I`m trying something on my truck. I saw a kit somewhere that had a rack mounted to the front axle. I made this set up to where the rack is in an almost identical spot as the old tie rods, which should keep geometry very close. What do you think. If it acts strange at all I will go the toyota route, but this was much cheaper and I am determined to at least try.

 

What are you using for the steering shaft? It will have to telescope

 

Thank goodness you are in FL as I wouldn't want to be near you when you hit a big pot hole! Good luck

 

When I bought my '56 it had a setup on it just like that .
First thing I did was rip it out !
That is NOT a good option and is dangerous .
The Toyota steering box conversion is the way to do power steering safely .

 

You will also have bump steer issues.

 

Along with the other comments i would be pretty concerned on what it's doing to the steering shaft . That movement up and down would be hard on the connecting U-joint i believe . I'm in the north west so i probably won't be meeting you on the street , which is a relief . Most of the time i say "it's your truck do it your way" , i'm not saying it here now.

 

Great idea but check the scrub line, it looks to be below it.

 

I must agree with the other posters. Below the scrub line, steering shaft problems, and more. This has been discussed several times on this forum, all with the same answer. Very bad idea.

 

I do agree with the scrub line concerns, I don't agree with being a bad idea. You will need a collapsible steering shaft to absorb the up and down movement. I am doing the exact thing on my 40 sedan project. There are several beam axles cars around here running the set up with great success. It was done by a local older machinest on his 39 Ford and it was one of the finest driving old Fords I have driven. What will solve your clearance problem is a rack that mounts horizontal instead of vertical. I am using a Dodge Omni on my 40.

 

The set up pictured above will have bump steer issues. It's not a safe set up. A better and safer idea would be mounting the rack and pinion to the chassis and allowing the inner and outer tie rods to move with the axle movement. This would also avoid the need of a telescopic steering shaft. But a telescopic steering shaft would still be a good idea in case of a front collision. With the rack and pinion mounted to the axle it will cause bump steer. Say for example your left tire hits a pot hole, this tilt of the straight axle will cause the steering wheel to be yanked to that direction. I strongly think that by mounting the rack n pinion to the chassis and not the axle is a better design. Just my 2 cents.

 

I would have to say no for all the same reasons as posted above, but there are a couple that say it works. I'll still say no

 

All the above is good advice but the thing that came to my mind is that the rack mounted on the axle will impose intense side way pressure on the the spring mount bushings front and back. It probably won't steer worth a darn. Let us know what you discover.

 

I had this type setup on my truck when I bought it. Two things, The telescopic sleeve will ware over time and you will get play in your steering. The bump steering also caused the bottom of my steering column to ware out and it feel apart. Luckily, I was at home moving it in the driveway when it came apart. If I would have been driving, someone would be dead.
I don't know how long my system was on the truck, but this happened within 6 months of me owning it. The Toyota system and this system drives the same. The axle system actually turned easier in parking lot situations but on the road it was the same. You will feel the bumping in the steering wheel when you're on rough roads.

 

Looks like nice fab work. Not the design I would have chosen if it were my truck. Curious to hear your results.

 

Look in my albums, Mine is done the same way except I used a manual rack out of a 2005 cobalt. It works great ,no bump steer, no wandering. I drive My truck EVERY day. Power steering will work better.