After the steering box taking some serious hits i've decided it's time to do something about it.
My samba has had a box raise but with the benefit of hindsight and steering racks coming onto the market i'm not sure it's the way forward.
With this in mind i'm considering a creative engineering steering rack conversion and would like any feedback and opinions please.
I've spoken to a couple of people using this rack and they have given it the thumbs up but i would like as much feedback as possible.

Thanks

I have heard the opposite on this board. Also I heard they interfere with heavily lowered buses. If I remember correctly, it doesn't completely eliminate the play and feels heavy when steering.

This is a shame as I was planning to do this mod after I finish lowering/IRSing the Bus.

Welcome any first hand experience here that counters this please? Was it worth it?

My bus runs at standard height and it was a vast improvement but I did change king and links at teh same time. The steering is positive and no heavier than before even though I have wider rubber up front than i had with the box.

If I was doing it now knowing what I know I would investigate the red9 full front replacement as it looks that for another £400 you get the front suspension sorted as well and if you are after a daily driver it might be worth the extra.

Jim the Van wrote:If I was doing it now knowing what I know I would investigate the red9 full front replacement as it looks that for another £400 you get the front suspension sorted as well and if you are after a daily driver it might be worth the extra.

Didn't even know this existed!!

http://www.red9design.co.uk/type2.htm

Exactly what I'm after - bet it drives like Vanagon or better! Then I looked at the price 1650 flippin sovs!! (plus 350 quid to fit). Crickey!!

Jim the Van wrote:My bus runs at standard height and it was a vast improvement but I did change king and links at teh same time.

So your improvement in replacing the king & links may have been all you needed without the investment of the CE kit? Heard that the stock setup, when renewed is very good.

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Do we know where this conversion puts the wheels within the arches?

I have a CE rack and it was a fantastic improvement , however it was new and the old box was, well old. I can actually take both hands off the wheel at 50 and it will go it a straight line. However the steering is a little heavy at parking speeds.

The bus is low and I don't have any clearance issues, in fact the Hurst bar takes any impact going up drives etc.


Here is the rack installed

The thing that puts me off of the CE setup is having to re locate the horn. Small thing I know but when some idiot pulls out in front of me I wanna be able to slam my hand on the horn in the middle of the wheel and not spend time looking for some 'button' on the dash or where ever
it's been moved to. Not a true rack and pinion either IMHO as it retains the centre pin and drag link. Renew all of the 'pins' and rebuild the box and the stock setup is pretty good.
To each his own.

Here's an opposing view:

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=580213

This bloke fitted three of them on customer Buses. Quote of interest:

The CE steering rack does little to change the stock set up, it still leaves the idler pin and track rods in place, and bizarrely replaces the stock steering box with a......... box.

For a 'rack' conversion, it seems baffling to me that:
a, It's only doing half a job.
b, Add to that the cost, it's not cheap.
c, What's with the iron gate that it all mounts to it looks like something off a tractor.
d, What's with the compromise over the horn wiring? Spend all that time developing a rack conversion, put a new column in as part of it, and make it solid, requiring the customer to find another way to activate his horn. Poor.
e, The outer column, nice and shiny it may be, but three self tapping screws to secure it to the floor?? again Poor.

As for saying that it increases ground clearance, if it does it's very very marginal, and worryingly the first thing that would hit on a steep slope would be the end of the rack.


That's why I wouldn't fit a CE rack kit to my van. In short.

Product magazine writeup on Creative site:

http://creative-engineering.com/index.p ... &Itemid=26

I am considering the DIY kit that some other members on here have done using an astra steering rack, am going to start collecting the parts over the next couple of weeks

flojo wrote:I am considering the DIY kit that some other members on here have done using an astra steering rack, am going to start collecting the parts over the next couple of weeks

Any links to this?

EDIT: Found this. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50041&hilit=astra+steering+rack

Astra rack is RHD job I see.

Maybe VWJim could help us poor souls with LHD!

Having only owned my Splitscreen for less than 12 months I may not be qualified to comment.......however.......when I picked up my 65 LHD and drove it home it was one of my scariest experiences (and at my age I have had a few). Its best described as like driving on boat on the road with far less room, one of the first things I did was fit the CE rack. Now it may not be perfect (lets be honest what is?) but having now driven up to the Lake District and back (in some appalling weather where at one point everything on the road slowed to my speed) and down to Cornwall/Devon with some very narrow roads/streets, I think its the best mod I have done so far. It will never be as good as my previous motors (VR6, R32) but now I love driving it and its stopped ageing me.

In my previous post I thougt the red9 kit was £1100 hence my additional £400. Seeing that its an extra £1100 I think I could live with the suspension and would stick with the CE rack.

From what i heard the red nine kit is a fantastic bit of kit if fitted by someone who knows what they are doing : .
I have the creative set up and i realy rate it i had a realy good box that had been sorted by sinclair and the rack was still a massive improvement, yep it is a bit harder at parking speeds but out on the open road it is fantastic..

I have a creative rack and must admit im a little indifferent to what difference if any it has made. When my bus was restored i had an essentially brand new steering box, with NOS worm etc fitted ... and in all honesty when the rack was fitted i haven't really noticed a great deal of difference, it is heavy at parking speed but this isnt a major concern and certainly isnt too heavy. Dave at creative is apparently developing a power steering kit too although no idea how much this will be and when it will be ready. As mentioned above i do feel that it is a little under engineered. The oversight of the horn push although small is irritating and something that clearly should be addressed. As also mentioned the use of old parts in the steering setup doesn't really appear to do away with the old technology . With the current trend for racks inevitably others will learn from mistakes and improve. There does seem to be more and more coming to the market. Mark Hopleys setup looks interesting, are these on sale yet? anyone had one fitted?