Build thread for the 72 GMC, finally. Thanks John!

Plus, you could rig up some sort of nifty system to kill the P/S and revert back to manual over a certain speed (or, say, once you shift into 2nd gear). Looks like with the electric killed the Vue rack defaults to manual just fine.

You can strip the column down. Theres still a big motor inder the dash, but....

Also, some guys just cut the motor portion out and splice into the factory column.

As long as its a "manual " rack, youre good. Just a matter of playing connect the dots.

Dusterbd13 wrote: You can strip the column down. Theres still a big motor inder the dash, but.... Also, some guys just cut the motor portion out and splice into the factory column. As long as its a "manual " rack, youre good. Just a matter of playing connect the dots.

I am probably good with the big motor under the dash, but I have to swap both column and R&P in that scenario.

Theoretically the bracket I will have to make for the R&P solves the bumpsteer issue, though I will have to figure out the tie rod still. The Vue tie rod still has to attach to the 72 knuckle somehow.

I suppose the Vue column can attach to some other R&P, but it's still rather doubtful that there is a tie rod which will drop in. I'll start checking trucks.

There are as many different widths of racks as there are drunk Irishmen.

You should be able to get one thats exact width and ratio you want.

Tie rod ends on the other hand.....

Unless you get very lucky, it might be easiest to stick with the 72 Chevy truck tie rod ends and fab up some sort of adaptor to get them to mate to the new rack. Te ends of the tie rod ends are simply threaded...just need some sort of a thread adaptor with male/ female as needed. You could make this adaptor whatever length you need, too, to correct the bumpsteer issue. And the rack should mount at whatever height is optimum, too. Then a u-joint to connect the rack to the column.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Unless you get very lucky, it might be easiest to stick with the 72 Chevy truck tie rod ends and fab up some sort of adaptor to get them to mate to the new rack. Te ends of the tie rod ends are simply threaded...just need some sort of a thread adaptor with male/ female as needed. You could make this adaptor whatever length you need, too, to correct the bumpsteer issue. And the rack should mount at whatever height is optimum, too. Then a u-joint to connect the rack to the column.

Good point. In this setup I am attaching an 11/16-18 tie rod to an 11/16-18 tie rod, so there is a sleeve. In this case, it can be a dual threaded adapter with a jam nut.

So the only issue is making sure that I have enough length in the tie rod/R&P, making sure I don't need to mount the R&P through the frame, and making sure that either the power column can adapt to the input shaft of the R&P easily, or going with the power rack and keeping my stock column.

^^^^^ this.

Browse build threads at 67-72chevytrucks.com as well. People do racks in these trucks.

You need the inner tie-rod of the rack to sit in line with the upper and lower control arm inner pivots. The height of the rack will depend on where the outer tie-rod ends need to go. It all works off the instant center of the suspension.

Find the rack placement first, then find a rack with that width, then make it fit the spindles.

SkinnyG wrote: ^^^^^ this. Browse build threads at 67-72chevytrucks.com as well. People do racks in these trucks.

I have but that site has gravitated towards becoming a forum dedicated to the sellers there. Meaning, "gosh, I want to do XYZ, should I buy the kit from John, Dave or Sue?". It's fine, but if I am not interested in bagging, a dropmember, a new IFS setup, it's difficult to find information there.

But yes, I have been looking. So far it seems like the worst deal with the Saturn rack is that I'll have to come up with an adapter as well as a notch in the crossmember for the shaft. I am still unsure if I should target a powered rack or a powered column. I am a bit worried about how annoying it will be for the wiring and other things to work and look nice.

In reply to SkinnyG:

Yours were the most helpful, informative posts I've read on bumpsteer in awhile. The diagram was particularly intuitive. Thanks!

tuna55 wrote:

SkinnyG wrote: ^^^^^ this. Browse build threads at 67-72chevytrucks.com as well. People do racks in these trucks.

But yes, I have been looking. So far it seems like the worst deal with the Saturn rack is that I'll have to come up with an adapter as well as a notch in the crossmember for the shaft. I am still unsure if I should target a powered rack or a powered column. I am a bit worried about how annoying it will be for the wiring and other things to work and look nice.

Those sound like surmountable obstacles. If you need to notch the crossmember, I have a plasma cutter you can borrow.

Someone somewhere mentioned upgrading to a "3G" alternator to run the EPS. Not sure what that means, but I believe it was a 130 Amp unit. Which means like 1.5kW!

EDIT: 3G is apparently a Ford thing. I'm sure there's a Delco-type alternator that will fit, too.

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

SkinnyG wrote: ^^^^^ this. Browse build threads at 67-72chevytrucks.com as well. People do racks in these trucks.

But yes, I have been looking. So far it seems like the worst deal with the Saturn rack is that I'll have to come up with an adapter as well as a notch in the crossmember for the shaft. I am still unsure if I should target a powered rack or a powered column. I am a bit worried about how annoying it will be for the wiring and other things to work and look nice.

