What Ratio Quick Rack are you using for your Road Cars?

[Rally Pack 2000]

As mention in the Escort Forum it may be more economically viable to get a new replacement rack than rebuild the old one so that opens up an option for change.

 

I have been using a 2.4 Quick rack for well over 25 years and must admit it does get a but tight parking (especially with 205/60r13s) but it is great on the open road. I see an option that wasnt available back then and its a 2.9 rack. Any one use that ratio? How do you find it? An other advice or suggestions most appreciated.

[Vista]

Yes, I do and it's fine. Speeds up the steering without needing to be Charles Atlas to park it

[katana]

Yes, I do and it's fine. Speeds up the steering without needing to be Charles Atlas to park it

 

How do you 'speed up' the steering by giving it a lower ratio? Did all Aus. cars come with 2.4 racks then? 2.9 would be norm in the UK across the range inc RS?

[Rally Pack 2000]

How do you 'speed up' the steering by giving it a lower ratio? Did all Aus. cars come with 2.4 racks then? 2.9 would be norm in the UK across the range inc RS?

 

All Australian Escorts came with the conventional 3.5 turn lock to lock racks. To my understanding this was the same as the Europeans cars as well. Back in the day Ford Rally Sport offered a 2.4 rack which I purchased from a Rally Sport dealer in the UK a long time ago. There were no generic brands then so if you wanted a quick rack you had to source it from Ford RS at an incredible hefty price. They are such good value now but they of course arent made by Ford. the 2.9 rack costs less than it would cost for me to rebuild my 2.4. I dont want to loose some of the fun with the ratio being lower than what I have.

[robert maguire]

Just on a seperate note ,you rmember I have Aus car also.Why does the drivers side chassis have strenghtening plate at chassis leg and floor and passengers side does not .Unusual ??. Or is it just the driver Ford are worried about in a crash ?? Also although the are the heavy duty/RS shell they dont have the large tunnel or radiatir/front panel RS type cut out for radiator?My car is mint bar the Satin Spruce colour.Really no welding needed whatsoever.Credit to your excellant climate.Also rear seats seem thicker/more comfortable than Uk spec cars.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Just on a seperate note ,you rmember I have Aus car also.Why does the drivers side chassis have strenghtening plate at chassis leg and floor and passengers side does not .Unusual ??. Or is it just the driver Ford are worried about in a crash ?? Also although the are the heavy duty/RS shell they dont have the large tunnel or radiatir/front panel RS type cut out for radiator?My car is mint bar the Satin Spruce colour.Really no welding needed whatsoever.Credit to your excellant climate.Also rear seats seem thicker/more comfortable than Uk spec cars.

 

The driver stone deflection plate was added to Australian cars for a bit of extra chassis stiffening but mainly to offer the driver with extra protection from stones when driving on dirt roads. One must consider back in the 70s even half of Western Sydney's minor suburban roads were still gravel. But the joke was not missed on owners, protect the driver and the passenger can take their chances LOL. Also If you ever take the door trims off you will see much larger side intrusion bars inside both doors.

 

The radiator positioning is different to cars fitted with Kent or Pinto Engines. Because on Kent engines the radiator sat further forward they didnt see the need to offer the cutout. You will find the radiator cutout on all 2lt models.

 

All manual Mk2 Escorts regardless of engine size used Type E gearboxes, the same as that used with the Euro RS2000/Mexico models so to my knowledge the tunnel isnt any larger on the Euro models to accommodate the same gearbox. The Euro RS models had Alloy the dual sided starter holed bell-housing where as ours just used the one sided Cortina style bell-housing but to my knowledge this didnt require a larger tunnel to accommodate. Maybe over time alot of people fit larger tunnels however to accommodate the various 5 speed gearboxes. Enthusiasts here would just buy the automatic cars that did come with a bigger tunnel and would use that as their platform.

 

I wasnt aware that the rear seats were more padded on the Australian cars, maybe a tribute to our crappier roads. Ghias were fitted with the same German seats that the Euro Ghias were but the GLs most likely had something made locally. All Australian MK2 Escorts have full door trims there were never any half trims on lower models that I have seen on the British cars.

 

Feel free to message me any time if you have any other questions.

[colr6]

You could always power it and keep the 2-4

[Vista]

How do you 'speed up' the steering by giving it a lower ratio? 

