I hope this is the right place to talk about steering, I could not find another place to ask so here I am!

A few people have mentioned that using the s10 rack and pinion steering is a nice upgrade to help shed weight on a thirdgen that is going drag strip only.

My question is, why is better to use the s10 steering over just a regular thirdgen rack and pinion?
This link is for camaro conversion to a pinto Rack.
http://www.poormanmotorsports.com/se...-Manual/Detail

This link goes to the s10 rack conversion.
http://www.poormanmotorsports.com/se...84-1985/Detail

I just want to go fast and straight! No corner carving.

 

Rack conversion won't save the weight. You're probably thinking of the conversion to S10 manual steering box, which is lighter and allows the steering pump and fluid lines to be removed.

 

The first link is simply a Pinto rack which is one of the commonly used rack to do a conversion.

The second link is a conversion to convert an S10 from a steering box to rack and pinion.

There are conversions available to change over a third gen steering box to rack and pinion. It's more commonly done when you switch to a tubular k-member. S-10's however use the same design steering box as just about every other GM vehicle which is why it's easy to simply remove all the power steering stuff off our car and install a manual steering box from an S10.

The 84+ manual steering boxes are a direct bolt in. They have 4 bolts on the top cover. The earlier series boxes only have 3 bolts on the top cover and are not a direct bolt in as the input and output shaft sizes are not the same. They can still be used but the conversion takes more work.

A suitable manual steering box can be found in S10/S15 but not all came with manual steering. Only the trucks that have the 2.5L 4 cylinder engine have manual steering but not all 4 cylinder trucks have manual steering.

When converting to an S10 manual steering box, it's advised to use the third gen pitman arm to keep the same steering geometry but using the S10's pitman arm will still work.

If you want to convert to an actual rack and pinion steering system, find a kit specifically designed to work with a third gen. Finding an S10 manual steering box is a lot easier and cheaper.

 

OOh Gees! My confusion. I was thinking Manual steering and searched for Rack steering. That is what happens when you search before drinking coffee! Thanks guys!

 

here is my manual rack n pinion setup to give you an idea.On my setup i had to get a custom made steering shaft.

 

As much as I would like to install a rack on my car, it just isn't possible without a lot of fabrication. Installing the rack isn't the issue. Some mounting brackets on the tubular k-member like in the above picture is the easy part. With the 2-1/4" primary tube headers, there's no room to run the steering shaft down to the rack. I would have to completely relocation the steering column so that the steering shaft goes under the header tubes or use multiple shafts with supports to change the angles enough over the top.

An S10 manual steering box works fine for me.

I went to the local PNP today and looked at all the S10's. I actually found 3 with suitable manual steering boxes. It's just not worth it any more to pull them to resell and I've sold dozens in the past. There's always better deals available on Ebay.

 

The steering shaft on my car is a very tight fit.

 

deffinately tight!