Manual Rack Questions?

[truenoboy]

A friend of mine gave me a rack, but he wasn't 100% if it was for an ae86. I have an AW11 rack, which looks identical, except the hight on the pinion. Are there any markings that would clarify what I have? The aw11 rack is marked with 7GL15, but the other rack is marked 7GL18....does this tell me anything. Also, any benefit to using the a86 rack over aw11?

[Deuce Cam]

Only the aw11 racks have the longer pinion. AE86 and ae71 racks have the shorter pinion, but I'm not sure how to tell the difference between the 2 (they're directly interchangeable though, but there might be small differences). I'd actually love to know as I have a spare mystery rack with the shorter pinion, but the markings are too worn to read (not that I know what they mean anyway).

I've heard the ae86 rack (i.e. the gear inside the housing that the inner tie rods bolt to) is a few mm's longer on an ae86 compared to aw11 and ae71, but I can't confirm this.

What's the length of your rack, and also the housing?

[ga_goosh]

if the case and the mounting points are the same and the input gear shaft is shorter then it is an ae86 style. the aw11 and the ae86 manual racks use the same case.

if the mounting points on the case are shorter then the aw11 then it is more likely to be a FWD corolla rack. i made the mistake of getting the wrong rack so i know the difference.

[saiGone]

+1 on performance differences between AW and AE manual rack?

[Deuce Cam]

If the rack lengths differ that would mean the longer rack will have slightly more steering angle, but also a higher steering ratio. If the housings lengths differ that could have an affect on centering. 'If' being the key word here.

The only real info I could find was a really old post on ae86drivingclub.com.au. There was no info posted on the aw11 assembly unfortunately, but the dimensions were listed for ae71 and ae86 units. Both had the same housing length, but the ae86 rack was 6 mm longer. Unfortunately, they have rhd racks in Australia so I don't want to assume our domestic lhd US racks have the same dimensions. Fwiw I measured my spare mystery rack with the short pinion and the housing was the same length as the Aussie ae71 and ae86 units, and my rack length was the same as the Aussie ae71 rack.

[4bangerpower]

The AW11 manual rack works perfect, the pinion shaft is longer than the ae86 but that's the only difference. Couple the rack with an AW11 or tercel steering u-joint, mk3 supra intermediate shaft, manual rack adapter bushing from T3, and power steering inner tie rods & tie rod ends and you'll have a full manual steering conversion. I have a MK3 supra intermediate shaft if you need one.

[Deuce Cam]

The AW11 manual rack works perfect, the pinion shaft is longer than the ae86 but that's the only difference.

So you actually compared both and took measurements? Care to share your findings?

We know they're interchangeable, but to say there's no difference - aside from the pinion length - without comparing them in person is making an assumption.