I have a mkII escie rack, and Sierra hubs (or will have shortly).

The question is, do escort track rod ends fit sierra hubs, or do sierra track rod ends fit escort track rods?? Or are neither of these true and I'm gonna need to get a shortened sierra rack?

The parts are all interchangable. It all depends on your track-width. Poss.you'll have to machine extension bushes.

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Originally posted by GO
I have a mkII escie rack, and Sierra hubs (or will have shortly).

The question is, do escort track rod ends fit sierra hubs, or do sierra track rod ends fit escort track rods?? Or are neither of these true and I'm gonna need to get a shortened sierra rack?

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James, thanks for the warnings but I think it'll be ok. I've got velocity chassis and wishbones from Luego. Chassis is book width, wishbones are adapted slightly to take account of the ball joint locations on sierra hubs. So from that side of things it should be ok with escort rack. I was just concerned that escort track rod ends wouldn't fit the sierra hubs and the sierra track rod ends wouldnt fit the escort rack!! Sounds like it will be fine though.

dutchsuperseven, or anyone else for that matter, are the escort and sierra track rod ends identical? or if they're not, whats peoples preference on which to use strength/weight/anything else wise (assuming they are completely interchangeable as you say).

Cheers guys.

Mmmm, This is kind of the question i was gonna post..

I am gonna use sierra hubs and sierra rack and as im going to widen my chassis i wondered how much longer the sierra rack was over the escort one..
I have the leugo sierra wishbones.

Hi,
I have similar questions:

I am building a 4" wider than standard chassis (+4" right down the middle) and I am using Cortina uprights. I already have a Sierra steering rack but was intending to use it as a trade in against a new Escort quick rack. Perhaps I shouldn't be so hasty though if bump steer is an issue.

I've not laid my hands on my Sierra rack yet since it is at my Dad's house but I'll be checking it out this weekend to see how well or otherwise it fits. I'll post my findings here once I figure out which is most suitable.

Going by the Des Hamill suspension bible the important thing is to make sure that the inner balljoints (opposite end of track rod from the track rod end) are closely aligned with the suspension pivots for top and bottom wishbones. If you look from the front of the car and draw a line between the top pivot and bottom pivot, the steering balljoint should be close to being on that line. That will mean that the track rod will follow suspension movement without bump steer. I think in my case I would need to lengthen the escort rack to suit this requirement or shorten the Sierra one. Hmm...

Cheers,
Craig.

quote:

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Originally posted by GO
James, thanks for the warnings but I think it'll be ok. I've got velocity chassis and wishbones from Luego. Chassis is book width, wishbones are adapted slightly to take account of the ball joint locations on sierra hubs. So from that side of things it should be ok with escort rack. I was just concerned that escort track rod ends wouldn't fit the sierra hubs and the sierra track rod ends wouldnt fit the escort rack!! Sounds like it will be fine though.

dutchsuperseven, or anyone else for that matter, are the escort and sierra track rod ends identical? or if they're not, whats peoples preference on which to use strength/weight/anything else wise (assuming they are completely interchangeable as you say).

Cheers guys.

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Originally posted by Danozeman
Mmmm, This is kind of the question i was gonna post..

I am gonna use sierra hubs and sierra rack and as im going to widen my chassis i wondered how much longer the sierra rack was over the escort one..
I have the leugo sierra wishbones.

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quote:

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Originally posted by craig1410
Hi,
I have similar questions:

I am building a 4" wider than standard chassis (+4" right down the middle) and I am using Cortina uprights. I already have a Sierra steering rack but was intending to use it as a trade in against a new Escort quick rack. Perhaps I shouldn't be so hasty though if bump steer is an issue.
.

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James,
Thanks for the reply, it was quite useful.

However, I still don't know what to do for the best tbh...

I can get a standard escort rack for £21+vat reconditioned (exchange basis or £30 s/c) OR I can get a high-ratio rack for £31+vat which I'd prefer.

I have a Sierra rack just now which is needing attention (new t.r.e's and inner bj's) and obviously it is far too wide even though my chassis is +4"

My concern is the safety of a cut-down Sierra rack. Can anyone put my mind at rest and tell me if a cut down rack is safe enough? Also, should I get myself a reconditioned rack and cut that down or just recondition the one I have and have it cut as part of the recon process. If I do this, what other bits should I change (seals, bearings etc) and how expensive is this likely to be?

I'd be very interested to hear if the Sierra t.r.e's are compatible or not with Cortina uprights. I should be getting my uprights later today so I should be able to check. I'll post my findings.
Cheers,
Craig.

Hi,
As promised earlier, I tried the Sierra Track Rod Ends into the Cortina uprights and as far as I can tell they are indeed a perfect fit. I can't be sure about the taper angle but it feels "right" and there is just the right amount of thread left sticking through for the castelated nut.

Dutchsuperseven did say that the parts were interchangeable in an earlier post but to me this sounded too good to be true. Sorry for doubting you...

I'm thinking that the correct way to go is to modify a Sierra rack now. Does anyone know for certain what threads are used on the ends of the rack where the track rods screw on and also on the track rod ends themselves. I believe it is M14 fine but I'm not 100% certain. Anyone?

Cheers,
Craig.

Hi

The rack ends are 14mm but I'm sure they are not metric fine I think they are more likely to be 14 x 1.5. My rack has been cut and weilded by a professional weilder and he is happy they will be strong enough. Hope this is of some use.

Dave

Thanks Dave, hopefully someone will know the thread size. I must get myself a thread gauge...
Cheers,
Craig.

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Originally posted by craig1410

My concern is the safety of a cut-down Sierra rack. Can anyone put my mind at rest and tell me if a cut down rack is safe enough?

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James,
I was thinking of chopping it myself but having the critical faces tidied up on a lathe and then professionally welded. I've never tried welding aluminium and I don't intend to practise on my steering rack...

What I might do is use an old Sierra rack to perform the modification initially and just pop rivet the rack together to check that it all works as expected and that bump steer is not an issue. Once I'm happy with the design I will draw up some plans and get an engineering company to do it for real on a reconditioned rack.

Before all this though, I'll contact MK Eng and ask them if they would do a rack for me on an exchange basis. It might be cheaper in the long run but I'm not sure if they would be able to accommodate my 4 inch wider chassis.

In terms of safety of the modified rack, I think I'd be right in saying that if both halves of the rack body are bolted firmly to the chassis then there shouldn't be any significant stresses on the weld and even if it did break, provided that the mountings are still good it wouldn't come to any harm other than the grease/oil would run out. Am I right?

Cheers,
Craig.