I disagree as to the reason. It has nothing to do with comfort; a Lexus LS has a rack while a pre-Tacoma 'Yota has a box (Tacos have a rack). My understanding is that steerboxes are more durable, an impression formed in part by off-roader anecdotes that rack-equipped vehicles tend to break steering parts more often. See where they continue to be used: the heaviest vehicles, while almost all modern cars and lighter trucks have moved to racks. E34 front suspensions are ultimately derived from the E23 that was designed in the 70's, which were overbuilt in part because manufacturing tolerances back then were looser, and there was little to no computer-aided design that allowed lower margins of error. In other words, the main reason a RWD E34 has a box is historical inertia, the other side of which coin is obsolescence.
They also have packaging advantages sometimes. As discussed previously in this thread, the steering column is well outboard of the inner tierod end. Otherwise you end up either with shorter steering travel, shorter and thus beefier knuckles and tierods, or clearance problems with the engine. This is ostensibly the reason E39 I6 cars moved to racks while the V8 stayed with a box.
My hunch remains that notching the oilpan would be enough to fit the rack in the correct vertical position.
Perhaps historical inertia(I like that phrase) I shouldn't presume to speak for the intentions of the engineers.
Seems to me that a rack is probably less expensive to manufacture as well, the reason MacPherson strut suspension is so popular.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Okay Dad.
The e34 isn't that big or heavy by today's standards. ~120lbs heavier than a new M2? A few inches longer than my e46?
It is no e30/miata on the track, but there is no reason to not look to improve the car. I am on coils, solid spherical UCAs and LCAs and all new lemforder steering linkage components and the steering is still the weakest aspect of the car.
Last edited by ross1; 02-06-2018 at 02:58 PM.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
To answer for the others, you're right, it won't. But it will improve the driving feel and the experience, which matters to most of us more than lap times.
However, brake upgrade solutions already exist, with even more aggressive ones currently in the works. Steering upgrades simply don't exist. So any movement on this front is improvement.
Rossdad
Interesting read so far.
There have been multiple smart guys with proper engineering backgrounds that have looked at this, and the bottom line is that done properly, this is still a large and invasive job. We call ideas such as notching the oil pan (with associated oil capacity loss) an unacceptable and compromised solution: dry sump would be far superior in that you can control (ie, expand) oil capacity and cooling, and greatly increase clearance. Furthermore, just having clearance for the rack is one thing, but making a proper (fast) rack fit the existing geometry is a bit of a "reinventing the wheel" endeavor.
With the launch of Angry Ass Solutions, rack-enthusiasts () have the best opportunity in years to pitch ideas like a rack conversion to a ready and willing engineer who is very versed in these cars.
I suggest plying Greg with ideas, potential solutions, and a case for bringing this to market (like which engine to focus on, how geometry is affected/rectified, etc). We aren't interested in a haphazard oil pan notch and "forcing fitment"; proper clearancing, maintaining or improving suspension characteristics, and upgrading while-we're-in-there is the Angry Ass way.
----A note on steering box feel----
I will say that a fresh steering box and full suspension on these cars leaves very little lacking in terms of steering feel; ratio could always be faster, but on most E34s, this albeit expensive proposition yields a sweet-steering 3500lb sedan:
-Box refresh/source younger box ($500-1,000)
-E31 bearing LCAs ($250-300)
-Moosehead bearing UCAs ($300-400)
-All new steering links (from bushing, to idler, down to tie rods) ($300-400)
I did those^ things, but really felt improvement after these:
-A dose of negative camber ($300-500)
-E31 x-brace (suddenly $800+/NLA, we are developing an alternative)
-17" or 18" wheels and performance-oriented tires (read; stiffer sidewalls)
A change of pitman and idler arms or repositioning the tie rod end on the steering arm will make the steering faster too.
So, if there really is a desire for R&P why hasn't(?) anyone used an entirely different sub-frame, E39 perhaps? Dimensions can't be that much different and all the geometry is done.
Last edited by ross1; 02-08-2018 at 02:21 PM.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Last edited by ross1; 02-12-2018 at 11:29 AM.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Are the racks for sale yet?
I fixed everything in this thread. Even got a brand new steering box.
Turns out the shimmy is somewhere in the steering column. FML.
I did not think there was a plan to take these to market?
We do not have a kit, and as said^ I did not think anyone in this thread was selling a kit (yet).
Ouch- that's uncommon! But once you fix that, you will enjoy the E34 as it's meant to be
But there will be a kit?
heres a build thread on my steering rack conversion on my e28
http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f...9886&start=100
It looks like you flipped the tierod ends upside down in the knuckles, but it's unclear if that was enough to fix bumpsteer, because your coilovers are too stiff?
You used longer swaybar links, but I wonder if there was enough room to use shorter ones instead?
Last edited by moroza; 08-10-2018 at 06:28 PM.
What you got?
I'm sure if you post up a viable solution with some pics, there will be interest.
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