Citation Rack and Pinion for a C3?

BBShark said:

mrvette said:

Sorry guys, I"d be paranoid as a mother effer over them thing handing up in some shituation.....I see nothing but problems,....chancy though with my rack install, but it did work out...so far....I look at it lots though.....

paranoia reigns supreme.....

:harhar::bonkers:

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A rack and pinion works exactly like this. The rod slides in and out of the rack with bushings and seals.

With 10's of millions of rack and pinions on the road, do you hear about any "handing up" (which I assume means binding)?

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Yeh, but the rack is one piece inside a tube, with a slot in it....adding another rod with two purchase points on it, and expecting it to track well from a single ended purchase is something I cant visualize happening too well, and as said before, securing both ends and with a unknown for frame twists, and crap in a racing situation, I can't see it as viable solution,

I just compromised hell out of my install with the long tie rods, maybe so, but they work well, and certainly less bump than stock, and bump was obviously not considered in the OEM design....so a improvement was made....enough....I did not like putting any ackerman loading? twist on that rack output that it was not designed to take, and a ~4" on one side and ~6" on the other, is a bit much methinks....compared to my nearly stock centered adaptor....

:crutches:

mrvette said:

Yeh, but the rack is one piece inside a tube, with a slot in it....adding another rod with two purchase points on it, and expecting it to track well from a single ended purchase is something I cant visualize happening too well, and as said before, securing both ends and with a unknown for frame twists, and crap in a racing situation, I can't see it as viable solution,

I just compromised hell out of my install with the long tie rods, maybe so, but they work well, and certainly less bump than stock, and bump was obviously not considered in the OEM design....so a improvement was made....enough....I did not like putting any ackerman loading? twist on that rack output that it was not designed to take, and a ~4" on one side and ~6" on the other, is a bit much methinks....compared to my nearly stock centered adaptor....

:crutches:

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The vast majority of racks are end take off with a rod sliding in two spaced apart bearings EXACTLY like the guide rod principle. As I said before, I would not attach the guide rod at both ends.

This guide rod setup has been used in industry for longer than you have been alive without issues.

A further advantage is that you might be able to relocate the rack in a more desirable location, less u-joints, better angle etc.

all good points to ponder on, the rack is all right the way it is now, but when has good enough been good enough here on the forum. I've seen an area that in my opinion can be made better. This appears to have been looked at by other people due to it showing up on that mustang on eBay. I don't think its that big off a deal to mount it on the rack like the mustang which would let it flex with the rack if needed or to the frame which ever will work out with the room to mount it. My car is lowered and I have had no issues with dragging as of yet. From looking over the mounting spots It should be as high as the rack itself. The slack that was present prior to the rack install is all but gone now so I feel the install was a good improvement to the car but in my opinion it can be made better.

Neal

BBShark said:

Those will work. Make sure to keep them clean with boots over the rods. A little dirt will lock up the ball circuits. Those bearings are best instaled in a light press bore or slip fit and held in place with snap rings.

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I was going to use a setscrew not realizing the grooves that's cut into the housing, glad you mentioned the snap rings. That will be even better.

I have two options on the shaft, one is to use tubing and the other is to use the shaft that is made for these BRGs. Weight wise the shaft is only 3.5#s and the tubing is 1.8#s. so not a big difference between the two.

I'm looking for some of these BRGs that have a seal on them to help with keeping them clean.

Neal

Neal, The bearings I have used like that have a lip seal on the ends. It looks like those Grainger bearings. I have always used a snap rings in a stepped bore with those that way they could be removed if needed. The shell on them is pretty thin and you don't want to squeeze them much.

I would use the solid shafting that is made for the bearings. It will have the proper surface finish and hardness.

Take lots of pictures. Always good to see someone doing something a little different and perhaps a lot better.

If you lok for some ball-bushing "dirty-proof" , try to check this website:

http://www.igus.com/drylinr.asp

They produce very bulletproof sliding systems..... with sintetic liners and able to work in bad environment.

Furthermore they are light (the shell is in alluminum) and are even able to work in anodized alluminum rods!

Hi-tec plastic...... like our cars!

Stroker-427 said:

If you lok for some ball-bushing "dirty-proof" , try to check this website:

http://www.igus.com/drylinr.asp

They produce very bulletproof sliding systems..... with sintetic liners and able to work in bad environment.

Furthermore they are light (the shell is in alluminum) and are even able to work in anodized alluminum rods!

Hi-tec plastic...... like our cars!

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I looked at the igus site and decided to go with something I could get local, I went with the Grainger BRG, it really didn't say it had a seal on the site but once it showed up it did have a lip seal, so that will be good. I have the shaft and BRGs just haven't had time to do a lot of work on mounting it. I ordered the wrong size snap rings so I'll have to correct that prior to the install.

I've looked at the possibilities to mount the shaft and taking BBSharks suggestions into account I'm going to mount it on both ends and give it a try, to mount it form one end I would have to move the rack around to get the room. The rack travel becomes an issue when trying to mount from one end.

I'm going to mount the BRGs on the center section of the rack bracket and let the brgs hold the shaft in place than mount the shaft ends. This should position the shaft were it needs to be. With the slack in the rack it shouldn't create any binding issues. Just looking at it there does not appear to be any side to side forces on the shaft as long as the brgs don't seize. The up and down forces shouldn't be that great either. I'm going with brackets that are a good bit lighter than the mustang photos posted above.

BBShark, anyone if I'm missing something chime in please, I just don't see a lot of stress on the brgs or shaft.

I'm going to mount it temporarily with temp brackets to run it through its travel to make sure I'm not missing something then I'll fab some better brackets.

Neal