Small steering rack

[toasty]

Hi,

I'm building a kiddie car.
Rather than build a steering rack from scratch like last time, I'd like to utilise a pre-made one this time.

So I'm looking for a steering rack from a road car, that I can easily get from a scrap yard, that doesn't have power steering and is ideally very small.

When I say small, obviously I can cut the tie rods down to the length I want, but the actual rack wont fit in if it is too long.

The kiddie car will be about 900mm wide so ideally the rack would be 600mm (2 foot) or less in length.

I suspect an old ford fiesta or similar would be a good choice, but I don't know. Is there a mechanic on here who can say for sure a car that has a nice small steering rack in it.

Cheers
Dan

 

[Peter.N.]

I was going to say a morris minor, but there are not to many of those about. Any small low tech car should do, I would think that a Fiesta would do. It could be more a question of how easy it is to get off rather than what type.

 

[toasty]

Thanks peter,

I'm not too worried about getting it off the car, I'll just buy a new/recon one if I have to.

Basically though there seems to be little correlation between rack length and size of car, or track travel for that matter.

Most seem to give +/- 70mm travel for about 3 turns lock to lock, but are 600mm long. In theory the actual rack and pinion bit must only be 150mm or so long.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of a car with a really short steering rack.

Cheers
Dan

 

[Peter.N.]

I would suggest then that you find a firm that specialises in recon racks on the net and ask them.

 

[TicklyT]

IIRC VW Beetles used to be quite popular donors for steering components for small dragsters.

I can't imagine there's much inside a steering rack that would prevent you cutting down the length (width?) Most of the 'clever' bits are offset to one side anyway, so you'd only need to chop one end.
What about old BL Mini parts?

How about a spool and cable setup?

 

[Burnerman]

I think the Peugeot 106 / Citroen Saxo has a shortish rack.....trouble with cutting it down means that you would lose the ball joint for the track arm at the end - unless you could cut a section out of the rack, and reweld it back up, retaining the ball joint.
John

 

[toasty]

How about a spool and cable setup?

That's what I did last time, it's ok, but I want to do better this time

 

[toasty]

I can't imagine there's much inside a steering rack that would prevent you cutting down the length (width?) Most of the 'clever' bits are offset to one side anyway, so you'd only need to chop one end.

This is what I was thinking, I'll try cutting one down, cheers!!

 

[Stivino]

What about a rack from an ole Vauxhall Nova or Astra. They were quite short but had long rods that could easily be shortened.

 

[gregers]

how about a little fiat?

 

[andyandy2]

How about a steering box instaed of a rack, length / width would not be an issue, you could make track rods to whatever length you need, a visit to a scrapyard would be my first move

 

[toasty]

How about a steering box instaed of a rack, length / width would not be an issue, you could make track rods to whatever length you need, a visit to a scrapyard would be my first move

Oh really? What cars had these then? That sounds ideal.

I noticed last night that Citroen Saxo's have a rack with only one moving end (which then connects to two track rod ends) concequently these are much shorter, but if a box is smaller still then great!!

Cheers
Dan

 

[Peter.N.]

They have to be pretty old to have a steering box. The only one I have used was from an Austin A40 Farina, this was for a similar purpose,, I had one of those electric trucks that you walked in front of with a handle that controled acceleration/braking, I converted it to a 'sit on and drive' my son drove it miles round the woods adjacent to our garden, I think he actually learn't to drive on it.

 

[toasty]

Oh, I see!!!

A steering box is actually just a right angle reduction gearbox? Right?

You then connect an arm onto the end of the output shaft and have this sweep in a partial circular arc when the wheel is turned.

The trackrod ends connect to the end of the arm and then the wheels are moved left and right when you rotate the wheel.

Is that right? If so this could be ideal, I can effectively adjust the amount of left-right 'throw' buy just using a longer or shorter steering arm on the output.

Thanks guys, you learn something everyday

 

[Peter.N.]

That's about it. The only relativly modern vehicles that use them are some vans and pick up trucks, but they will possibly be a bit on the big side, although still smaller than a rack. For cars you need to go back to the '50s or '60s for a steering box. The Austin A35 uses one and I think the Ford anglia, as there are a few of those about you may get one from an appropriate car club.