Manual steering rack options

I am looking for an "off the rack" lightweight manual steering rack - strong enough for a 2500lb vehicle shod w/ full racing slicks to replace the one in my E30.

The car has a ton of fabrication work already and I am not afraid of relocating the mount points to accommodate it but...tThe one in the car now is a power rack converted to manual and it is a bit heavy, and has a turn ratio more appropriate for a bus. It needs a top, driver-side steering input location and a reasonable length and turn ratio for road racing with enough strength that it won't strip out or get sloppy after just a season or two.

I see aftermarket Pinto racks beefed up for all kinds of hot rod applications and reasonable prices for midget/dwarf car stuff but... is the rack in an 800lb car strong or wide enough? I need more data - is there a company making stuff you can spec out or look at a table of specs to match up what you want?

Take a look at Flaming River. I know they have a ton of products out there.

When I had my FFR Cobra, it was a very popular upgrade from the stock Mustang rack. I put one in my car. I forget the ratio now, but it was ultra quick...i.e. if I sneezed on the highway I was 3 lanes over. But I loved it. Car weighed 2300lbs, and I used it for several HPDE days. Didn't have slicks on, but had Z rated tires. I loved it. It was worlds better than my stock Mustang rack. Manual steering was a bit heavy at parking lot speeds, but that was about the only downside.

I'm not up to speed on how well or poorly manual conversions work or how they really affect feel, but the Z3 rack swap I did on my E30 (I left it powered) was transformative. Honestly, I don't think I'd have enjoyed that car at all if it'd had the stock ratio rack...

There are a lot of how-tos on the web, though I found it staggering how little thought tended to be put into things like bump steer and so forth when discussing how to handle some of the minor fiddly bits. Anyhow, here's one how-to. Google will get you more. Many of them appear to have been dodgily done, but looking at a few will get you the salient points.

My one addendum to the way I've seen this stuff done is that the shortening of the collapsible yoke seems like the hard way in retrospect: IIRC, I think I could've gotten the necessary shortening of the stack by replacing the thick rubber coupling with a thin piece (steel?), which would've improved feel as well... I don't see why misalignment should occur there, so I'm thinking the coupling is just there for vibration damping...

BTW, I'm not saying this due to BMW-purism; I'm pretty sure my 2002's re-engineering is going to involve either a fox-body or Mustang II rack. I just figure the nearly direct-fit is a bonus even if you're prepared to do a bunch of fabrication.

ransom wrote: I'm not up to speed on how well or poorly manual conversions work or how they really affect feel, but the Z3 rack swap I did on my E30 (I left it powered) was transformative. Honestly, I don't think I'd have enjoyed that car at all if it'd had the stock ratio rack... There are a lot of how-tos on the web, though I found it staggering how little thought tended to be put into things like bump steer and so forth when discussing how to handle some of the minor fiddly bits. Anyhow, here's one how-to. Google will get you more. Many of them appear to have been dodgily done, but looking at a few will get you the salient points. My one addendum to the way I've seen this stuff done is that the shortening of the collapsible yoke seems like the hard way in retrospect: IIRC, I think I could've gotten the necessary shortening of the stack by replacing the thick rubber coupling with a thin piece (steel?), which would've improved feel as well... I don't see why misalignment should occur there, so I'm thinking the coupling is just there for vibration damping... BTW, I'm not saying this due to BMW-purism; I'm pretty sure my 2002's re-engineering is going to involve either a fox-body or Mustang II rack. I just figure the nearly direct-fit is a bonus even if you're prepared to do a bunch of fabrication.

I guess I should have added that my E30 is not exactly an E30 anylonger - I am familiar with the Z3 stuff (I did that on my E36 M3 too) but I am committed to the no power options for the race car and I am not happy with the converted-from-power options I've done in the past.

As far as bumpsteer correction - I have adjustable tie-rod ends and a pretty straight shot between them as a factory mount point... I have already fabricated the steering shaft assembly out of 3/4 tubing, sphericals and a nice swivel joint so moving the input a little isn't terribly difficult if necessary.

I like the Pinto/Mustang II stuff if I can find a tight ratio and the correct length.

