Factory PS Rack converted to manual
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
From: Woodlawn IL
Factory PS Rack converted to manual Im looking for the name or a link to the place that takes a factory rack. And modifies it to be used as a manual rack. I saw them on here a while back but cant find the thread now.
Thanks
Thanks
Rack doctor no longer sells them. I searched all over last year and could not find anyone to do it. I ended up unhooking the lines, draining all fluid out, leave them wide open so your not compressing air and ran it with no pump on the car. it drove ok at speeds but in a parking lot sharp turns under 5mph you better have some muscle. It was fine for me as a weekend driver. I'd never do it to a daily.
Any reason to not purchase a manual rack kit something like we offer?
Years ago on a Monte I had I just looped the lines leaving what ever fluid that was in there in there and drove it for a DD like that for years. No doubt it takes some muscle to do this. When I finally swapped out to an after market manual rack my life got a hole bunch better.
Years ago on a Monte I had I just looped the lines leaving what ever fluid that was in there in there and drove it for a DD like that for years. No doubt it takes some muscle to do this. When I finally swapped out to an after market manual rack my life got a hole bunch better.
Rack doctor no longer sells them. I searched all over last year and could not find anyone to do it. I ended up unhooking the lines, draining all fluid out, leave them wide open so your not compressing air and ran it with no pump on the car. it drove ok at speeds but in a parking lot sharp turns under 5mph you better have some muscle. It was fine for me as a weekend driver. I'd never do it to a daily.
Any reason to not purchase a manual rack kit something like we offer?
Years ago on a Monte I had I just looped the lines leaving what ever fluid that was in there in there and drove it for a DD like that for years. No doubt it takes some muscle to do this. When I finally swapped out to an after market manual rack my life got a hole bunch better.
Years ago on a Monte I had I just looped the lines leaving what ever fluid that was in there in there and drove it for a DD like that for years. No doubt it takes some muscle to do this. When I finally swapped out to an after market manual rack my life got a hole bunch better.
This year I did go to a manual rack from Midwest Chassis. It works well, but just so everyone knows, the website says it is a flaming river rack and it is not. I would not have paid that much money for it if I had know it was the same as a pinto rack from autozone or rockauto.com. I called them and they said they no longer sell the flaming river one in a manual rack kit and forgot to change the webpage. But this was 6 months ago and I still see it has not been changed. I was in a bind and needed it ASAP so I put it on the car instead of sending it back. It works well but not worth the price IMO.
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This year I did go to a manual rack from Midwest Chassis. It works well, but just so everyone knows, the website says it is a flaming river rack and it is not. I would not have paid that much money for it if I had know it was the same as a pinto rack from autozone or rockauto.com. I called them and they said they no longer sell the flaming river one in a manual rack kit and forgot to change the webpage. But this was 6 months ago and I still see it has not been changed. I was in a bind and needed it ASAP so I put it on the car instead of sending it back. It works well but not worth the price IMO.
Interesting. Thanks for the heads up
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This year I did go to a manual rack from Midwest Chassis. It works well, but just so everyone knows, the website says it is a flaming river rack and it is not. I would not have paid that much money for it if I had know it was the same as a pinto rack from autozone or rockauto.com. I called them and they said they no longer sell the flaming river one in a manual rack kit and forgot to change the webpage. But this was 6 months ago and I still see it has not been changed. I was in a bind and needed it ASAP so I put it on the car instead of sending it back. It works well but not worth the price IMO.
Its been 6 months or so since I was searching but I put in like a 1975 ford pinto and went to manual steering rack and pinion and it listed all the brands and there is some cheap ones out there. one was like $89. You may have to do some research if any years come with the correct tie rod length or what you have to do for a bumpsteer kit. But the rack it self is dirt cheap at auto parts websites.
As for the racks themselves they are every bit as nice as a flaming river rack they just don't have the same finish on the middle tube portion. We did this to cut cost down and our pricing reflects that compared to anyone elses on the market.
If we didn't have faith in these racks we wouldn't put them on single digit race cars we build here in house let alone hundreds of customers vehicles that have them.
The adapter bracket is a must if you have a stock K member. You would have to buy that from Midwest Chassis. It fit my stock K member very well. The down side is if this is a street car you can no longer run stock Camaro SS wheels in the front. they will rub on the tie rod. You must run narrower wheels in the front. This is because to adapt a stock K member to mount a manual rack the adapter bracket will put your rack 3" farther forward and the tie rods are not in a stock location for factory SS wheels. Just a heads up.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
From: Woodlawn IL
Thanks for the heads up. Sorry for not getting back on here sooner. This is going on a race car but its not a F body. And its a very odd car to be making into a racecar. So nobody makes a aftermarket rack for it. I just remembered seeing them on here and thought if I could find out who it was making them. I would contact them and see if they would do one for a different application.
Thanks again for the help
Thanks again for the help
To be straight honest... I have sold a lot of racks in my lifetime, and short of a Stiletto racing rack the Flaming River rack is actually not any better(possibly less) quality as what we are including with our manual rack kits. I have torn both brands completely down, narrowed them, and reassembled several times. I first hand have seen the parts and quality of both brands.
I have cars going 200+ on these racks and I will not hesitate to use them on any drag application. Just because the rack shell does not have a chrome tube on the outside does not mean the quality of the internal parts are less than one that does.
I have cars going 200+ on these racks and I will not hesitate to use them on any drag application. Just because the rack shell does not have a chrome tube on the outside does not mean the quality of the internal parts are less than one that does.
10 Second Club
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 168
Likes: 21
$600 is a chunk of money. I have an AJE k member and I pieced mine together. I pulled my hair out finding the right parts. I still ended up spending close to $600. I'm using a fox body front mounted rack because the ratio is better for turning. The stock rack is too hard to turn when converting it to manual. Eric at MWC did a p/s rack to manual years ago and he'll tell you it's better just to install a manual rack.