Transit Power Steering Rack

[Rogue Trooper]

Ahh, that old chestnut the power steering rack.

I was going to go the 928 Porsche left-hand drive rack the same as Garry however the dismantler in Levin has sold his business to someone in Te Horo and it all seems to be a bit vague now which means I don't really want to take the risk with my money if I can't get suitable parts if required so I thought I'd go with a Transit rack like others here. It appears to be a tried and true method and there doesn't appear to be any shortage of them available which is great.

What I would like, if people wouldn't mind, is if those who have the racks wouldn't mind posting some photos of theirs fitted, the mounting brackets and so on. I'm a great fan of not reinventing the wheel if I don't have to and if I can show my engineer buddy some fitted it'll probably cut down on the R&D time which in turn saves me money that could be better spent on a driveshaft and exhaust system  .

I have the 2 pictures of the UK one but it's not very detailed around the fitting to the cross member etc. If you have problems posting the photos email them to me and I'll post them for you.

Thanks in advance.

[cfjeff]

gidday I think kane (night vision) of river city vans who also lives in lower hutt has done this conversion to his van. I remember a couple of years ago he was converting to power steering and went the way of transit. As he lives in the same part of wellington as you shouldn't be hard to arrange a look. Can email him if you wiish, and ask.

Cheers Jeff

[Rogue Trooper]

Thanks for that Jeff. I'm pretty sure I have his email address kicking around at home. Failing that I can probably get hold of him via SCV.

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey  Rogue, we used a transit rack in my van, and have to say it was dead easy, 1 days work once you have everything on hand. Here is what you need:

1. 97 VF-VG Transit rack.
2. 10mm Steel Plate.
3. 25mmx25mm Angle.
4. New Tie rods.
5. New tie rod ends.
6. New high tensile bolts.

You need to mount the transit rack at a 45 degree angle, which is where the angle comes into play. Here are some pics that i took, i will get you some better pics as soon as i can.

george.

[Bedfordcrazy]

And some more

[Bedfordcrazy]

and more

[Rogue Trooper]

You're a wonderful fellow George. Thanks very much! 

[Bedfordcrazy]

Just returning the favor mate. All up i shelled out around a grand for the lot, including labor. Thats with tie rods, ends so on. As i said it was the easiest part of the build, once we worked out the bracket.

One thing not in the pics, and i will get it for you, a 10mm spacer to kick the bracket out from the crossmember. What we found was that when we dropped in the V6, the lower pulley was just shaving the top of the bracket, thats why we cut out some of the angle, but we still need to bring the rack forward by just 10mm, this does not effect the steering at all. The last thing you want is the V6 moving and shattering the pulley.

As soon as my mechanic can work again i will get some pics, as the spacers are still to be fitted. I would also recommend you do the motor then the rack, we went the other way and had to modify the bracket. We went back to front thinking the rack would be a pain, and the engine a breeze, man were we wrong.

george.

[Rogue Trooper]

Thanks George but you forget,  my engine is midmounted. I have about half a metre at least of clearance.

Good info for anyone else following this thread though. 

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey rogue, you will save yourself 2hrs then, because you wont have to rebate your bracket out. You wont have to worry about pullies and other obstructions, so it should be a breeze in yours. I am not a mechanic, but i helped my mechanic design the bracket, so your engineer mate should be able to do yours in no time at all.
Once we get mine up and running, and tweek it, i will be doing up templates for all the parts that make up the bracket, so all beddy owners who want to go power can do so.
I think the bracket is sitting on my bench in the workshop, if it is i will get some detailed pics for you rogue.

george.