Say what you will, but after installing a Maval depowered rack I found the steering effort to be too heavy for street driving with a smaller aftermarket steering wheel and wider tires in the front. I also still want to AutoX the car once in a while. If it were purely a track car, that'd be one thing, but I'm going back to power.

That being said, there aren't many choices out there for rebuilt racks. Maval/Unisteer let me down before and I don't really want to give them my business. I can't find much information about anyone else who rebuilds these racks specifically except on the Autozone/Advance/Rockauto sites of the world. Basically it's "Duralast" or "Cardone". Neither brand inspires a lot of confidence.

Buying OEM new is not my first or second choice. Any recommendations/experience?

 

try and find a totaled out FD from a junk yard maybe and buy it from them. just a suggestion

 

Just curious, what size tires do you run in the front? I am debating going manual this season...

 

I thought about it but my rack seals gave out at 96k miles so probably more due to age than actual wear/tear. Probably not worth the cost/effort of swapping in a junkyard rack just to be sitting on a ticking timebomb.

I believe they're 245's on 17" wheels. Up till now I've been using the old Falken Azenis RT615s but I'm getting better rubber for this season which will make the problem even worse. My steering wheel is a Grant Evolution GT; I don't know the diameter but it's significantly smaller than stock which makes steering that much more effort.

 

Time to hit the gym

On a serious note, I agree with finding a low mileage OEM rack. The FD rack itself is pretty durable so a low mileage substitute should work great. Of course, replacing your inner and outer tie-rod ends will help keep things fresh. I used Moog ends and they have been great.

 

Low mile used rack should work. Call Fritz. Or hit the gym. I'm running 285/30 Hoosiers (255/35's on the street) and a 330mm aftermarket wheel.

 

A powered rack is much less turning effort than a depowered rack right? I can't imagine it being too much effort since I'm driving around with a powered rack. Waiting for my power steering bits to get here as I just got car running.

 

You should drive my car for comparison sometime. Even back when I had power, people said the steering was unusually heavy. How much caster are you running?

Thanks, I will check them out!

 

Really, OEM racks last a LONG time. I have the original 125,000 mile unit in my car - no leaks or problems.

A good low mileage rack is the way to go IMHO. Might want to throw new bellows, tie rods, and clamp bushings on it and it would be all good.

Dale

 

Yea I was very surprised when my original rack started leaking at under 100k miles. My GVR4's had over 200k miles, 20 years of winter driving and 10 years of Rallycross on it and it never had any signs of problems. You win some you lose some I guess

 

im surprised your rack is that "heavy" feeling with 245's. im running a depowered rack with a loop and realized after reading the "how to" again that youre supposed to drain the ps fluid from the rack which i never did and mine still isnt terribly difficult even when i had my 255's

 

^ Agreed. Looped line with 265's here. No issues.

 

I have found wheel offset really affects steering feel and response.

As you stray from stock offset and tire diameter the point of steering axis on the contact patch changes and you end up dragging the scrub radius from a point further from the steering axis center increasing the force required at the steering wheel.

I never liked the overboosted FD power steering feel on street tires or on DOT-Rs on stock rims in autocross, but when I went to 265/35-18 140 treadwear tires on 18x10.5 +38 suddenly the steering feel was MUCH better.

Both the increase in effort and the self centering increased to the point I am quite happy with the feel.

My built TII has factory manual steering and it could go much faster in autocross if I could keep ahead with the inputs with 255/40-17 DOT-Rs up front (30 offset vs stock 40 offset).

As a counter to the "hit the gym" comments, you will be much faster if you get power steering and spend that time and money "hitting the track".

 

Take this for what you will but I recently had two fds without power steering, one with Maval rack and one with DIY looped factory rack. Both on stock wheels with 225 tires(cant recall tire brand but they were different). The one with the looped factory rack was easier to turn. I didnt think it was thread worthy as I only had those two cars to compare which isnt exactly a true test but it was a noticeable difference between the two.

 

is there a way you can check/refresh the seals when the rack is out of the car? Then you could buy used but ensure it's in good shape going back in.

I'd trade you my de-powered rack (looped line) plus cash for your Maval rack, but I cannot unfortunately speak to the quality of the internal seals as it's been looped-line since I bought it.

 

I don't actually know the offset of the wheels I have on right now. I think I will throw on my stock wheels/tires and see how that feels and also measure the offset of the 17" wheels.

FWIW I've done 3 hour endurance racing stints in cars without power steering and it is nowhere near as bad as 30 minutes in my own car so something is legitimately up with it (alignment, wheel offset, etc.)

 

I recently looped my line and can honestly say that the only real difference is when I need to park. Once I am up to speed I honestly forget that the car has no power steering...

I also have a Maval rack that still needs to be installed so once it goes on I can give another opinion..

L8R

 

I did my own manual conversion, I'm running 285's up front. My biceps don't mind one bit, and neither do the ladies.

 

I wonder how my AtomicRex rack will compare in all of this?

 

I'm depowered as well and have 285s on the front, the only time I notice the effort is when I parallel park...other than that I love the way it feels.

 

This thread is really going off the tracks. I'm not asking for opinions on de-powered racks. I'm looking for alternatives to a $1000 OEM replacement.

 

+1 wheel offset, camber, caster, and tire width all play a part.

and +1 to the FC manual rack, the ratio is so slow, effort is small, but you need to move your hands really fast!

 

Alternatives:
Used
Oreilly/Autozone
OEM New

 

Seriously, call Fritz. He's bound to have a low-mile used system. He's also driven virtually everything available for this car, so he's a good source of insight on stuff.

 

Would you be willing to trade? I've been looking for a maval de powered rack. Searched and this thread came up lol. It works and doesn't leak or anything.