Dana60 front axle and rack and pinion steering

AsTroSS

AsTroSS

problems start @80 psi
Looks like somebody have done it

1201dp_11+full_race+front_suspension.jpg
 
That i doubt would work for a street truck, from the 1 pic it looks like that is a race truck and the short limiting shock would make that work for that app...

That won't work for a truck that wants it's full use.
 
Supershafts said:
That i doubt would work for a street truck, from the 1 pic it looks like that is a race truck and the short limiting shock would make that work for that app...

That won't work for a truck that wants it's full use.
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Look at the thin brake rotors also. Definitely not a street truck.
 
I dont think it would be too hard to do a rack on a 2nd gen. The 3rd gen 2wd's seem to work pretty good however I have replaced several of them that are worn out.
 
Well if you made an axle mounted bracket to hold the rack why wouldnt it work? Its the same principal of turning wheels lock to lock. For a heavy offroading type truck it may not work the best but for normal street driving why wouldnt it? Might get a bit crazy if your track bar goes bad.
 
Next question: are the rack-and-pinion both ends connected to axle or just driver side ?

I think the R&P steering will work only with limited axle movement trucks like radically lowered
 
CSnyder said:
Well if you made an axle mounted bracket to hold the rack why wouldnt it work? Its the same principal of turning wheels lock to lock. For a heavy offroading type truck it may not work the best but for normal street driving why wouldnt it? Might get a bit crazy if your track bar goes bad.
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Mounting the rack on the axle would be a horrible idea! The slightest bump or bounce would give awful steering feedback and steering shafts are not designed to handle that type of movement.

AsTroSS said:
I think the R&P steering will work only with limited axle movement trucks like radically lowered
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I think you are correct.
 
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LReiff said:
Mounting the rack on the axle would be a horrible idea! The slightest bump or bounce would give awful steering feedback and steering shafts are not designed to handle that type of movement.



I think you are correct.
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cant see how it would. It would be the same as the way its mounted on the 2wd's per principal and they dont have adverse feedback.
 
When we used to race mud trucks alot of guys would run rack and pinion stearing, even with 10"+ lifts. It works really well.
 
CSnyder said:
cant see how it would. It would be the same as the way its mounted on the 2wd's per principal and they dont have adverse feedback.
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On a 2wd the rack is not mounted to an axle that moves independent of the frame/chassis! If you mount the D60 axle solid to the frame with zero suspension travel then you could mount the rack to the axle.
 
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On the first picture the rack is mounted on the frame, any movement from the level will change the steering geometry
 
AsTroSS said:
On the first picture the rack is mounted on the frame, any movement from the level will change the steering geometry
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That is correct, the same issue that any GM IFS has.

The way I understood Chris' idea was to mount the rack to the axle to eliminate that issue, however then another issue is created.
 
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I see no benefit to changing over to R&P other than race only. Race only does not need the axle travel or wheel turn angle that a street truck needs so it could be a better option for tightening up the steering linkage for high speeds. For street and sled pulling the R&P setup would not be a practical conversion.
 
Just like full pull said, it's very common on mud trucks. Thats on the 2nd gen they featured in Diesel Power awhile back, isn't it? The one with the "unbreakable transmission"?
 
Zero feel for full hydro, I think that might be a little hard to drive in a mud race. I've driven a couple full hydro crawlers and they get pretty spooky at 20+MPH.

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