Im planning on going with the PA Racing tubular K member and having them put mounts for the 4th gen power rack on it, mainly to take the stress off the frame from the steering where it normall cracks, and distribute it evenly to the mounts of the K member, and lose a little weight, after talking with PA they said they can put the mounts on for the 4th gen rack and that i would have to fab a steering shaft for it, and they can provide a bump steer kit, anyone thing this may adversely affect handling abilities ?

 

I think this is a great idea. I plan on doing the same modification myself at a later date. If you can keep me updated on your progress I would really appreciate it!

Tim

 

Some else to consider is the ratio of the rack you plan to use. The location of the tie-rod on the spindle compared to a 4th get. Measure the distace from the tie-rod mount on the spindle to the ball-joint on both a 4th gen and 3rd gen. If the tie-rod mount is closer to the ball-joint that will effectively make the rack a quicker ratio, farther away will make is slower. Just replacing the centerlink and stuff with a rack without taking into consideration the rest of the suspension geometry may result in some problems.

 

Tim, i'll keep ya posted, and post pics here also as soon as i get around to it, not sure if i want to heads / cam my LT1 first, or finish off the suspension, one of my main concerns is where the input shaft will be on the rack cause i'd like to get it to clear my SLP 1 3/4's ........

 

For some reason I remember you 'scolding' me about wanting to do this mod. But no, it will increase how accurate your car handles. Its a very good upgrade for roadracing as well as dragracing. For draggin it will help you keep the car centered down the 1/4 and for roadracing it will make each turn of the wheel more accurate allowing you to place the car closer to the sides of the track turning turns and whatnot (you know .. apexing and stuff). But like you said, it will be alot easier (depending on how wide your front tires are) to race with the power assist. The PA racing Rack & Pinion has a 18:1 ratio. Not sure what the 4th gen one is. I did see a 4th gen Rack & Pinion plus the power assist on Ebay .... might wanna look it up.

 

I was scolding you on planning to put the manual rack kit and then going roadracing with a manual transmission, that could get to be quite a task, read up and you'll see im going to be using a 4th gen rack. and you'll probably NEED the rack setup to be able to fit that turbo kit you are planning to install

 

A 4th gen rack will not be a very easy swap first the pivot points on the rack are 10" wider than the center link pivot points this will add alot of bump steer. Second the throw of the rack is half that of the stock system so the steering arm on the spindle would have to be shortened .

 

Well PA has done it and assured me with their bump steer kit that it shouldnt be a problem, i'll ask them about the throw of the rack, but im sure they could check between their manual one and the power 4th gen setup, heres a pic of the manual setup for reference.

 

Is that picture the finished product! IF so I think more support is in order. That rack will encounter alot of force from the wheels, especially if you have a long steer arm off the spindle. A rack eliminates linkages, In the long run it is more robust and helps to eliminate multiple links where slop can occur. A WELL MOUNTED rack can really eliminate alot of flex in the system. Take for example braking. During a hard brake, depnding were your calipers are, The rack will either be pushed up towards the engine bay or down towards the ground. This is cause by the tie rods pushing in on the rack. The same thing happens to a center link system. Except on a center link system the pitman arm and idler arm are flexed up or down.

 

I will definately agree. That set-up has way to much flex associated with it for use as a road car. Its the hot set-up for drag cars because of light weight and straight line use.

Also, Manual racks are a b*tch for any type of slolam use and marginal for road use unless the car is roughly 2000 lbs. You will be able to control a full size (street) car much more steady with a quick ratio Power steering box. Allot less huffing and puffing on the driver and you don't have to sit ontop of the steering wheel for leverage, You can remain harnessed in with should straps and have better feel of the car under you ***.