anyone using a summit manual steering rack?

[5.SL0W]

im looking for a good manual rack for my fox, its a street/strip car. nothing serious. i hate my power steering and one way or another its coming out, but ive never done it before so i have a few questions. first, whats is the right kit to get? ive heard bad things about flaming rivers rack's and i dont want to spend a million dollars so i was thinking of going with this summit kit.

Summit SUM-770605 - Summit® Drag Racing Rack and Pinion Steering Units - summitracing.com

also, i think i can do this with the engine still in the car, am i dreaming or is it possible?

all opinions welcome.

thanks guys.

 

[bentley429]

Looks like the flaming river rack to me. Yes you can put it in with the engine in the car. Wanna practice on mine in a few weeks?

 

[5.SL0W]

Looks like the flaming river rack to me. Yes you can put it in with the engine in the car. Wanna practice on mine in a few weeks?

yeah yo definitely, im not planning on doing it until after the tune, what kit did you get? is that kit all i need? if the flaming river vs. the summit is equivocal to chuck norris vs. the dog poop left on my lawn after all the snow melted this week, then obviously ill spend the extra hundred bucks and get the flaming ricer. that power steering crap looks like ****, it leaks and sprays fluid all over my brand new engine bay, it weighs more, and makes no sense with skinnies. so pretty much its gonna end up like every other creature comfort my car used to have... in the trash.

 

[Cobra912]

I bought the whole flaming river kit which included rack, tie rods, and steering shaft. All look nice quality and easy to install. Works great with my Weld skinnys.

And no not hard to steer with it even at low speeds. With big 17's or 18's yes it would be but with small 15's - no.

However if you do a search here and I agree the steering shaft assembly leaves something to be desired...........

Remeber if you change the rack you'll also need to change the tie rods and change over to a different steering shaft and / or rag joint from like a '79 with manual steering

 

[BK_CAULEY]

real men use the power steering rack without the power steering.

 

[Darkwriter77]

That's actually not a bad price for everything in one deal - rack, tie rod ends, and shaft.

What's wrong with the steering shaft? Is it defective, or just not a good design for some reason?

 

[1991notchbackLX]

I think you could probably piece together a good kit by buying the summit manual rack and then purchasing the Maximum Motorsports steering shaft. I have heard nothing but horror stories about the Flaming River shaft, and I'd rather not bet my life on the strength of blue loc-tite, if you see what I'm saying. I have the Maximum Motorsports shaft installed on my coupe and it's great... solid, awesome engineering that eliminates the rag joint and clears long tube headers, and relatively easy to install. Best of luck with whatever you decide to go with.

Chris