87' VW Jetta Rack&Pinion installation
 

I first installed an 82' Rabbit rack in my car about 7 years ago due to me breaking my adjustment screw on the top of the stock FB steering box by over adjusting it.
After a collision with a rock and smacking a curb my Rabbit rack had been destroyed beyond repair. I decided to find another VW rear steer rack and found the 87'Jetta rack.
With the help of Ben Harrision and his shop/ lift, we redesigned the mounting system to better match the stock VW rack mounting points.
With alittle grinding on the aluminum rack and some mount points welded to the FB cross member as well as some stabilizers bolted to the stock steering mount holes we were able to come up with a pretty good solution. I had to fab up custom steering rod ends due to the short length I had to work with.
All in all it works really well, the ratio is not great but I plan on installing a steering quickner http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Howe-2...ign=GoogleBase to make it easier to get lock to lock for drifting.
It was loose in the center till I did a slight adjustment on the rack adjuster screw.
Other then that it's a pretty good replacement that cost me about $60.00 in parts and some time on the lift with a welder.
Enjoy the pics.

looks good, did you make a thread when you did the rabbit rack install

Sorry, no thread that I could find.

That is awesome, I was planning a similar build with a rear steer rack aswell. Great Job!!

how long did all this take to do?

Looks real good! Any pics of how you did the steering column?

What mounting system did you use originally for the VW rack install?

next time I get it up on the lift or when I do the engine swap I will take some detailed pics of the steering column.
I used the lower part of the vw steering shaft and welded it to the end of the FB shaft after cutting of the stock end.
Used the VW Rabbbit lower column bearing as a guide for the end of the shaft so there is no play.
The mounting was all fab'd for the rack, nothing from the Jetta was used except the rack itself and the steering rod ends.

Glad you like it.

Ok so similar to what the guys are doing with the FC subframe swap, using a mix of the fb column and shaft and the lower half of the FC, or in this case VW shaft and its bearing, sounds good.
Thanks again for the info.

did the vw racks changed the turning radius of the car at all?

great idea btw

Would have never thought of that..