Those sound like surmountable obstacles. If you need to notch the crossmember, I have a plasma cutter you can borrow. Someone somewhere mentioned upgrading to a "3G" alternator to run the EPS. Not sure what that means, but I believe it was a 130 Amp unit. Which means like 1.5kW! EDIT: 3G is apparently a Ford thing. I'm sure there's a Delco-type alternator that will fit, too.

I have gotten much better at welding, but the image of you waving the shifter out of the window going down the front straightaway at CMP makes me very curious as to what form of steering couplers and shafts can be used as bolt-ons also.

In reply to tuna55:

"I have gotten much better at welding, but the image of you waving the shifter out of the window going down the front straightaway at CMP makes me very curious as to what form of steering couplers and shafts can be used as bolt-ons also."

In fairness, that was mostly my fault for shifting so hard and so often.

tuna55 wrote: I have but that site has gravitated towards becoming a forum dedicated to the sellers there.

I look past the product, and see what they did to get there. I have a sawzall and a welder and I'm not afraid to use either. I seem to recall most kits using a Ford (Mustang?) rack, but I don't know for sure. I will be putting a rack on my next truck, which will be pancaked, Z'd, step-notched, and laying frame (because I'm stupid).

Funny how "How do I drill out this knuckle?" turns into "How to I retrofit an electric power steering system?" but I think it's sweet.

Now the difficulty is that Tunawife really wants floors upstairs, so I will be saving and virtually researching for a while yet.

The good news is that I installed both bump stops in the front suspension, that was the best. Now droop and compression are limited, making the bumpsteer slightly less ridiculous.

I also fixed a super minor issue with the Honda where the idle mixture screw was walking all over, which was surprisingly annoying, and fixed the dehumidifier for my church.

Perhaps in the savings/research phase I'll get the garage wired for 220.

SkinnyG wrote:

tuna55 wrote: I have but that site has gravitated towards becoming a forum dedicated to the sellers there.

I look past the product, and see what they did to get there. I have a sawzall and a welder and I'm not afraid to use either. I seem to recall most kits using a Ford (Mustang?) rack, but I don't know for sure. I will be putting a rack on my next truck, which will be pancaked, Z'd, step-notched, and laying frame (because I'm stupid).

Agreed, but there are so few details it's hard to learn much.

I found a great writeup of using Saturn stuff with a Falcon on a Mustang board, and a few of making aftermarket racks fit trucks, but nothing on OEM fitment and reliability of racks. I am simply thinking of going to the JY with a tape measure and looking at light trucks for a good donor.

tuna55 wrote: I am simply thinking of going to the JY with a tape measure and looking at light trucks for a good donor.

Hard to beat this option, but you will still need to find out what size rack you need first.

Although, once you have that measurement you'll probably have better luck finding what you need.

It looks like the entire width of the assembly will need to be something like 56", which is accounting for the big bends the tie rods will take on their way down to the knuckles.

The rack has plenty of room to mount to the frame in front of the oil pan.

Is there any consequence to mounting the rack fore/aft, other than the decreased motion ratio? This will be a good bit (6") forward of the plane defined by the knuckle points. Of course the pitman arm goes fore/aft during its swing, so I can't imagine this will even be noticed.

My tie rods are about 6.5" from center to end of threads.

I'll need an additional 7" on each side to mate with the sleeve/tie rod. Obviously less than that is okay because the sleeve, which is as yet undefined, can take up some room. Similarly, the rack itself has to be near 30", basically the frame width.

I have nothing intelligent to add to the discussion. I just wanted to say I'm glad to see this pop up to the top of the page on a regular basis.

The big issue is the frame itself. If I draw a straight line from the steering wheel down to the plane where the R&P will sit, it hits the frame. Because there is a stub of shaft on the Vue column, the angle to bring the shaft to the inside of the frame rail will be somewhat steep. I guess it's not steeper than the downward inclination which is pretty normal though. There is essentially zero chance that it can go outside the frame rail.

Happily, there is actually a reasonable amount of room up there for this deal.

The important measurement is between the inner tie rod joints. These point need to fall inline with a line drawn between the upper and lower suspension pick up points.

Vertical placement is ideally at the same ratio top to bottom as the outer tie rod joints are relative to the ball joints.

From there, width adjustments to the rack are made to account for steering arm offset relative to the ball joints.

Moving the steering rack closer to the axle centerline increases dynamic Ackerman, which will make the steering more responsive.

The cost is more turns to achieve the same lock at the wheel.

I wish I could get some measurements without going to the JY.

It seems that other than the Saturn Vue, the Toyota stuff is also friendly from a DIY perspective. I would love to measure a Tacoma and a Tundra and such.

I am thinking more that I would like a power rack more than the power column.

But I don't know what vehicles have power racks, and how retrofittable they are.

Ideas?

Hydraulic or electric power rack?