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Junk Yard Rack & Pinion with 7" travel?

10K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  sbutler 
#1 ·
Does anyone know of a junk yard Rack & Pinion with 7" travel?
Thanks
 
#3 ·
I'm working on a 1937 Buick Roadmaster with 1995 front spindles.
I need a total throw side to side of 7 inches.
Unless I can find a Rack & Pinion that has a center take off, like a Cavalier, I will have to modify the rack & pinion with a sliding cross bar similar to the attached pdf. In my case the tie rods will need to connect to the sliding center link at approx 6.8" from each other.
The Cavalier r&p had the type of center take off I need, but only had 6 inches throw.
From what I have read, Mustang II r&p also have a travel of 6".
Have not found the side to side throw of other r&p.
1) Can someone tell me specifically what cars and years would have 7" throw.
Thanks
 

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#4 ·
84-87 buick skylark has center throw with the 7 inch throw you are looking for the 85-87 buick century has a conventional rack also with the 7 inch throw if you want a quick ratio conventional rack 93-00 camaro or firebird will also fit the bill also 84-97 corvette is a little quicker than the firebird or camaro but finding one is a pain. good luck hunting
 
#9 ·
I'm trying to find a less expensive option that Unisteer. ($1500)
Fatman Fab has a kit that works on a 37 Buick with the GM j-body r&p. for $225 and a r&p appears to be less than $100.
The only problem with these is they have 6" of side to side throw and my spindles require 7" of throw.
This would cause an increased turn radius.
I have a possible solution to use an adaptor similar to the attached bump steer adaptor ($266 on ebay, see attached) which shortens the effective steering arm on the spindle by 1 inch which should make the cavalier r&p work perfectly.
With this I would be up to about $600.
1) Does anyone out there have experience with this type of bump steer adaptor?
2) Does anyone have a less expensive adaptor that would do the same thing?
Thanks
 

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#10 ·
There is a thread on "crankshaft coalition wiki"" called swapping to a rack and pinion steering. They are mounting it on a '41 Pontiac. Should be similiar to what you need. They made a bracket to attatch the tie rods to the center steer. I cut the tie rod part out of the center link on my project and that will give me the correct spacing on the tie rods when I bracket it to the center steer. According to the article, you are 180 out on the increased turning radius. They say the 7" steering arm and 6" throw of the rack makes for less steering radius. They even tell you how to shorten the steering arm 1" to gain the radius you had before. Steve
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the feedback.
I have read that article and will be using those concepts in my build.
I have modern spindles & brakes from a 95 Roadmaster that have the 7 inch long steering arms which is why I was looking looking for a way to shorten my steering arms with an adaptor.
Never found a cost effective way to use a r&p with my spindles so I'm now going way of a Saginaw gearbox from a Scout 2.
This gearbox bolts to the outside of my frame which is critical since there is no room on the inside.
Just bought the steer box and I'm gathering the other parts.
Thanks
 
#12 ·
Ripper 410, you contradicted yourself on one post to the next on the Century verses the Skylark. First post said Century was center take off, second post said Skylark was. Not gigging you, just need to know what to look for and are these racks for front steer apps. Thanks, Steve
 
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