Anyone know the length of an Escort rack?

[mr henderson]

As in the title, would anyone know the distance between the balljoints of a standard Escort rack?

Thanks

[HandyAndy]

Hi Mr H....

i think i gave that measurement in a post about a week ago, i can,t remember the post title, i,ll have a look & see if i can find it & get back to you.

i take it you want the total length including extensions & track rod ends?

cheers
andy:)

[HandyAndy]

i,ve just checked the post discussing this....

its titled "steering rack size" , its in the running gear section, fourth thread from bottom of the list.

if this is the info you need...............................

135cm between the centers of the fixed track rod ends.........so

tre....extension.... steering rack......extension.....tre

= 135cm gave or take a mm or 2 for final adjustment.


hope this helps

cheers
andy

[mr henderson]

Thanks Andy. What I actually need, though, is the distance between the inner balljoints, the ones that are covered by the bellows. Approximately would be fine.

[HandyAndy]

can check tomorrow for you ( car not at home ),

tho haven,t got a stripped down rack to be accurate , let me know if you want me to try & get the info for you.

cheers
andy

[mr henderson]

can check tomorrow for you ( car not at home ),

tho haven,t got a stripped down rack to be accurate , let me know if you want me to try & get the info for you.

cheers
andy

Roughly will do, say to the nearest 10mm, I've got a colleague working on an alternative suspension design and we need to know if an Escort rack would be suitable, thanks

[alga]

I've been searching the Internet for this, and the answers that come up most often are 56 cm and, IIRC, 583 mm. The latter seems too long, as the ideal length for Haynes is 533 mm, and Escort Mk2 is a pretty good fit. Sorry, can't find the resources I have found previously :(

[allterrain]

Hi, Just checked my mk2 escort rack and distance between inner rod end centers is approx 583mm,Ideal rack lenth to prevent bump steer is 533mm,as per book, so rack should be shortend by 50mm to eliminate any chance of bump steer.Having said that,and reading other posts on this subject the standard escort rack is pretty close and does not appear to have to much of a problem with bump steer. (I will be shortning mine when I reach that stage).Cheers Brendan.

[Josh]

Just bumping this to the top again - I've just come across the text in the book saying the rack should ideally be shortened. Who has done this and how did you go about it? Would it make much difference if I left the rack un-shortened?

Cheers
Josh

[deezee]

If you don't use an escort MK2 rack, or a shortened Sierra rack, it will screw up the geometry of the front suspension. No one has been willing to build a car with dodgy geometry and I doubt anyone is wanting to try.

[flyerncle]

Another consideraration to take into account is the position of the pinion above or below the rack as it will steer in the oposite direction if incorrect given the choice of differing rack use.

[Josh]

sorry I should have made it clear, I will be using the escort mk2 rack, however the book says that ideally it should be shortened to 533mm between centers of the ball joints. Has anyone shortened their escort rack and if so - how? Does it make that much of a difference to the bump steer?

[Bonzo]

Hi Josh

I think you are most likely worrying about the Escort rack needlessly :)

As far as I know, most folk use the standard Escort rack in its original form & don't have any, bump steer issues ;)

Chris does say in the book, the Escort rack is close to being the ideal length.

If you did want to have your rack shortened ..... The track controll arms would need to be removed, then the ends of the rack shaft would need to be re-machined.
Definately not a simple DIY job :eek: :)

[alga]

For future reference, here's a source that claims that the length of the Escort rack is 585 mm: http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?139415-MK2-Escort-Steering-rack-pictures-dimensions&p=1546266&viewfull=1#post1546266