Rack an Pinion Steering
- Thread starter shoguun
- Start date
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sean,
the j car has a rear steer rack. That is close to the same travel. However you will increase your turning radius. And al you need to do is fabricate some brackets.
Rick wurth of wurthitdesigns.com has a kit. Get some ideas from there
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ARPM
Member
calpolymustang
Member
From the wurth-it website, it looks like a nice setup.
hind-sight, i might have gone that route instead.
though im curious about the need for a high-flow pump.
I just finished my Unisteer project, and have mixed thoughts about recommending the kit. It was about 1800 out the door for parts, but i had to re-do several things. It included a j-body rack, hi-flow serpentine pump, and longer shaft between the two u-joints.
The mounting plate for the unisteer rack didnt have the same spacing as my cross-member.
Furthermore, the bracet hits the control arm bolt heads!
I kinda felt like I had to re-engineer half of the parts here.
I like the TCP design that uses the control arm bolts for enforcement, but TCP was too much $. The wurthitdesing kit might be nice with mounts at the steering box and idler arm holes.
So i had to use my mill at work to redrill new holes.
And on the topic of re-engineer, the banjo bolt for the high-pressure line points out right where the serpentine belt is supposed to go up to the a/c pump. i had to use a GM p/s fitting, then -6AN 90°, then -6AN 45° just to route the line away from the pump.
Rather than buy a tilt column, i moved the column and wheel closer to the driver by 2in. I'm 6'6" and have long legs even with my 14" motolita. The shaft allowed me to keep the angle of the column the same, but mount the lower column bearing closer to the firewall.
Overall, the 3.0:1 steering feels like a new car (comparing to my 2001 ranger). Not a Ford GT, but good enough to stay in my own lane while driving through curvy freeway roads. Plus, I got 300 bucks for my old p/s.
Aside from all the re-engineering, i only have two complaints:
1) it makes a funny grumbling noise if i turn the wheel real sharp at slow speeds. Maybe my tires make a vibration on the pavement as i turn into my driveway, but its not cool to make stomach-grumble sounds at the car show.
2) the rack moves a little bit when turning the wheel. when laying on the ground, watching the rack as i turn the wheel, the rack moves in the 'pitch' axis. im thinking about welding additional plates to mount the bracket to the steering box & idler arm holes.
hind-sight, i might have gone that route instead.
though im curious about the need for a high-flow pump.
I just finished my Unisteer project, and have mixed thoughts about recommending the kit. It was about 1800 out the door for parts, but i had to re-do several things. It included a j-body rack, hi-flow serpentine pump, and longer shaft between the two u-joints.
The mounting plate for the unisteer rack didnt have the same spacing as my cross-member.
Furthermore, the bracet hits the control arm bolt heads!
I kinda felt like I had to re-engineer half of the parts here.
I like the TCP design that uses the control arm bolts for enforcement, but TCP was too much $. The wurthitdesing kit might be nice with mounts at the steering box and idler arm holes.
So i had to use my mill at work to redrill new holes.
And on the topic of re-engineer, the banjo bolt for the high-pressure line points out right where the serpentine belt is supposed to go up to the a/c pump. i had to use a GM p/s fitting, then -6AN 90°, then -6AN 45° just to route the line away from the pump.
Rather than buy a tilt column, i moved the column and wheel closer to the driver by 2in. I'm 6'6" and have long legs even with my 14" motolita. The shaft allowed me to keep the angle of the column the same, but mount the lower column bearing closer to the firewall.
Overall, the 3.0:1 steering feels like a new car (comparing to my 2001 ranger). Not a Ford GT, but good enough to stay in my own lane while driving through curvy freeway roads. Plus, I got 300 bucks for my old p/s.
Aside from all the re-engineering, i only have two complaints:
1) it makes a funny grumbling noise if i turn the wheel real sharp at slow speeds. Maybe my tires make a vibration on the pavement as i turn into my driveway, but its not cool to make stomach-grumble sounds at the car show.
2) the rack moves a little bit when turning the wheel. when laying on the ground, watching the rack as i turn the wheel, the rack moves in the 'pitch' axis. im thinking about welding additional plates to mount the bracket to the steering box & idler arm holes.
ARPM
Member
Nice Info. I was looking at the Unisteer Power setup as an economic alternative to all the systems available. It looks like they still have to iron out a few bugs in their design, so I may reconsider my purchase.
After reading the info I got from Rick his system seems like a viable alternative and cost wise is in the bulk like the others. He claims that there is absolutely no bumpsteer, no welding required, cross member is not eliminated and factory inner/outer tie rods are used along with the factory pump. Also my headers will clear and cars with 351W also.I was a bit worried about the pump but factory specs of the "J" rack said that the PSI needed was 800-1100 lbs and checking my 3 Ford pumps I am in the 875-950 lbs @ 800 rpm's, so I should be OK. Also replacing the rack in the event of a failure is a low cost and quick job cuz all major Auto Parts have them rebuilt or new. In here Federal has them on exchange bases for $99.00 and a new replacement for $200.00.
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