LT1 Power Steering rack sources

[Pranav]

What is everyone using? Dawdy mentioned PSC or TurnOne may have gotten into the business of doing racks as well, gonna make some calls this morning.

For those that weren't there, came out Sunday and made 3/4 of a lap during warmup before the rack blew a seal and dumped all the fluid; UV dye shows it fluid coming slowly out from somewhere behind a boot at idle.

The more I think of it, the more it may have been my fault:
-On first install last year I swapped the lines by mistake and blew out the top shaft seal; replaced the seal
-Tore one of the accordian boots at some point
-Throwing it around when I put my front clip back together this month probably didn't help

This is the rack that I'm running:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI...ectorid=229466

I'll also look into an underdrive pulley for the new (spare) pump, already had it deflowed by PSC.

[y5e06]

let us know what you find in regards to rebuild services. I never investigated it myself, just heard about it in passing in the past.
found one link.
http://www.turnone-steering.com/power-steering-racks/

[Pranav]

To clear up some confusion, THIS is the rack I have in the car:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-99-Chev...E:L:OC:US:1123

The above and what is in my car looks to be the F41 package (came only on V6 cars) and the input shaft is at a 60* angle.

Some searching shows the LT1 rack I'm looking for has the input shaft at 45*?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-99-Chev...E:L:OC:US:1123

My steering column connected to the 60* just fine, if I get the right 45* rack, will it also fit? I returned the car's original rack for the core charge a long time ago, never thought to make the comparison back then.

[y5e06]

talk to ross. he has my old street Z28 LT1. perhaps he'd sell you that one, if he has no plans for it, and you can use it as is or send it in for a rebuild. it should still be good though.

[Pranav]

Answered my own question on the correct rack type. The V8 rack has a 45* input shaft angle for improved header clearance, and the shaft/linkage is the same on the body side for both engines, which is why my V6 rack still worked. (EDIT: I AM WRONG, ALL 93-97 LT1 racks have the steering input shaft at 60*, 45* is the LS1 stuff)

Finally talked to both PSC and TurnOne today. Here's what I learned:

-PSC does not do racks, they told me to talk to TurnOne

-TurnOne will rebuild a rack for $200. They don't have any racks on hand, you have to send them yours.

-When I asked TurnOne about the intricacies of pump pressure/flow settings and steering feel, I was told that there really isn't much room for improvement on the pump; marginal at best. Work needs to be done on the spool valve inside the rack for any real gains. The cost is too high and demand is too low for them to justify making a spool valve of their own, and anything they'd do as a one-off is just big money (and I'm not sure if that would be legal for CMC).

-I got the feeling that TurnOne is a lot more experienced as far as getting the flow rate and heat build up sorted out on the pumps than PSC. Likewise PSC charges $75-100 to re-do a pump while TurnOne charges $175, and I've heard TurnOne may get you the best result on steering feel, even though it's a small improvement.

I have a spare PSC pump on hand and will just run that for now, I did not have issues with any foaming with the PSC pump and think it's good enough for my purposes.

Now I just need to find a cheap used V8 rack and send it off to TurnOne, since I have the wrong, slower ratio, V6 rack in the car now. ROSS!!!!

Also, has anyone tried a underdrive PS pulley?

[Fbody383]

Also, has anyone tried a underdrive PS pulley?

I have a Turn One pump. I killed it at Hallett a couple of years ago and then rebuilt it myself; the parts kit is about $15. No cooler and no problems since and I keep a rebuild kit in the spares.

Get a Turn One pump and a cooler and keep clean fluid in it.

[Pranav]

Is that a Turn One specific rebuild kit or a generic one I can use on my PSC?

Just ordered a rack from a salvage yard in Pearland, having them ship it up to Turn One.

[AllZWay]

Pranav.... I just run a stock pump and have the same one I started racing with 7 years ago. I do have a decent size cooler in front of my radiator and I run Royal Purple fluid. I also change that fluid once a season.

[Fbody383]

Is that a Turn One specific rebuild kit or a generic one I can use on my PSC?

Just ordered a rack from a salvage yard in Pearland, having them ship it up to Turn One.

As I understand, the magic is in the valving; the bearing/O rings etc. are just stock parts.



Ok, i was wrong... they're $6 at Rock Auto for the expensive one.

[GlennCMC70]

De-flowing the pump is done for two reasons.
1) heat. Pressure ='s heat. We dont need alot of pressure. The stock pump is set-up to generate alot of presure at very low RPM's. We need low flow at high RPM's.
2) Less "assist" give you a much better feel for the tires. It allows more feedback to the wheel in your hands. I would de-flow mine even more if I could.

Turn One is what is on my car but PSC is who I use now as they are local. They allowed me to pick a flow rate for pums I took them in the past. I want to say stock is 12GPM and they were setting them to 2.5 GPM.
A pulley for the LT1 should be easy to make since it has no ribs due to using the back of the belt.