Helpful Rack and Pinion info and tips..

[zippitta]

The other day I went out to my car to find a puddle of fluid in the driveway. The seal on my rack and pinion gave out(and without warning too).

After searching this site, and google, for hours trying to figure out the difference between the Saginaw and TRW racks. And what wheel size had to with anything, becasue we all know that the jackasses that they hire on at the local parts stores woudlnt know there butts from a hole in the ground, I called ATSCO to get to the bottom of it.

The ATSCO tech told me that the only difference between the rack that came with 14" standard wheels and the 15" rack is that the 15" rack doesnt turn quite as far(to keep the tires from possibly rubbing). Other than that they are exactly the same. They are both "quick ratio" racks.

The difference between the Saginaw and the TRW...Saginaw is the sportier, "I want to feel everything through the steering wheel" rack....the TRW supposedly gives a smoother feel...i.e. less input into your hands. Also, the tech said that they were interchangable, but you have to have their respective lines.(saginaw lines for the saginaw and trw lines for the trw). The fluid flow is opposite between the two. So the lines that run from the pump to the rack are reversed between the saginaw and TRW and beings that the fittings are different sizes where they connect to the rack, you cant just flip them.

Now how can you tell which rack you have? The tech said that he only knew of one way to tell. Where the 2 rivets go through the long part of the rack tube, close to part that connects to the steering column, a TRW will have a metal tag riveted onto it....according to the tech, the tag is just a blank metal tag that is riveted on and the saginaws dont have it. Another way you can supposedly tell(the tech didnt mention this way) is there are two fittings on the tube part of the rack, if the fittings are mounted at a 90 degree position on the rack it is a saginaw, if they are mounted in the vertical position, then it is a TRW.


After searching all over for one, I finally found a saginaw that was for the 14" wheels. Although my car came with 15's the ATSCO guy said that it would be fine and I wouldnt have any issues. the saginaw 15" was 230 dollars and the 14" one was 130..... after core the 14" is just $80....I dont know about you, but Im not willing to pay an extra $100 just for some bump stops...lol.


Online people tell you that you have to drop the crossmember to change out the rack, but you dont have too(atleast in a daytona/charger). You can get the old one out and the new one in through the passenger side wheel well with a little maneuvering(I even had to leave the lines attached to the pinion because the fitting s were stuck and I couldnt break them loose with stubbies.

[Morris]

I've got the 86 shop manuals, was working on my Saginaw rack recently, and the manual shows a few ways to identify them. The Saginaw doesn't have clamps on the boots at the tie-rod, the TRW does. It's also a differently shaped book, and the inner tie-rods are not interchangable between the two.

Morris