anyone got Power assisted Rack and Pinion???

EKWagon · Post by **EKWagon** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:43 pm

I was just wondering if anyone had converted the steering in their FB EK to Power Steer Rack and Pinion? and could let me know what it was like, the goods and bad, and who did it, and what rack they used? OH yeah and is it front or rear mounted?
Cheers
EKWagon

I have heard it is very light almost too light??? and turning circle is terrible in them???

Post by **Blacky** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:59 pm

Have a manual rack- unless you have arthritis or something I cant see why you would bother with power assist.
It is a rear mounted V6 Conversions setup and it is WAY better than the other type

ekdave1962 · Post by **ekdave1962** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:14 am

hi all i have been wonder that my self why install a manual rack, power is so much better for parking etc ..
so is the racks that guys install much better than the standard sterring cos mine is like a tank ( std ) ..

i hear rear mounted systems have poor turning circles ?

looking forward to coments and input from guys that have installed them

sounds like yet another item for the tech files

Post by **Blacky** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:01 am

Front mounted racks are the ones that give you a large turning circle.
XXL on this forum set his V8 EK up using a power rack off an EL Foulcan, if you PM him he may be able to give you some pointers.

ipg · Post by **ipg** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:10 am

hey ekwagon,
Blacky is on the money as usual

remember wheel width will also affect your steering heaviness

EKWagon · Post by **EKWagon** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:26 pm

SO Blacky what rack do they use? Commodore one? I know of a few guys that do the front mounted Torana ones, and a mob down in Victoria (that shall remain nameless) that do a poor effort at a front mounted one half way to the radiator but it seems to be popular? (huge turning circle and crappy wheel alignment), is it cause they were the first ones to do it??

exactly how light is the non power assisted steer? does it make much difference V6 to V8 for the weight and driveability?
I know a thousand questions, but hopefully we can all benefeit from yours and others experiences on these front ends

EKWagon

P.S. I heard that Pat will only use the modified steering column out of a Commodore and I definately do not want the modernised look in the car so that may rule them out for the conversion???

Post by **Blacky** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:44 pm

Mine had a commode column in it when I first bought it , made a column out of the top half of an EK column and the bottom half of a VK Crumpledoor column. NoMad has a Rods Racks column in his-send a PM and see if he can post some pics for us.
Rear mounted racks are Commodore , front ones are Torana. Have heard of people using Cortina power racks, but good luck finding one these days. I was going to try a Camira rack but havent found one out the bush yet to cannibalise for parts.

yeprat1 · Post by **yeprat1** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:08 am

i was also told the cortina power rack i say if u want power steer and u can get a rack that fits go for it surely it cant hurt to be different

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:04 am

Mate give Rod a call at Rod's Racks at Beaudesert, he did mine and it's brilliant. He can answer all your questions

oldnek · Post by **oldnek** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:52 am

Heres a link to his site.
www.rodsracks.com.au

Happy New Year to all.

Regards John

EKWagon · Post by **EKWagon** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:15 pm

Thanks guys spoke to Rod, and he does Torana ones, and front mounted, swears there is no bump steer issues and turning circle is similar to original? has anyone got a rods rocks one they are driving and can back up what he says?
He will also make a custom column using the top off EK and lower Commodore and intermediate shaft. which fits in with the over all look I am chasing

Pat Gardner uses the Commodore stuff and rear mount, but will only offer the Commodore steering column, he claims it is a much superior set up to the Torana , and of course threw in a plug for his premium front end K frame (at $4-$5 K) no doubt it would be!

Thanks for the interesting input everyone, so many people have VERY different opinions on what works and why it is handy to hear of others experiences
EKWagon

ekv8ute · Post by **ekv8ute** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm

I have a front mounted LC Torana rack in my V8 ute.No bump steer issues but a bit light at around 70mph.Turning circle not great but you learn to live with it.Ratbox set it up good!

Don't worry about car parks, as long as you keep about 30 psi in front tyres all will be ok, a 3 point turn takes about 5 points!

Regards Mark

oldnek · Post by **oldnek** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:39 pm

Personally I would go with the Commodore rear mount setup. There a dime a dozen, minimal mods and if you stuff one you can another pretty easily.. The turning circle is excellent, front mounts are quite heavy and have poor turning circle. The main reason for this is that the Holden front end is banana in shape and can't increase the steering angle length in ideal conditions.

John

NoMAD · Post by **NoMAD** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:09 pm

EKWagon as Blacky said i have a rods racks setup but haven't driven or finished putting in but if you look through here (http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0) on page 1, you can see the rods racks commodore setup including column.

sgo · Post by **sgo** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:09 pm

If you're really keen and can be bothered

Make the front-end fit the rack, not the rack to fit the front-end!
This worked for me:
Rear mount vp commodore power rack
HR front-end modified to suit the rack:
Lower pivot points moved outboard to suit rack.
Lower wishbones shortend to keep original track.
Heavier springs needed to suit shorter lower wishbone load.
Short early torana steering arms for good turning circle.
Some extra clearance required between steering and subframe.
Mount rack to minimise bump steer.
With the weight of a v6 or 8 over the front-end steering feel is good and turning circle is a touch over 12 metres (fine)

anyone got Power assisted Rack and Pinion???

anyone got Power assisted Rack and Pinion???

power rack

anyone got power assisted rack & pinion

power rack