Rock Auto has a manual rack for a '77 Mercury Capri for ~$130.

Flaming River does custom lengths of their Mustang II and fox-body racks. Here's what I found out about ratios when I queried while researching for my 2002 project:

Flaming River's reply Dear Sir, The Mustang II rack is only available in a 20:1 ratio, with five turns lock to lock,therefore, if the wheel is turned one revolution, the rack travel will be 1" of linear movemant on the rack gear itself. We do offer a quick ratio ( 15:1) rack designed for a ' 79-' 93 Mustang with four turns lock to lock. The only difference between this rack, and the Mustang II rack is the ratio, and the mounting point dimension which is 151/2",compared to the Mustang II rack with 16" mounting points center to center. Both racks use ' 74-' 78 model year Mustang II outer tie rod ends with a 9/16-18 thread.

This was specifically about manual racks. I want to say I've heard some not-too-flattering things about dealing with them, but I have no experience at this point (excepting that they did reply to my info request). I'd google around for first-hand experiences.

I don't know, but certainly suspect that custom length racks aren't going to give the Rock Auto rack any competition price-wise...

just out of curiosity.. BMW did make some rather decontented cars for europe (316 anybody?) does anybody know if those cars had manual steering to go with their anemic engines?

What you need to know is what is the distance between the inner control arm mounts then go hunting for a rack with the same distance between the inner tie rods. Why not go with a sweet or Appleton rack? Or even lighter Southwest speed theres is magnesium housing. All the big aftermarket racks are rebuild-able and if you want to change the ratio you only need to buy the pinion gear and the bearing holder. The holders have offset bores so the tooth still meshes correctly.

Before you go rack huntin', do you need a front or rear steer rack? Front steer = ahead of the axle centerline (Pinto, Mustang etc) rear steer = behind the front axle centerline (Omni, VW Rabbit, certain BMW's like a 2002, etc). From your description (pinion above the rack) I'm going to guess it's a rear steer piece.

If you need front steer, I'd look at Miata or Triumph TR6 racks, they are light and simple and much quicker than the 5 turn rack you mentioned, like 2.75 turns lock to lock. On rear steer, the Omni/Horizon/Rabbit rack has, IIRC, 3.5 turns lock to lock (but I could be wrong).

Keep in mind also the length of the steering arms is important, i.e. if you have a 6" long steering arm and a 4" long arm, the short arm will move more in degrees of angle than the 6" arm for the same input.

Front steer, E30 is a pretty narrow car too - Miata is probably workable. Are they strong or will it wear out from hammering it with 245/40/17 radial slicks?

Front steer so go aftermarket. Keep an eye on E-bay. I've picked up new Southwest rack for $125 last winter. still in factory plastic bag!

Curmudgeon wrote: Before you go rack huntin', do you need a front or rear steer rack? Front steer = ahead of the axle centerline (Pinto, Mustang etc) rear steer = behind the front axle centerline (Omni, VW Rabbit, certain BMW's like a 2002, etc). From your description (pinion above the rack) I'm going to guess it's a rear steer piece. If you need front steer, I'd look at Miata or Triumph TR6 racks, they are light and simple and much quicker than the 5 turn rack you mentioned, like 2.75 turns lock to lock. On rear steer, the Omni/Horizon/Rabbit rack has, IIRC, 3.5 turns lock to lock (but I could be wrong). Keep in mind also the length of the steering arms is important, i.e. if you have a 6" long steering arm and a 4" long arm, the short arm will move more in degrees of angle than the 6" arm for the same input.

The Porsche 924 used a RHD Rabbit rack for front steer use (the suspension is all mostly early rabbit parts actually with the exception of the uprights and the strut tops). All 924's are manual racks and I believe have slightly faster ratios than the Rabbit units. There is a Quaiffe ratio upgrade available for the Rabbit rack if you're willing to do the work to make it fit (of course Porsche changed the internal design slightly to accommodate their ratio change, but externally they are the same)

Keep in mind, when looking that the 924S is a narrow body 944 and the racks are not the same as a 924 (they are both front steer though). The 924S is likely to be a powered rack, but could be had with a manual option, but you'll have to fight the 944 racers off to get one :)

Hope this helps!

