Steering Rack Update

[4onthefloor]

Updating from a box to a steering rack on a first I am trying to get race ready for next season.

Does anyone have a good source for a rack and toe links as well as any suggestions for how to mount it

[lowside67]

You might consider checking Woodward to see if they have an option - they make an "Ultra Light Manual Rack" which I think is common in FSAE applications and might also make sense for your car. If not, they also make custom racks.

http://www.woodwardsteering.com/catalog2019.html

-Mark

[Ed Womer]

Butch Deer formerly of DRE and Jim Schings formerly of SR Racing might be able to let you know where the First racks were made. They both visit here and might notice your question.

Ed

[4onthefloor]

Thanks for the info!

Woodward does look like they make some racks but the price on racks is pretty steep compared to the alternatives but they did have a good price on custom steering links that I am going to look into.

Someone on another forum suggested this option

https://www.appletreeauto.com/14-inch-rack-and-pinion/

[problemchild]

Considering that the rack is, at best, a lateral move, from a performance perspective, you only want to purchase a good rack at a good price. The cheap one you were linked to, can only be used in some applications where the steering rods would not have much angle relative to the rack centerline. I recommend staying with the steering box as a general guideline, but I would certainly stay with a box rather than a cheap rack without bushings supporting the rack at the outboard ends (as that one is).

[ExKartracer]

I used one of these in my SkaytR sports racer. They are very high quality. https://secure.chassisshop.com/categories/19804/ I believe Jon Staudacher used something similar in his cars.

[ericscott]

My Dad used to run the 11" version of the 14" rack posted above and had no issues while he used it 20 years ago. When we got the car back a couple of years ago the rack had some play. It wasn't a lot of play but enough we decided to replace with a new unit as we had all kinds of issues with our entire steering setup. The only reason we went with the 14" was that the 11" wouldn't go out from the bodywork enough so removal of the bodywork was a pain in the ass. This rack is tight and smooth, I feel much more confident with it but of course we haven't finished out setup yet. Steering wheel to spindle has all been removed and redone this winter so I won't have much of a benchmark to go off of unfortunately.