power steering racks.. or something

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:25 pm

ok so i know the k frame for the srt and sxt are slightly different but what about the power steering rack? will my sxt one bolt onto the srt k frame? how hard is changing this? I know nutmeg did his swap without changine his but i have an srt k frame and power steering and i want to change the k frame for sure because i will be using srt brakes but the power steering rack i dont know if i need to change or not.. any help?

hanken_yo i know you did this part of the swap later so maybe you can be of some help. thanks guys

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:09 pm

if you want to use the srt knuckles you have to change the rack or trim the tie rod ends from the sxt rack to fit.

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:18 pm

ok well since i plan on using srt brakes i will have to swap over the srt power steering rack along with the k frame and knuckles. how hard is it to change power steering racks? is it just a matter of putting the shaft up there

or more work involved?

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:52 pm

you gotta pull the dash and replace the steering column, and then swap key cylinders and shit.

Naw, idk what else you have to do.

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:22 pm

yeah i was gonna say i dont think i gotta do all that lol.. ill wait till hanken_yo chimes in..

excon · Post by **excon** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:20 pm

send him a pm...

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:49 pm

haha dude i know how to manage around this site.. im not in a hurry and i would rather my info be out for everyone to see so people can refer to it later on. your post 138 my post 1100 lol that was a dickhead comment but thanks for trying to help. that is serious. really im not an asshole.

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:11 pm

I had to swap to the SRT Steering Rack, but I kept my basic K Frame. There is no difference on the k-frame that I know of. I know there is an additional structural support on the Lower Control Arms (LCA), but I haven't had any problems using my SXT LCAs. As for switching the racks, it is actually easy... its only 4 or 6 bolts on the K Frame and connecting to the steering wheel inside the car. The hard part is dropping the K Frame and putting it back up while lining up the shaft of the steering column. If you have a Factory Service Manual, you can get directions on how to do that. If not I'll get you some directions as soon as I can find mine.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:43 pm

You can also loosen the K-frame in the front, and remove the rear bolts to lower the k-frame down enough to pull the rack out the back. IIRC, that the way the FSM says to do it.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:36 pm

occasional demons wrote:http://forum.2GN.org/viewtopic.php?p=445987#445987

Link to crossmember differences^^^^

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:58 pm

nice nice.. thanks guys. so the important part to avoid the camber problems is the power steering rack not the k frame..

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:06 pm

norman426 · Post by **norman426** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 1:38 pm

hmm nice rack what is the SRT ratio compared to the rest?

2001DodgeNeonSe · Post by **2001DodgeNeonSe** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:08 am

In my swap I have the stock 01 se steering rack. And i turn corners on a dime. But fellow srts take like 3 lanes to do a u turn.

SuperRT · Post by **SuperRT** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:16 am

I share Hansken_yo's experience. Swapped over the SRT rack/brakes/etc but kept the original K-frame. Kept the original LCA's too. All's good.

norman426 wrote:what is the SRT ratio compared to the rest?

Anyone know this? The R/T steering ratio seemed more precise and tighter before the SRT-4 swap.

and 2x on the SRT turning radius. Damn.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:00 am

As far as I know, the ratio's are the same. I've done some research and have yet to hear otherwise. The issue with the SRT rack is the locks. They are much shorter than a regular neon, to prevent the tires from rubbing the fenderwells. This makes for a very small turning radius, hence the terrible u-turn capabilities. The SRT rack is by no means better or an upgrade, it's actually quite the opposite.

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:54 am

OB wrote:. The SRT rack is by no means better or an upgrade, it's actually quite the opposite.

Where are you getting this information. I cannot remember where I found mine, but it pretty much stated that the SRT rack was geared towards performance giving it a slightly heavier feel, but more responsive. Besides that the only other difference is that it has shorter tie rod ends. But since krc21 is looking to do brakes as well he will need it.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:10 am

The R/T & ACR's have a unique ratio of 18:1, where as the SRT has 14 or 15:1 iirc.

