TA22 + rack and pinion

[twentyEight]

any chance of this happening with an ra23 column ? as the headlight switch on the stalk is a good thing

The process is exactly the same for the RA23 column...

[stidnam]

once you split the two shafts and use the top of the 22 shaft with the bottom of the KE70 shaft, then put the unit back into the modified ta22/ke70 column, the circlip that holds the top bearing in and the bottom bracket tht holds the bottom bearing in keep the shafts from splitting. I am also going the drill a hole and insert a pin thru the 2 shafts where they meet just to make sure.

obviously this all sounds a bit strange without the photos. I am going to purchase another ke70 r&p with x-member and refine it again.

basically, with the steering cloumn/shaft assembly, if you lay the TA22 and Ke70 setup side by side and pull it all apart you start to see how the 2 can be grafted together for a factory looking setup.

the only welding I did was the bottom half of the KE70 column to the TA22 column, so you can retain the KE70 bottom bearing to keep the shaft centralised.

I also cut out the flange from the KE70 floor mounting bracket and welded it onto the TA22 item so you can retain the factory mounting position to the floor.

The only thing left to refine now is mounting the column back to the 3 locating points near the dash surround. I'll get some pics up when I get a chance

I know how they come apart and fit back together like factory as I have pulled these apart. I have posted lots of pics of all my progress so far in this thread which will probably be a few pages back now as I've been a bit lazy lately to complete this.

I personally don't feel too comfortable with the ideal that the shafts are not stuck together fast. Why? can't say but I remember having to whack the columns fairly hard to get them apart. If the lower bearing can't pass through the retaining plate on the firewall then I guess its ok.

I considered the idea of drilling the shafts and pinning them but have gone off this as you would be creating a weak spot in the shaft.

[TA22 1MZ]

guess you could always spot weld on either side of the shaft where it slots together for peace of mind.

I really cant see it coming apart thought, especially when you consider the factory method of keeping the shafts in place. Its like a hardnened plastic which was filled into the 2 holes on either side of the shafts.

[LeeRoy]

X member was shortened in the middle.

At the moment it has no arms attached to it as i removed everything but as far as i know the standard arms were going back in.

The crossmember was redrilled and im pretty sure (although not 100%) that the back hole on the AE71 member was retained. Ill get back to you on this and give you a definitive answer.

[TA22 1MZ]

X member was shortened in the middle.

At the moment it has no arms attached to it as i removed everything but as far as i know the standard arms were going back in.

The crossmember was redrilled and im pretty sure (although not 100%) that the back hole on the AE71 member was retained. Ill get back to you on this and give you a definitive answer.

At the moment, I have the x-member bolted in using the back hole on the x-member and the back hole on the TA22 rail. However, the control arms are forward of this and looks like the cross member will need to slide forward some-what. I believe the KE70 x-member will also need to be dropped down a bit as well to keep the steering arms happy as they seem to be on quite an angle at the moment.

all trial and error at the moment, will be good to get it all working properly so everyone can follow suit.

[LeeRoy]

Since in most cases the cars this applies to are lowered then having a raised x member and lca inner pivot points will return steering geometry closer to factory which is a good thing. If you go even lower then some roll center adjusters can correct this.

Everything except the crossmember is on the floor so when linden gets back from holidays ill get some measurements although im pretty sure he already has and has mounted the x member where it needs to be.

[The Real Roadrunner]

rear holes were used as per std.

sectioned the Xmember in the middle and trimmed off the ends so they didn't foul on the rail flanges.

a new front hole was theen drilled to suit.

this sits the LCA pivot higher (15mm i think) and 30mm wider than stock (from memory) thus providing more camber and less need for RCA's to be fitted (depending on final ridehight)

still havn't touched the rack yet but its time will come.

cheers
linden

[stidnam]

so this will increase the wheel track over the stock setup by 30mm?

[Rob KE25]

The car (ke25) is going great, it now has rack and pinion in it. But has a bit (not too bad) bump steer. I was hoping to get rid of all bumpsteer.

Last night I played around with different tierod lengths/rack rod lengths, and it is vertually make bump steer completely disappear! (5mm out over 4 metres- can't measure that at the wheel!!)

When I fix this small problem up, I'll give a report on it.

It is a lot nicer to drive, very tight and good feel.

Used mainly KE70 stuff, rack, LCA , column etc. Still need to mount the column to the firewall properly though.

Loving it.

robj

Edit: I cut the rack bar by 57/58mm. But that was too much. Extending the bar by 11mm on each side (22mm total) so only 35mm shortened of the bar was ideal.

LCA inner pivot points are about 6mm BELOW the end of the rack ends, and 287ish mm from the centre line. That is what worked for my KE25.
Toe is is quite noticeable in droop, but now virtually non exsistent in bump.
Using 40mm RCA blocks at the bottom of the xt130 struts.

[the_random_hero]

Alright, I've read over most of this thread and the question in still there - has ANYBODY successfully done this conversion and have they done a writeup for it?

[Grega]

in short, no.

[the_random_hero]

in short, no.

Well, if anybody wants a car to experiment with, I've got it.

[shelldrake]

I'm going to have a crack at this over the next few months. But, seriously, someone needs to sell kits or something for these things - There's def a market!

[twentyEight]

has ANYBODY successfully done this conversion

Yes.

and have they done a writeup for it?

No.

[TA22 1MZ]

here are some pics of my KE70 cross member setup with rack and pinion.

KE70 cross member which was sliced in the middle and had some meat taken out of it. Cant remember how much I took out off the top of my head, was a while ago now.

Angle looks a bit severe in the photo, but feels very smooth when using the wheel to turn from lock to lock. Still some room to adjust in the shafts if need be.
The uni joint on the rack is from a TT142 Corona rack, along with the bottom half of the steering shaft. The top half of the shaft is TA22. TA22 column has been cut and had the bottom of the TT142 cloumn welded to it, to house the bottom bearing and locater.

These mounts are not used with the new engine. Have since been chopped off and had new mounts welded on.