Which steering rack is a good replacement?

awdmofo

Member
My 90 rebuild is going slow but i need to ramp it up! body has 213K miles on it, with the engine/trans out I'm replacing every line basically and removed the rack. need help picking a replacement, anyone every replace theirs with a Cardone, AC delco or BBB? prices are $150/175/180 for these, and have 3/36k warranties. Or is better to just have my stock one rebuilt and buy new end tie rods? Thanks guys! :notworthy:
 

sefiroxx

New member
I put a cardone remain in 5 years ago, running great still allthough I am worried about cardone quality on most of their parts.
 

awdmofo

Member
sefiroxx":3hflmiiv said:
I put a cardone remain in 5 years ago, running great still allthough I am worried about cardone quality on most of their parts.

which part? end rods? inner? seals? I need to find that steering rack rebuild quote I got, might be about the same to keep it OEM but i dunno what manufacture the seals and whatnot they would be using.
 

sefiroxx

New member
I did the full rack with warranty. The original rack was leaking at the seals. I needed to minimize the downtime and could not wait for reman/reseal on the original.
 

awdmofo

Member
JRWperformance":kjo92esk said:
I got a Maval reman unit for my 165. Works great. Also found it crossed to the toyota Camry of the same era.

Looks like the maval is the most expensive option for a 185 so far at $210 + 125 core. It seems they only have a 2/24 warranty so i might not go that route. What outer tie rods did you use? I can see mine on the car are junk lol.
 

awdmofo

Member
sefiroxx":2svdv5li said:
I did the full rack with warranty. The original rack was leaking at the seals. I needed to minimize the downtime and could not wait for reman/reseal on the original.

Ahh i get you. What did you decide to use for outer tie rods? I got some time so a rebuild on the OEM unit is an option but I don't want to pay $150+ for a rebuild i think. Did you replace/add a filter in the line? I see these inline filters on Amazon and mentioned in other parts websites when im looking around for the rack.
 

sefiroxx

New member
Still running the tie rods, installed by a repair shop 15 years ago.

The seals on the rack were probably destroyed by gunk from the pump when it went bad.

No filter installed.
 

awdmofo

Member
sefiroxx":1mugauk3 said:
Still running the tie rods, installed by a repair shop 15 years ago.

The seals on the rack were probably destroyed by gunk from the pump when it went bad.

No filter installed.

Geez 15 years on tie rods! i wonder which brand they used.

Yea i think i might install this filter thingy since i'm rebuilding or swapping for a remain pump along with new lines and new rack...
 

sefiroxx

New member
Yep, long time.

Car is long trip, mostly highway, weekly. Used to get to referee assignments throughout North Texas.

(04 Work truck is on 3rd set of outer and 2nd set of inner tie rods. Lots of curbs, gravel etc )
 

awdmofo

Member
sefiroxx":t2sqyu0y said:
Yep, long time.

Car is long trip, mostly highway, weekly. Used to get to referee assignments throughout North Texas.

(04 Work truck is on 3rd set of outer and 2nd set of inner tie rods. Lots of curbs, gravel etc )

Nice, this car is going to be street driveable (for now) but mostly used for track and rally. going to gut it soon and build up the brakes and susp with the 300ish hp engine im rebuilding before i build a 400hp+ monster engine/trans for full race. I use to referee ice hockey with my older brother, what d you referee?

So i fould a shop that rebuilds these for $150, i'm just curious if that includes new inners and outer or just inner replacements. They said I could swap my rack for a rebuilt one for the same price, but im trying to keep this as OEM as possible.
 

underscore

Well-known member
Personally I'd grab a junkyard 2WD rack to send in as the core, and keep your original one for any future purposes.
 

awdmofo

Member
underscore":3izbscd1 said:
Personally I'd grab a junkyard 2WD rack to send in as the core, and keep your original one for any future purposes.

Good idea but im running low on time and I have a new job I start in a few weeks so I need to finish a lot of my rebuild before I have to move :cry:
 

sefiroxx

New member
Agreed, I have enough spare parts to build another car. I have extra rack, drive shafts, compressor etc that are ready to install. The old ones pulled get gently in my spare time and stocked for future install.

Referee - currently soccer and formerly lacrosse.
 

awdmofo

Member
sefiroxx":1pejncjx said:
Agreed, I have enough spare parts to build another car. I have extra rack, drive shafts, compressor etc that are ready to install. The old ones pulled get gently in my spare time and stocked for future install.

Referee - currently soccer and formerly lacrosse.

I guess If i never plan to sell this guy I could keep some more parts around. I'm selling my AC compressor now though because i plan to get another engine (3rd Gen 400+hp) later on and it will be a full clip i pick up.

cool, lacrosse seems fun.
 
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