rack and pinion
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 82
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rack and pinion
ihave a 56 ford and i wasnna put power steering and i was told that rack and pinion is the way to go with a straigh axel, so i was looking ito the kits and they are about 600$ which isnt horrible but i was just wonderin could i salvage a rack and pinoin kit from a certain car or does it have to be the kit and is it really worth it to get a rack and pinion or is regular power steering good enough
Tuned
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 476
Likes: 1
From: Greatest state on earth
Yep, regular power steering on trucks made up to 1964 is kind of non-existant. The available conversions are not even a close fit and everything requires major modifications. So go ahead and hit the bone yards, find a R&P from something. You mainly need a rack that will allow clearance for your steering shaft to run down and connect. Probably would be a good idea to reroute the column higher on the firewall to get a straighter line to rack. I have seen a few with several pillar blocks to fit on existing shaft angle. Not that great of an upgrade for my taste. One of my "help a buddy" projects is fitting a rack under his 61 unibody. I have a couple of them laying around that both may work. One is a three bolt from 74 Mustang II and the other is from a late 80's T-bird. You need to fab up a crossmember to mount the rack to. I did see one that was bolted rigid to axle and had slip joint in steering shaft. I personally did not see this as a doable option. Doing a conversion is not real complicated and if you do some research or copy an existing kit, should be able to fab something that should work fine.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 181
Likes: 2
Don't put a rack on a straight axle. Save your money.
To actually, kind of, work properly the rack must be mounted to the axle, then a slip joint of some sort used for the steering. Mounting the rack to the frame via a bracket will cause crazy bumpsteer as the axle moves up and down and the rack mounted solid.
To actually, kind of, work properly the rack must be mounted to the axle, then a slip joint of some sort used for the steering. Mounting the rack to the frame via a bracket will cause crazy bumpsteer as the axle moves up and down and the rack mounted solid.
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