Thread: Which rack and pinion kit for a 55-57 chevy?

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Hi ya'll, I'm collecting info for an upcoming job. Part of the job is to install a power rack and pinion kit into a 56 chevy.

There are many companies selling the kits, they seem to be from only a few sources though, and the info on each site is somewhat contradictory.

Maval, Danchuk, CPP, Speedway motors, and Fatman fabrications are but a few of the companies selling these upgrade kits.
( The Danchuk steering kit is shown on page 7 of 19 after all of the catalog section PDF loads .
The picture is not very good, I asked Danchuk to send me a better pic via email, but have recieved nothing.)

I spoke with The guy from Unisteer,(Maval), and he told me that they supply the kits to Danchuk and CPP. I have been told that using that kit will result in a reduced turning radius, ( this was confirmed by speaking with the guy at Unisteer...although he said it was not even noticable. Right.), and depending on which website you look at,and how you interpret the sales pitch, they claim to have little or no bumpsteer with that kit.
So which is it? A little bumpsteer? some bumpsteer?

All of those kits come with new steering arms, If with the installation of the arms you still have some, little or no bumpsteer,(little sarcasm?), what other problems will come with them. No statement is made regarding ackerman angles or reduced turning radius on those websites.

Also, IMO the bracketry looks kind of cheesy, a friend of mine has one of the Danchuk kits on a car in his shop and he said it looks like someone in middle school made it. .. He hasn't driven the car, so there is no telling how it might work.

Speedway motors sells a tri-5 chevy R&P kit that claims nothing other than " here it is, send money."
I'd expect nothing more from Speedway on a setup like this.

The Speedway motors kit appears to be a knockoff of the Maval kit, without the steering arms.

Fatman's kit has a better looking bracket, and the description of the kit addresses most of the forementioned drawbacks of the Maval setup.
It says that it has NO bumpsteer, a full turning radius and correct geometry.

I'm inclined to go with the Fatman kit, even though Ol' Brent has been know to tell a story or 2.

That's all I know up to this point...

My question is, has anyone here actually used one of these kits?

How does it work? (I am more concerned with the function of the parts after installation, rather than the actual installation)



Thanks for reading this,
Mikey

Well, guess I've had as much difficulty get Fatman stuff dialed in as anybody else's... Never have got a "store bought" suspension package that I didn't do some modifying too... Just get the one that represents the best bang for the buck in your opinion, then do what you have to do to make it right.....Works for me....