I'm a bit puzzled that the aftermarket racks don't seem to offer much in terms of different rack lengths, tie rod to tie rod... I'm under the impression that this length is very important in order to have a hope of getting the tie rod lengths right and having some hope of avoiding bump steer.

Am I missing something? If the tie rods are too short or long, no matter what you do with initial location, they're going to travel in a different arc than that followed by the suspension, resulting in bump steer.

RossD wrote: Rock Auto has a manual rack for a '77 Mercury Capri for ~$130.

Being a Capri guy that was my first thought. I'd be interested if one actually showed up if you ordered it from Rock Auto. Maybe, but I thought they were tougher to find than that. I got mine from a specialty vendor. About the same price, so maybe they're out there. I'd think he'd charge more if he were the only source.

ransom wrote: I'm a bit puzzled that the aftermarket racks don't seem to offer much in terms of different rack lengths, tie rod to tie rod... I'm under the impression that this length is very important in order to have a hope of getting the tie rod lengths right and having some hope of avoiding bump steer. Am I missing something? If the tie rods are too short or long, no matter what you do with initial location, they're going to travel in a different arc than that followed by the suspension, resulting in bump steer.

Well your right the rack lenght itself is normaly the same, However they sell screw on ends that allow you to change the lenght ot the inner rod end. Trim to size screw it on tighten set screw on the flat on the rack. They even have droped ends if you can't install the rack at the right height.

This is going to take awhile to write so print it out and take it to the car and look at stuff.

1) measure the distance between the two inner ball joints (hiems) Lets say for example its 22 inches

2) look in catalogs that have rack dimensions for a rack with inner tie rods at 22 inches. You'd like to get as close as possible.

3) make sure the rack you pick you can get the steering shaft to with out going through the motor. Tried to help several racers fit racks that just didn't work.

4) Rack height. This depends on a few measurements so take you time and get it right! 4a) Measure from the outer ball joints center of swivel to ground. Becarfull if you use real ball joint like me it can be deceiving as to where the center of rotation is. Cut and old one to make sure. lets say its 8.0 4b) Measure from outer tie rod center of rotation to ground. Lets say its 8.5 4c) so you have a outer tie rod that 1/2 inch higher then the ball joint this means you rack need to be 1/2 inch hirer then the inner ball joints. This will set the angles of the tie rods the same as the lower control arms thus minimize bump steer.

5) I race pavement and have found some Ackerman to be a good thing. Most big car set the racks 1.5 to 2 inches off the center line of the outer tie rods In DWARFS 1/2 to 3/4 works good. 5a) Point both wheels straight now tie a string around the outer tie rode bolts measure to a cross member in-line with the inner ball joints let say its 12 inches. So if you have front steer spindles (most dwarfs do) you should set the racks center line at 11.5 to 11.25 from the cross member.

Keeping a rack in the right place is hard!! An easy way to help is this. Measure the rack diameter and find some tubbing that will snuggly fit over the racks ends now weld on some thin sheet metal to the tubbing this can be clamped to the 1x2 frame that comes out to hold the bumper.

So to sum it up you want the tie rod angles to match the lower control arm angles when viewed from the front and you want the rack set back toward the motor .5 to .75 from the outer tie rod ends.

Best of luck 44dwarf "Smok'in the competition NOT Tobacco"

"Transplant organs, Don't bury them!"

Not to be confused with dwarf44, 44 or Buck44 I wrote this for someone a few years back. (good thing i look to see if it was still on the old pentium1 box) It needs pictures but I'm just to busy to take them. Hope this helps. CHECK THE BUMP STEER before you weld it all up.

This is going to take awhile to write so print it out and take it to the car and look at stuff.

About rack ratios: as a general rule, the factory supplied manual racks are slower (they take more turns lock to lock) than the power racks. That's to lessen the required effort. So if you want a quick manual rack, depowering a Miata rack is probably your best bet. FWIW, I have a complete power rack (including pump and hoses) in my shop. If you can tell me the center to center on your inner tie rods I can measure and see if it's even close. Miata racks are also pretty easy to narrow.