Flaming River Rack and Pinon

[marolf101x]

Look at it this way. . .

I'm going to use ridetech parts as an example as I used to run the engineering department there, so I know the parts well.

First and foremost. . .the wheels don't care what turns them. . .box, R&P, two sticks, whatever.
In it's most simplistic explanation (this is really only looking at the steering link positions in one plane at a time), but works for now. We can get deeper if we need
The goal for the inner tie rods is to maintain steering angle throughout suspension compression and extension. If the steering links are in the wrong place in space the wheel will change angle while going through travel (bumpsteer).
The outer steering pivots are for ackerman. . .the difference in steering angle between the inside and outside wheels. The inside tire must have more angle, thereby turning a smaller circle, than the outside tire.




Let's assume the ridetech TruTurn has the ideal locations for all steering pivots in space.
Here's the issue you have with a rack. . .
The inner tie rods on the TruTurn are next to the oil pan. In some cases the tie rods hit the oil pan and cause issues.
so it looks like this. the "0-----0" represents the inner/outer tie rods; "|______|" represents the oil pan. The drag link goes under the pan, and reaches up the sides to hold the inner tie rods (not drawn):
*****the forum does not like the formating, so I had to add periods in front of everything to get it to line up. Hope this doesn't make it too hard to see.****
.....................|....oil.......|
..........0-----0 |...............| 0-----0
.....................|__pan___|

Now you want to use a rack; "0========0". That's cool. But the pivot points must remain in the same location.
If you were to install the rack it would look like this:
.....................|....oil.......|
..........0-----0========0-----0
.....................|__pan___|

No bueno as it would have to travel through the middle of the pan.
So most kits mount the rack below the pan and run the steering links uphill:
.....................|....oil.......|
.....................|..............|
...........0--......|__pan___|......--0
................\........................./
..................-0========0-
Also no bueno as the pivot points are no longer in the correct location.

This is not the case in every vehicle. . .only some. C5+ covettes use a rack. Its located ahead of the engine, just below the centerline of the harmonic balancer.

Study steering geometry a bit and come up with your own conclusions. Or ask the manufacturer of the steering system pointed questions as to why this is in this place, or technical questions marketing cannot slip around.