Adjustment after installing Revol Engineering rack and pinion

[westfaliahunter]

Good Aft. Everyone, today I’ve installed Revol Engineering rack to discard my old steering box on my 1966 Bus, I choose the option with the column so no hassle to install. Everything fitted like a charm and steering is way smooth and no loose. I took it for a drive test and I found that the left turn is way way too pronounced and on the right side it only turn a little bit, way less than before. For now my thinking goes on adjusting tie rod, is it the way to go? There wasn’t any troubleshooting section in the instructions and when my wheels are straight my steering is perfectly aligned. Am I on the good path of solution? Don’t want to unalign everything for nothing. Other than that the kit is quality and easy to install. when I go left I can turn steering wheel 1 and 3/4 turn, when turning right I only got 3/4 turn before hitting end of course. I repeat with my old steering box everything was good and my front wheel were perfectly straight during all the installation process.

[Busstom]

It sounds like the travel range of the rack was not centered before you buttoned it all up and tightened your u-joints, etc. Said another way, it sounds like during installation, the rack was turned too far in one direction, so that now when your wheels are centered and pointing straight down the road, the internal portion of the rack gear is actually not centered in its range.

I think you have to disconnect your u-joint that mounts to the input (i.e. the pinion) and center the travel of the rack. At this point, the wheels will be steering to one direction (slightly to the left if I'm figuring correctly), so you would have to address your tie rod situation again, so yes, the alignment would have to be redone. Please note, I'm speculating at this point in time without seeing pictures of your setup, but I looked up that design and that's the best theory I can come up with (the only logical explanation, actually).

Also, because that's an "end load" rack with short tie rods (which also sharpens the angle of the tie rods relative to the steering knuckles), you may encounter some noticeable bump-steer.
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[NUTSFORBUSES]

Yeah, I agree, looks like a simple alignment error.

the Rack still uses the stock center pin, but otherwise it looks well designed. Wonder if it's worth $2000-how much was shipping? And to where? Other than Red9 which is much much more $ & eliminates the older center, this idea seems to be put together.
_________________
kaiser kills kids.com

[westfaliahunter]

I also thought about misalignment at first but the rack doesn’t have any kind of adjustment so to be able to bolt it up in original holes in the frame the rack will automatically need to be in a certain position since if not it will not hook to the pin in the axle beam, unlike with the original steering box the column is installed after that, so the wheels are still straight and there’s a notch in the coupler between the column and the rack to ensure you’re positioning it right. Everything went perfectly in place like it was supposed and the steering was perfectly aligned with the wheels. I had dropped a line to customer service to enquire if any of theirs previous clients got that problem. Will probably try tie rod adjustment today (will mark their initial position with chalk and will count turn in order to put it back if it doesn’t work)

[NUTSFORBUSES]

I would think , You would have used adjustable tie rods on BOTH sides, do you? You won't get alignment from the new rack, b/c you are only replacing the steering box-everything else is the same.
*Busstom is correct->"centering the rack travel", then alignment, but having Both sides adjustable would seem to be needed. Would like to hear your outcome once fitted. Mine is lowered, so I installed double adjustable rods to get almost perfection in alignment.
_________________
kaiser kills kids.com

[westfaliahunter]

[Busstom]

Ahhh, I was just going to post this....I misspoke earlier because the setup I saw was on another forum (I believe Late Bay or something like that) and it was a slightly different design. Anyway, is this your setup? Yes, now I can see how you may have a problem, the single rod from that rack has to connect to your swing lever, so you're limited on positioning the internals. Glad you're headed in the right direction.

_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[westfaliahunter]

[westfaliahunter]

Just had customer service from Revol Engeneering. They asked me to measure the arm and they found out that they have made a mistake when shipping my order, this arm (who’s connecting to swing lever) need to be shorten by 24mm on split bus, it seems the forgot to shorten it before the expedition, they will send me a replacement by next week. Customer service is perfect, but just to be sure if you order this kit ask them to verify the kit has been shorten by 24mm before shipping it.

[Busstom]

Well the good news is, maybe you shouldn't have to realign it
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[westfaliahunter]

Well, I installed and uninstalled the rack so much that I could probably apply for an engineer job at their place… love working in the garage but not so much doing the same thing for litteraly hours