What Steering Rack For A 2b Wishbone

[Guest doddy]

hi im changing my chassis from a slidding piller to the newer wishbone front end the steering rack is differnt do you know what rack i need to get and do i need to change the shaft aswell cheers doddy

[Guest salty_monk]

Think the newer ones used an Escort Rack. I thought the chassis from the sliding pillar was different enough that the newer wishbone model front end was quite a lot of work to fit....

 

Do you have the conversion kit from Robin Hood or literally using the wishbones from the newer wishbone 2b model?

 

Dan

[Guest doddy]

i have a complete wishbone chassis just using all the bits from a slidding piller chassis

[Guest old_timbo]

Can you post a picture of the cross member that the rack fits too? 2Bs have used a number of different racks. Mine has a shortened LHD Metro rack made by TRW and which I think early wishbone 2Bs were designed around. So impossible to replace or upgrade to a quick rack without significant effort. Others are using Sierra racks, and I think later chassis are set up to use an Escort MkII rack which are readily available and in different ratios.

 

Tim

[agent_zed]

yeah mine has the shortened rack too. You have to sometimes wonder what on earth RH was thinking. Surely designing it to use a standard rack would have been far easier for everyone.

 

If you get hold of the short rack like we have it needs extenders to convert the small thread of the rack to the large thread of the TRE. RH supplied some but i was unhappy about the quality of these as i found too much movement in the thread on the rack side (i found the rack arm thread tapers slightly towards the end). It may have been me being fussy but RH gave me a set of 4 SVA bonnet catches to cover my costs of having new ones made and i think that says a lot.

 

I had a pair made twice as long so the thread screws right up to the top of the rack arms (where the thread is tighter), rather than the 1 inch as before. Mght be worth checking if you have this rack to make sure you are happy with the entenders and they are tight on the threads.

 

 

HTH

[Knock-on]

When I converted mine, I considered changing to the Escort but the one I had was the same length as my Sierra one and I ended up extending it anyway. Only real difference that mattered was the end thread.

 

If you're looking for secure block aliminium rack clamps for the Sierra or Escort rack, I can help you there.

[Guest doddy]

this is the front end i have and this is the rack i need as you can see it bolts on at one end and a ubolt at the other

at one know for sure what rack it is if escout what year cheers doddy

 

[agent_zed]

yeah thats the modified metro rack not sure where you'd get one. You can just see far right on the rack arm where there is a nut there is a rack extender that i was talking about above. It looks like they have shimmed their rack up as well. Mine sits down on the chassis. This may be to cure bump steer but i don't experience any so i guess you will have to see how it goes. HTH

[Guest old_timbo]

Yep, that's a the shortened LH Metro rack like mine. I don't need the wedges that are fitted under it, but some do to get the UJs in the steering shaft to work OK. Apart from needing a different cross member, the Escort rack is significantly longer so would introduce bump steer. In the straight ahead position the knuckles in the rubber boots should be on the straight line between the top and lower wishbone pivot points, and this is way out with an Escort rack. Aparently when designing a chassis one of the first things you do is decide on the width of the rack to be used and then postion the wishbone mounts to suit. Not sure what happens with the chassis supplied for Escort racks. Perhaps this was overlooked. Anyone got a photo?

 

Tim