Quote:
Originally Posted by ckau
Spent some time getting the rack & pinion mounted. In the stock yerf configuration the R&P is mounted off center on the box. Why? I have no clue but this won't work for me. The R&P HAS to be centered! No big deal, simply drill some centered mounting holes. Well, because the rack is mounted off center, the teeth on the shaft are cut accordingly also. This makes the pivot points of the tie rods grossly unequal when the steering is centered straight.  (1st pic)
So.. I had planned to cut a couple of more teeth on each side to give more travel to improve turning radius. Instead I cut four more teeth on the long side the centered the rack and cut off the excess shaft to make both sides equal. The tie rod swivil joints are screwed into the ends of the rack shaft with 1/2x20 studs. I drilled and tapped the cut end, reassembled the unit and mounted the rack. This gave me a equal rack with plenty of travel to crank the wheels around. It also moved the tie rod pivot points closer the the a-arm pivot points so hopefully binding and bump steer will be minimal during suspinsion travel. All thats left is to extend the tie rods to compensate for the heims and the front end is DONE! Life is good!
The steering u-joints hang lower than I hoped. I got really big feet so I was hoping for enough room to move my feet across under the steering shaft. NOPE! this means the gas on the right side of the shaft and brake on the left. That's o-k except pedal placement is going to be critical in order for me to have room to rest my big foot next to the brake pedal. I don't want to rest my foot on the brake pedal and unintentionaly ride the brakes. Gas is no problem, I keep it planted most of the time anyway  I was going to use stock yerf pedals, I like them and already have several sets. I'll probably have to fab up some pedals to make it work. |
What type of rack/pinionn is that and where can i get info/price