My rack & pinion conversion

[kidglok]

figured id give this a shot, the credit for the install goes to pacecarta who did the all the fitment and fabrication. its a little harder to turn (obviously) but not terrible. I didnt get much seat time but so far i am happy with it. U-turns are more difficult being the turning radius has been reduced with the stock spindles, but i have a complete f-body conversion ready to go in if its un bearable. The only thing i will need to do before any real feedback is throw it on the alignment rack for toe adjustment. Total weight savings is about 50lbs

heres some pics:

 

[charlief1]

This is one of those few times I can say this and not offend She's got a nice rack on her. Wish you guys had done more documentation so you could add it to the how to section.

 

[novaderrik]

what's the bumpsteer curve look like?
how's the ackerman?

 

[Mike E]

I've seen those parts somewhere before. Install looks nice.

 

[kidglok]

This is one of those few times I can say this and not offend She's got a nice rack on her. Wish you guys had done more documentation so you could add it to the how to section.

thanks pacecarta can provide the details, the only thing from my understanding is fabricating the brackets you see welded to the frame. the rest bolts up.

what's the bumpsteer curve look like?
how's the ackerman?

i didnt notice any bumpsteer whatsoever, and i drove over a decent set of train tracks but an official alinment is in order to get a better idea.

I've seen those parts somewhere before. Install looks nice.

thanks for everything mike, it worked out great

 

[larry33kc]

Nice

 

[charlief1]

I didnt notice any bumpsteer whatsoever, and i drove over a decent set of train tracks but an official alinment is in order to get a better idea.

When they get it on the alignment rack and are through try to get them to lift the chasis up and let the front arms hang down. With the machine heads still attached you will be able to see the extreem bump steer in toe numbers.

 

[Mike E]

His bumpsteer will likely be very low. TRZ says the higher you can mount the rack, the better the bumpsteer will be. His is higher than most. Ackerman is not important on a car that is meant to go fast in a straight line.

 

[pacecarta]

the rack was installed one inch above the OE center draglink position (he has 1 inch drop front spring)
as for bump steer
when on the ground the arms are nearly level, this fixes the tierod geometry back to be what gm intended and with the heims and the trz spacers i could even drop the tirod ends down if needed
and the trz rack is a shortened version of the pinto rack which allows for longer tierod arms (reduces swing arc) which greatly reduces bump steer

the turning radius wasnt reduced much (it almost hits the stops) its just that with the increased lock to lock turn of the rack (3.75 vs 2.2 stock) the drivers perception of how far he needs to move the wheel before driving forward has changed ...you get used to 1/2 turn of wheel being enough to start driving forward make a certain turn but now its more like 1 full turn .... a relearning is needed .


i found turning effort wasnt increased just the number of turns
and it has practically no free play movement at the steering wheel

 

[we4Mateo]

Very interesting.

 

[GetOwnedVette]

Looks great!!! If Im not happy with the s-10 box ill go this route

 

[steve hughes]

Looks good. Are you sure you dropped 50 pounds? Did you also change the steering column? Thanks

 

[kidglok]

Looks good. Are you sure you dropped 50 pounds? Did you also change the steering column? Thanks

between the idler arm, pitman arm, center drag link, steering gear box, power steering pump, resovoir+lines and misc. hardware it weighed in around 62lbs. The rack is about 12. Stock steering column.

 

[kidglok]

BTW threw her on the alignment rack tuesday:

D/P
caster: +4.9 + 4.0
camber: -1.5 -2.0
toe: 1.0in 1.0in

i didnt have time to play with shims so we just did the toe. it was off about 2* so we brought both sides in at 1*. Steering wheel is straight now, and it doesnt wander. I am starting to get used to the turning with this setup, its more responsive then stock, not too difficult without power assist, but in a decent corner you need 2 hands on the wheel. Very happy so far.

Im thinking of going to a 225 front tire (instead of 245) and maybe bringing the caster back to 3-3.5 positive, that should help with the steering effort some, if i didnt have easy access to an alignment rack i would probably leave it as is, just trying to get the best of both street and track setups.

 

[steve hughes]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think the steering components were that heavy.

 

[Hot Air]

Any thoughts on this modification for a pro-touring car? Looking at RideTech TruTurn control arms. Charlie?
Conrad