Rack Conversion Completed...Steering too Light!

[2door350]

Hi,

 has anyone else put in a rack and found it too light afterwards?  I Used a rear mounted rack kit from V6 conversions....Got it going last night....Its so light in the steering now its not funny....any solutions?

cheers

2door350

[sgo]

Just a thought, the length of the steering arms used would make a difference.
Longer arms = lighter steering and less lock,
shorter arms = heavier steering and more lock?
 

[FC427]

I have the same set up and it's good not to light what size steering wheel and road wheels do you run  ...FC427....

[2door350]

its running 205/60/14's on the front and im using an ek column and wheel...

[FC427]

Can't see a problem I run 205 / 40 / 17 EH column 13" sports wheel ....Has it been wheel aligned ? .....FC427....

[GM]

I'm with sgo, what steering arms are you using?

[2door350]

standard hr arms

[GM]

Hq, hx etc. power steering arms are much shorter. 90mm from tie rod hole to first mounting hole compared with hr at about 125. Probably would ring Pat Gardiner for advice. (let your tyres down to 15 psi )

             Cheers Glenn

[NosFEratu]

The "little van" uses rear mounted Commdore rack with LC/LJ Torana steering arms. They are the shortest of the Holden steering arms and give us about three turns lock to lock and nice steering feel.  I might narrow the rack housing a smidgen (special metiric term that equates to about 10mm) as we dont quite have the standard turning circle.  I should have done a bit more geometry analysis before I picked up the hacksaw and welder.  Please note the outer tie rod end position is higher compared with other steering arms and the rack position will need changing to make sure you dont get bump steer.

In addition to this I have designed in 3.5 degrees of positive caster into the static alignment which also increases steering effort/feel and high speed stability.  Caster is especially important and will change the steering effort.  As Mark says you may want to check your initial wheel alignment settings before changing anything else.

regards

Vanhelsing.   

[NIFFTY]

I think you answered your own problem when you mentioned Pat Gardiner,every thing I purchased from him had to be modified

[2door350]

thanks for all your help.

The kit did look good but wasn't as easy (is i ever ) as it should have been to fit.  Had to lower the bottom of the column about two inches or so to get correct angle on intermediate shaft so uni didn't foul...also had to strip front end to weld on rack brackets.  I think i'll try a good wheel alignment first and if it doesn't fix it maybe trial some different arms....its heaps, heaps lighter than my FPV Fords (ssshhh!) power rack at the moment...

[FCRB26]

wheel alignment will shed a lot more light on it i reckon.

They are probably not toeing in enough does it dart around on the road at all?

you cant really do much until you get a good wheel aligment which can be harder than you think i only ever trusted 1 bloke birminghams at edgeworth and he is gone.
My Fc runs front mount LX (shithouse) 225/50/16 hr standard arms its fairly light but wheel alingment made a lot of difference andf i run a FC stocko wheel.

[GM]

I thought these front ends were supposed to be the ducks nuts?.................has to better than crs?

[2door350]

runs straight on the road, steering self centers pretty well, have toe in set at 2mm at the moment (my best measurement!) what wheel alignment specs should i be aiming for?  aside from toe in obviously, i havn't changed anything else so i figured my old alignment should be reasonable at worst...

[EffCee]

As John has said, caster is critical to the lightness of the steering. If you have negative caster the thing will just about steer itself, similiar to a shopping trolley.....

Check the alignment

Keith

[2door350]

ok...just had a wheel alignment done - here are the new settings....still pretty light

caster left 2.2 deg
caster right 2.2 deg

toe left 0.3 mm
toe right 0.3 mm
total 0.6mm

camber left -1.0 deg
camber right 0.8 deg

(they didn't touch the camber yet - left as prior)
 

[chrisfc]

Easy fix. Drop in a big block chev and fit a smaller steering wheel...

[ehsv6]

Have V6 conversions kit in my EH, it is light but I don't mind that, but its taken a while to get used to the 5 turns lock to lock, other conversions (Rods Racks) uses HQ power steering arms.  This will reduce the lock to lock and increase the effort.  Problem the arms are bent differently so the height of the tie rod changes therefore meaning that rack ends are not parallel to the lower wishbones, therefore bump steer may result.  I've got some dropped stub axles to go on, they have a second lower mounting point for the steering arms so I'm hoping that will minimize any problems.  Cheers Keith