home made rack n pinion

[zboss86]

This may be an old question, but I did a search. It seems that everybody leans toward buying a "prefabbed rack n pinion".

What makes it so hard to fab a rack n pinion off another car. There doesn't "appear" to be that much to converting one to fit a 1st gen camaro.

This comes from a guy that doesn't know much about rack n pinion and steering linkages such, so it may be a dumb question.

[inSANe DIEGO]

ZBOSS...
You beat me by a few minutes. I too am interested in converting to rack n pinion. I would also like to possibly change to a front steer setup in the process. Has anyone done either or even both? Can anybody direct us to a website about it maybe? If I had the money I'd probably just do the steeroids r/p. In fact, IF I had the money there are a lot of "kits" I'd buy, but so far my project is slowly getting whittled down to an autozone long block w/ a T350 and stock rally wheels. (What a shame!) Hmmmm, come to think of it... That's merely a restification. c'mon lotto!!!!!!

Thanks guys

[ILLEGAL69]

I have asked this question before with no answers. It seems to be a new and un-known ground in the pro-touring world.


https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2889&referrerid=677

[David Pozzi]

A rack must dulplicate the orginal tie rod inner pivot locations. If it's on a first gen camaro the factory tie rod inner pivots are almost a half inch too low, (so it has bumpsteer) so the rack should be aprox 3/8" higher.

Make the steering shaft so that it does not interfere with the headers or have to much angle on the steering joints. The steeroids rack was reported to have very severe angles to the universals. Also reported to hang below the crossmember. Check for oil pan clearance.

[mikesz]

What about this one? (http://www.superchevy-web.com/tech/0504sc_rack/) Its a new rack kit from Flaming River. I did not find it on Flaming Rivers site yet. The link is to an article about it in Super Chevy. I found it both funny and scary that bumpsteer amoung other things is not mentioned once in the article. :drive2: :drive1:

Mike

[Marcus SC&C]

Most folks buy a prefab R&P kit because it`s not hard at all to do an R&P swap but it can be VERY HARD to do one WELL. Converting to front steer makes it easier to find a rack with the right width between the inner tie rod ends. You`ll need to stuff it between the crossmembers and fab new steering arms to get the height right in relation to the rack for correct bumpsteer. To get the ackerman right the engine crossmember would need to be notched quite a bit.
Rear steer is easier to package and get the ackerman right but while most racks are 24" inner tie rod to inner tie rod you need one about 18" to eliminate bumpsteer. If you could find a rack that width it would restrict your total steering travel and make the turning radius really large. The only "easy" way around it is to use an early Cavalier/Corsica/Beretta rack where the tie rods are about 2" apart and the center of the rack moves and the ends are static. Then bolt a "center link" to the original tie rod holes (they`re threaded holes,not tapers). Put your properly places holes in this piece and away you go. Total Control Racing does something very similar with their early Mustang R&P swap. You might want to see if you can find some pics of that for starters. Problem with both systems is that unless they`re done *very well* you`ll be lucky if it works as good as stock. I don`t want to step on anyones toes by naming names but I`ve installed R&P kits by at least 2 makers that didn`t work close to as well as stock and that ain`t sayin much.
FWIW I saw Flaming River`s new R&P while they installed it on a `68 Camaro at the SEMA HotRod and Resto show a few weeks ago. It "looks" very nice. If the inner tie rod ends were 6" closer together it`s geometry would be almost as good as stock. The reps said it has "zero bumpsteer...because the tie rods are level". Sigh.... On the bright side the install was quick and easy. I don`t think it took an hour. Marcus SC&C

[David Pozzi]

Mark,
Thanks for pointing out the difficulties in doing a rack correctly.
It's not as simple as you might think.

[zboss86]

wow... talking about a snow ball effect.
I think I'm going to do some more homework before get the tools out.

[427v8]

I did a R&P conversion on my '69 Vette, OK I'm still tweeking it.
It is a big job but doable. Everything is OK except I have too much bumpsteer on the pass side wheel. So my next project when I get it out of storage is to recheck both wheels for bumpsteer.

Other than that It's solid light and cheap. I'd do it again in a minute.