rack and pinion gurus, is there a way to adjust the play out of a rack? I put a Unisteer rack (big mistake)on my '36 Ford, I ended up putting a brace from the bottom of their mounting to the right side of frame. I had 3" to 4" of play driving down the road, their bracket flexes a lot! after bracing it I still have about an inch freeplay in the wheel driving and was hope to adjust it out but don't know how. I have talked to the unisteer guys at the Nats 2 years in a row and on the phone and always get the same response "nobody else has any problems must be something you did". Can anybody help? Thanks guys.
Honestly, if I were you I'd take that thing off and throw it away. I believe the mounting bracket pattern is the same as a standard Vega box, put that on and be done with it. I never understood why this product ever came about, and the couple I have laid hands on I wasn't very impressed with. I know that is not the answer you were looking for, but that is the practical answer with these.
the problem is you have to remove the original bracket when this goes on and yes it was a HUGE mistake using unisteer, I tell everybody I can what a lousy product and terrible customer service they have. I am just trying to make this work until I have time to put a saginaw back on it. the question about the bracket material, it is 3/8" material the trouble is that on '35 and up it's big L shape, too long away from the frame.
I tried looking up a decent picture of a unisteer, and they all are horrible pictures. Including those of owners doing an install. Not surprisingly there seems to be quite a bit of unhappiness with those kits. What most racks have on the opposite end of where the input shaft is will be a cover. I know on Ford R&Ps you can remove that cover and adjust the preload. If it becomes loose you will get the excessive play. However I have no idea if this is possible with your unit. If it's past its warranty I would just carefully remove the cover, if there is one, and see if there is any preload adjustment available. Do you know if Unisteer makes their own racks, or do they just use existing racks and adapt them with a 'kit'?
I don,t know where they get them, they are smiles and hugs until they find out your unhappy, the guy at the nats said "I don't know, nobody else has problems" then turned around and walked away from me.
I don't like them. Still...it IS possible you might have a problem that isn't directly caused by the Unisteer rack setup. Why don't you post a few pictures of the setup and axle. More the better, inc spring mounting etc. At the very least it might help someone else make an informed decision on buying one...
Sounds like the major problem is the poorly designed bracket. Can it not be modified to add strength with some well placed gussets?
You need to verify what is the problem exactly. It could be input pinion shaft end play or a clearance between the rack and pinion shaft or as other have suggested, the crappy bracket. A visual inspection while someone turns the steering wheel is in order.
most of the play is the poorly designed bracket, it's a huge L shape. It would be very difficult to take a picture of it because it's full fendered 1936 Ford coupe. I put a gusset in the L which took a lot of play out of the steering wheel, then I put a piece of tubing from the bottom of the L to the passenger side of the frame, that took all but about an inch of play from the steering wheel. Basically you can take the steering wheel and rock it back and forth about an inch while driving down the road without the car steering to one side or the other, when I started it had between 3 and 4" of freeplay. at a stand still I have the hood up and rock the wheel back and forth and you can see the imput shaft moving but the wheels do not.
Get someone to look at it locally then. Thats your best bet. Could be anything wrong with your car...from simple spring shackle rock to a cracked frame. The offset of the bracket COULD be flexing a cracked frame more than the Vega box would. Those frames have seen a lot over the years! First thing I think to ask...is WHY did you pull the Vega box and replace it with the rack? Were you having steering issues with the Vega box? Maybe it "wore out" and developed play... See where I'm going with this? The problem you have might not be the steering box/bracket but a different problem that you are ASSUMING is the box and bracket! It's very possible...and if its a hidden problem somewhere else you need to find it no matter which box you run. Cover all bases in your search before you blame a single component. (BTW...as for the rack thing, because it kinda looks like I'm defending them...I don't like the look of the things or the shorter link to the right steering arm. Some like them and seem to have good luck...but I think they're too fugly.)
I have a Uni-Steer on my 32 Ford 3W and have none of the issues you are having. My only issue is that it does not turn as tight to the right as tightly as the Vega box does in my 32 Ford roadster. It is OK ... but just does not turn as tightly. Turning to the left is fine. The bracket that came with my Uni-Steer is maybe 1/2 on a inch thick. Maybe more. I am HAPPY with mine. .
Have you had someone look at the frame from underneath and topside while you rock the steering wheel. You have an unboxed frame with a Unisteer setup, right? I've had severe frame twisting in a pair of 35's and 2 36's I've worked on 3 years ago that had Vega boxes in one and Unisteer's (3), in unboxed frames. They all needed additional boxing and reenforcement. The steering gears were fine, the frames caused 3" or more of play at the steering wheel. On one, the frame bowed about a half inch with an unboxed frame and a hi-effort quick ratio box. In most cases the steering gear was not at fault.
My 32 hiboy with a fully boxed aftermarket frame has a polished UNISTEER rack in it with 5,000 miles on it now. It has ZERO play. A very beefy unit Solid as a brand new off the showroom floor car. Look very critically at your frame for twisting and bowing. I love those Mavel Racks, no problems with them and Unisteer.
Everybody is on the right track, you need to see where exactly the play is happening. Drive the car tight up against a concrete curb so the tires can't move, then have someone turn the wheel back and forth in it's play while you inspect everything down below. If the input shaft into the unisteer is moving back and forth but the output tie rod is not, then the excess play is in the rack itself. But if you see the frame deflecting from the torque, then that is your problem. I am half betting your play is not within the Unisteer assembly itself, but rather either going into the rack or once it leaves the rack. Also check your U joints on the input shaft. Without properly being mounted they can wiggle around quite a bit, so some additonal heim ends might be needed. And yes, shoot a lot of pictures of the whole setup so we can better see what you have. Don
like I said before the mounting bracket on the '35 up is a lot longer than the '34 and older, the kingpins, tie rod ends, shackles and everything else were new about 4 years ago. we have had the car on a rack with more than one guy looking at it we made sure the wheels are not moving, there is one u-joint in the steering shaft, the shaft going to the rack has a heim joint holding it from moving. We can see the shaft going into the rack and the play is there. I pulled a Chevelle box out because I wanted it to turn easier.
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