 

Speed up as in less steering wheel angle required for the same degree of road wheel movement

[Rally Pack 2000]

You could always power it and keep the 2-4

 

Yes quite a few people have suggested that but to me it doesnt seem right. One of the attributes of Escorts that makes them more fun over modern cars is the near gokart like steering. I would be worried power steering would numb things and take away some road feel. Not to mention wiring more things onto it is never a good thing. Thats based on no practical experience with PS on Escorts though, I wouldnt mind trying one to see but its not an overly popular conversion here.

[robert maguire]

Thanks Rally Pack 2000. Good info and interesting. My car was 1.6 crossflow originally ,manual ,with beige leatherette interior and full door cards as suggested.In process of fitting 2.0Blacktop and type 9, 5 speed at moment but its slow ,waiting on bits etc.I did cut out the rad panel yesterday to accomodate alloy GRP4 type rad with leccy fan.Awkward to cut out in situ but got there eventually so now I have to make up filler section to suit the cut out.I am mocking it up in light aluminium first to get template etc.

 

I agree with you re power steering on escort.I dont like it .Lads here use the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa  power stee

ring coulum/motor/ecu etc but looks out of place in old Skool car. Keep it simple.!!

[katana]

Speed up as in less steering wheel angle required for the same degree of road wheel movement

 

Yes I understand the principle but you advocated a 'slower' rack over a 'quicker' one to speed the steering. Turning the handlebars nearly three times isn't ever going to be quicker than  two an a half times!

 

@rally pac 2000 - the assistance can be turned down to virtually nothing for general driving and only increased when parking assistance is required. I'm pretty sure if the technology was around in the 80's it would have been fitted.

[Vista]

No I didn't, or at least that wasn't what I meant. I advocated a 2.9 quick rack over a 2.4 as it's less weighty but also for increased speed over a standard rack, which is 3.5 turns.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Ordered the 2.9.

 

When I got the 2.4 it was always too heavy at low speeds but I stuck with it thinking that roller bearing top mounts would lighten the steering. Someone finally brought out mounts for the small holes but they are solid alloy which bothered me a bit as they may be too harsh but then after discussions through the forum suggested that the mounts werent going to make things any lighter. So now that the 2.4 needs rebuilding and it works out cheaper to buy a new one than rebuild the old the lighter 2.9 seemed the way to go.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Resurrecting an old thread here. Does anyone still put out a 2.7 ratio rack. Back in the day the RS offerrings were 2.2, 2.4 and 2.7. I havent seen anyone selling the 2.7s in some time though. I cant see Quaife with anything of that ratio, only 2.2s and 2.5s. Having tried 2.9 which is definitely better than the 2.4 for the road I feel I could go a bit tighter without it becoming to heavy or cumbersome. So a 2.7 in between would suit me well if anyone still offers such a thing.

[Rally Pack 2000]

No 2.7s then?

[steved35]

Power stearing one of the best upgrades I have done , it's on a power dial so can turn it up and down for when u need it

[mk2 matt]

2.9 best compromise. 2.4 is too quick, very twitchy on the road

 

as to power steering one of the beat things i,ve fitted apart  from a high torque starter but you do loose some of the feed back and feel slightly detached  

[Rally Pack 2000]

2.9 best compromise. 2.4 is too quick, very twitchy on the road

 

as to power steering one of the beat things i,ve fitted apart  from a high torque starter but you do loose some of the feed back and feel slightly detached  

 

I used a 2.4 for twenty years or so, I didnt find it twitchy just too heavy in some situations, parking being the most obvious. I replaced it with a 2.9 and feel I could go a bit heavier again so a 2.7 would be a good compromise for me. Im so old school with my Escorts I dont think I would probably fit power steering. That detached feel is exactly what I would fear. Certainly with the 2.9 its totally unncessary as its already light to me.

[Kalo]

On 25/01/2017 at 18:34, Rally Pack 2000 said:

 

I used a 2.4 for twenty years or so, I didnt find it twitchy just too heavy in some situations, parking being the most obvious. I replaced it with a 2.9 and feel I could go a bit heavier again so a 2.7 would be a good compromise for me. Im so old school with my Escorts I dont think I would probably fit power steering. That detached feel is exactly what I would fear. Certainly with the 2.9 its totally unncessary as its already light to me.

what wheel/tyre size combo do you run?