Plus what OB said is true. The SRT stops are such so the tires maintain the federally mandated space from the body and suspension parts. The R/T's (and unfortunately the ACR as well) have closer stops than the base Neons because of the R/T's 16" wheels, but they aren't as bad as the SRT's

2k1MotorSport · Post by **2k1MotorSport** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:42 am

go R/T!

although i will probably try to pick up another one in the future. mine clunks a lot even after the outer tie rod was replaced

SuperRT · Post by **SuperRT** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:52 am

2k1MotorSport wrote:go R/T!

although i will probably try to pick up another one in the future. mine clunks a lot even after the outer tie rod was replaced

What a coincidence actually, I have one for sale. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Honestly though... I think the R/T was more fun to drive than the (now) fully swapped SRT-4 neon. Felt a lot more zippy-- but that was three years ago, and I have suspension issues now, so who knows.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:47 pm

hansken - I've found my info from lots of Q&A on forums and via the internet in general. Kinda pieced it together. I simply heard that the ratios were the same, which means that they should feel exactly the same with all things equal. The SRT suspension and tires are responsible for the "sport feel". Also, the power steering assist on RT/ACR/SRT is rumored to have slightly less assist, making the steering feel heavier and "sportier". This is all just speculation, and i'd love more detail from anyone who knows.

Dante- Why would they give the RT/ACR a higher ratio rack? 18:1 is far worse than 14/15. The ratio refers to the relative movement of the steering wheel (18) to the tires (1) in degrees. That means that it takes 18 degrees of steering input to turn the wheels 1 degree. The lower the ratio, the better the response.

While we're at it, anyone who knows all the ratios from year to year needs to chime in. I had a thread about this a long time ago but cant find it. IIRC, all r2gn acks are the same @ 18:1

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:05 pm

Sorry, I'm living up to my

reputation. Doing too much at once again.

Stock Neon ratio is 18:1. R/T & ACR is 16:1. I'm 100% sure for 1st gen, and I'm about 90% on second gen. Going to do some research.

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:25 pm

2001DodgeNeonSe wrote:In my swap I have the stock 01 se steering rack. And i turn corners on a dime. But fellow srts take like 3 lanes to do a u turn.

Haha so true. I laugh every time I have to turn around in my SRT4. It's retarded lol

SuperRT · Post by **SuperRT** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:32 pm

Passt wrote:Haha so true. I laugh every time I have to turn around in my SRT4. It's retarded lol

What in the hell kind of paint job do you have there?

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:39 pm

SuperRT wrote:
Passt wrote:Haha so true. I laugh every time I have to turn around in my SRT4. It's retarded lol
What in the hell kind of paint job do you have there?

Stone white? Stock paint job for my '05 . . . why?

SuperRT · Post by **SuperRT** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:43 pm

Passt wrote:
SuperRT wrote:
Passt wrote:Haha so true. I laugh every time I have to turn around in my SRT4. It's retarded lol
What in the hell kind of paint job do you have there?
Stone white? Stock paint job for my '05 . . . why?

Ah. What's with the neon's paint in your sig then? Looks crazy...

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:47 pm

haha your looking to hard man. its a reflection lol.. the car of the pic is not his car.. but look at the car in the reflection..

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:52 pm

krc21 wrote:haha your looking to hard man. its a reflection lol.. the car of the pic is not his car.. but look at the car in the reflection..

Haha yea man, that pic was taken by me from the driver's seat. I was next to a freshly washed black SUV.

datadave49 · Post by **datadave49** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:12 pm

Wenuden wrote:if you want to use the srt knuckles you have to change the rack or trim the tie rod ends from the sxt rack to fit.

Hey Hey
If you have a srt rack and you don't want to go thought the pain to get the rack out all you need to do is just change out the complete tie rod up to the rack.(if I lost you lets say you have a rack thats out of the car take off the outer tie rod and put it a side .Ok now the rod that still in the rack remove that and that what I am talking about) just switch the rods and after all that needs to be done is have the toe in set and no cutting of the tie rod (I DON'T LIKE CUTTING ON THE TIE RODS MAKES FOR A BIG PROBLEM DOWN THE ROAD) .Thats what we did when we did our srt brake swap I did not want to remove the rack it look to hard (tight to do with out a lift) and when we did the drive train swap we swap the srt rack with the srt tie rod that came in it Boy I hope we got that out so all understand??and as far as the K frame you are adding more work to your swap. If the drive train was still on the K frame and you were going to remove the drive train from the bottom then I would say change the K frame
Dave