in place of the manual box in my 65 Cuda. So I need a rack that has the inner tierod pivots about the same distance apart as the original idler/pitman pivots. I'd prefer manual steering anyway, not interested in power, don't have it now anyway.

I'll also need to find outer tierods that'll have the same diameter and taper as the stock tierods since I need to attach them to the steering arms. I used to have a TRW Chassis spec book that detailed this kind of thing, but it's about 15 years old and who knows where it is now, probably in the attic somewhere.

But if there was a PDF on the web somewhere that I could look over I'd be happy. That's what I did when I needed new shocks for a suspension drop I did on a Mustang.

Just Suspensions has a kit coming out. http://www.justsuspension.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=210

Kevin

That Just Suspension kit is a repackaged Unisteer which has gotten poor reviews on this board.

If you used a Calivier rack you could make the center rack connection as long as you need to reach the inner tie rod end connection then bolt your 'cudas original tie rod to the center piece. Gene

Is the Cavalier a rear steer?

If not then I'll have to pass on it. Not real interested in compeletely redoing the front suspension design.

Yes, a Cavalier is a rear steer rack.

Here is a picture of a Intrepid rack (same design as a Cavalier rack except its an Intrepid is front steer) with tie rod ends compaired to the stock steering box and tie rods for a 39 Plymouth. Gene

This is what it looked like under my plymouth. Gene

gene, how close was the inner pivots of the intrepid rack compared to the inner pivots of the lower a arms ? did you have any bump steer ?

On my Plymouth, the center pivots (attached directly to the rack) were 2" apart at the center (I only had a right and left tie rod assembly with no center link) and went all the way to the steering arm at the spindles. I no longer have the car, but we did drive it about 6,000 miles. Didn't notice any bump steer unless you were doing a sharp turn at low speeds, then you could notice a bit of bump steer. Also, I still had the shocks at factory instalation, which was between the upper and lower control arms. Was intending on moving the upper mount but sold the car first.

There are 2 other minor inconvences you should know about.
1) the car did not turn as sharply as it did originally, I suspect the turning radious was probably 5' larger diamiter then original.
2) at highway speed, 70-75mph, the steering was a bit touchy (I had power steering) What would be a minor in-lane correction at 30 mph would be a 1/2 lane correction at 75. I suspect a pressure regulater on the pump would have solved that problem. (Another thing that was on my list I never got to.)

The picture above your post shows how the rack and tie rods compaired the original box and tie rods as layed out in the car. I used the Cavalier rack (Intrepid is a front steer rack) with the Intrepid tie rods which I shortened to match the length of the original in overall length.
Gene

ok, i got it now. cavalier rack/intrepid rod ends. you are probably correct about the pressure regulator on the pump. i remember seeing one of those things once that,i think, was a universal type of regulator, in that you mounted it inline with both hoses. it had an adjuster knob that dialed a controled amount of the pressure side hose back to the return hose. i can't remember if anyone tried that setup and said how it worked.

i have a mustang rack rear steer manual,on my 66 cuda,,modified factory k member,

caviler rack rear steer on my 1940 dodge,its a fat man fab kit,works great,.i had hdy high pressure problems,,sent the GM, mini remote pump to unisteer they put a lower flow valve in it ,and its nice now,,

What year is that Stang rack?

I had a 96 Stang and it's a front steer unit. I can;t remember what the fox body ones are, been many years since I messed with a fox body stang.
Thanks

the rack is from an early pinto / mustang style,the most popular rack conversion,,

sorrythe reply took sooo loong,i do not get e mails from this site about topics answered,,i was just reading old topics,killing time

Those who are contemplating a front rack installation should study up on The Ackerman Effect.

I don't think anyone said anything about front steer, I know I specifically asked for a rear steer setup.

John, we did not modify the existing outer tie rod location, we only exchanged the type of steering used from a box to a rack.

Were I to do a rack install again, I would make a center link that bolts the the Caviler rack and would use the vehicals original tie rods complete. I believe that would make life a lot easier. The center connection of the Caviler rack has 2 bolts about 2" apart. Make a link that uses both center bolts and extends outward on both sides to where the original cars inner tie rods would connect. Problem solved. Gene

Quote:

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I don't think anyone said anything about front steer, I know I specifically asked for a rear steer setup.

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The comment directly above mine referred to an early Pinto/Mustang rack which is a front steer.

Some here are referring to rear-mounted racks with the tie rods at the front as "front steer", my comment about Ackerman was about racks that mount in front of the kingpin.

I would refer to the Cavalier as a "rear-mount center steer", a simple "L" bracket can change front-mounted tie rods to the rear and vice versa.

Here's a Cavalier installation I recently completed on a Brand X.