Narrowing Steering racks?

[Bugsy_malone 666]

Obviously not the centre rack, but more the end tie rods.

I have a Polo Rack that I am going to fit to a beetle and I have found its about 3-4" to wide total, so the idea is that I want to cut a bit off the tierods to make it narrower, however its going to need some more threads if I want to do that and when I looked at the existing ones it appears they are the extruded thread type so I cant just get a die on it and cut some more!

Any advice?

Also how on earth do you adjust the lock of a steering rack? Obviously with a beetle steering box there are bolts on the pitman arm to act as stop locks, but what do you adjust on steering racks?
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[famous phil]

Hi , what you'll find is that the steering rack does not adjust because its normally a lug or bolt on the hub Assembly

if you strip the gaiter off the rack the arms might then be removable , there may be more threads to trim
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Auto Union Munga Jeep ,T4 2.4td , T4 2.5tdi ,Mercedes S Class on LPG , 66 splity deluxe , GP mk1, 3 type 25s 1 with 1.9dt pug engine + 1 with N/A pug engine ,,there are 6 t25s with pug power in Darlington

[Bugsy_malone 666]

I'm pretty sure type 3s have the stops on the hubs too, guess I'll have to look at my mk3 golf and come up with ideas!

with regards to talking the gator off to get more threads, I'm not sure I follow.

The tie rod is like this:



so the only threads for adjustment are at the trackrod end, where the threads are extruded rather than cut into the rod, meaning if I cut a bit off the end to shorten it I cant add any more threads that I need. The other end obviously screws into the rack itself.
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Second Gear All The Way Baby!

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[famous phil]

Hi, its not how I expected it to be , that tie rod looks just the same as fitted to a t25 , may-be messure up one off a lupo ?
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Auto Union Munga Jeep ,T4 2.4td , T4 2.5tdi ,Mercedes S Class on LPG , 66 splity deluxe , GP mk1, 3 type 25s 1 with 1.9dt pug engine + 1 with N/A pug engine ,,there are 6 t25s with pug power in Darlington

[13 window deluxe]

what polo steering rack? that looks like a mk4 a mk3 centre pin type would be better in a bug wouldnt it? if you are using a mk4 type get it in lathe through head stock and get it threaded down further? there are no rack stops on a golf or mk4 polo or rack or hubs on some sporty cars that i've fitted big wheels to they have come with sleaves that go on the end of the rack before the rack ends to limit steering lock
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1964 rat 13 window deluxe 1Z tdi,
1975 rhd twin slider tintop (TBA)
1991 golf 2 gti with tweaked AHU tdi,

previous tdi swaps: gone but not forgotten
1979 rhd twin slider tintop bay ahu 1.9tdi
1990 T25 1Z 1.9tdi
1993 suzuki samurai with 1Z 1.9tdi

[Bugsy_malone 666]

well I think the racks off a 1996 diesel polo, the tierod in the pic is just an example, but mine looks pretty much like that. I might have to see how it works, then take it to bits and take the rods over to my local engineering shop to see what they can do about addin threads.

And I think I know what you mean about the sleeves for lock, I have been looking at bit on internet and there seems to be for some where you put different thickness washers in and all sorts.

I just hope the tierod ends themselfs are the same fitment on the polo as the beetle!

If not I considered chopping the end off the rod, the end of a beetle rod (as its hollow tube) and then welding the pair together, that way it would use stock rod ends! But I'll see if I can get it lathed first.

The other fun part is going to be the fact its on a beetle with a beam, meaning I need to invent something to connect the column to the rack, plus I need to rebuild the column so its got a bearing at the bottom as well as the top!
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[13 window deluxe]

[Bugsy_malone 666]

well yes the welding part I want to avoid.

I think I saw on a volksrod someone fitted a nylon bush of some sort at the bottom, I do have a 1302/03 column but its a bit short, hoever I can use the bearing out the bottom I just need to check some sizes.

when you say about the rack being centre mount, is it a bit like the 1302/3 where the arms are the same length side to side but attach with a tierod end in the middle? I'm sure I have seen audis with those.

I have ended up with the mk4 rack because it was £12.99 delivered on ebay, cheapest I seen so a good start at least!
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Second Gear All The Way Baby!

Doing Thing Differently.

[13 window deluxe]

[Bugsy_malone 666]

[Superleggo]

The stock car boys have been shortening rack for years. most use the moris minor rack beacuae it is very strong and easy to adjust in length. It takes the crashes in to the side wall better than most. As these are now becomming harder to find people are also using the Escort rack. When adjusting the rack length it is important to make sure that all the ball joints align or you will have serious bump steer problems. I guess you could also do this on a power rack but I am going down the route of morris minor rack and Corsa electric column on my other project car as it is easy to adjest the length of the rack and the Corsa system is easy to adjust for sensitivity to give a nice feel. I think there is a post somewhere on this forum using a Rascal rack and a Corsa column which seems a good choice for the bus set up.

[Bugsy_malone 666]

well since I started this thread I have since managed to get hold of a mk2 polo breadvan rack which is the central mount one, appears its a fairly popular choice for a conversion and there is even a german company that sell a kit with the rack.

so now I just need to finish putting my beam back together and using 1 polo and 1 1302s tie rod (with polo inners and beetle outers) I should just have to make only 1 or 2 brackets
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Second Gear All The Way Baby!

Doing Thing Differently.