Transit Power Steering Rack

[ben]

ok well maybe it is worth looking at.. i thought anything with a BMW label was expensive?? obviously not.

what do you want me to measure on the beddy rack?

[Hippo]

The distance between the knuckle bits where the rack ends swivel please

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey benny, all up with everything to date, without checking the reciepts, the whole power steering conversion cost around $1,500, that includes the steel plate for the bracket, tie rods, and tie rod ends, and in my case i paid for my mechanic, so add in about $400 for labour. Using the transit rack is a really cheap conversion. We paid about $550 for our rack, but heres why, we found out here in brisy, mine was the only one in almost new condition from a steering overhaul place. We could not find one from any wrecker in bris, the reason why, they are fairly new, and being almost bulletproof there just are not to many ending up at the wreckers. In years to come there will be more and they will be cheaper. We could of gone new from ford, but $2000 is not what i had in mind. Depending on cost, i may buy a new one from ford, and keep the mock-up one as a spare, will see when the time comes.

george.

[BlackBedford]

We could not find one from any wrecker in bris, the reason why, they are fairly new, and being almost bulletproof there just are not to many ending up at the wreckers. In years to come there will be more and they will be cheaper.

george.

I picked up a good one off ebay a while back for $80, so they are out there. And no it is not for sale as it is earmarked to go into a LWB.

[Bedfordcrazy]

Because we got ours from a reconditioner place it was probably more expensive. Also these racks are suposed to be really reliable, thats the word from a few people in the industry. The reason i seem to pay more then others here could be because of my situation, being a double amputee, where as some would buy and take pot luck i try to get reliability from the get go, i dont have the luxury of doing a benny, [ breaking down on the freeway and climbing around under the van to repair, ]    so i tend to pay that little bit extra. Having said that a lot of guys on here could do the conversion a lot cheaper then me, but i am not complaining, i am rapped with my powersteering conversion.

george.

[ben]

very well said george:)

[Rogue Trooper]

Hey George. Did you use any kind of bushing to mount the rack to the cross member or is it just hard up steel against steel?

Ta muchly.

[Bas NZ]

Mine was set up with hard steel against hard steel, from the rack mount bracket to the cross member but the rack to the mount is bushed through the bolt holes .........

[Rogue Trooper]

That's what I'm after. Do you know if the bushes are a standard Transit item or aftermarket?

[Bas NZ]

Standard Transit item..... Available new as I had new ones put in, looks like the old rubber shackel bushes, mine had to halfs that push in to the bolt hole, the bushes had a steel center running through them that the bolt passes through....  A bit like the bush in the photo below.