rack and pinion options

[dnsherrill]

94 Mark VIII, 98,300 miles, car is from SE Virginia, now central NC for 1 year.
Looks like I have some excess play in my rack, about 3/4" in/out when shaking the front rim at 3 and 9 o clock with front end of the ground and steering wheel locked. The steering wheel moves in unison with the rack, and both ends of the rack move together- tie rod ends don't appear to move, they are 1 year old with 10k miles. It also looks like the rag joint moves completely when shaking the front rim side to side.
The car drives great except for a small clunk at low speed over cracks or holes in the road. No PS fluid leak, just replaced high pressure line, no steering drifts or dead spots, no steering noise.
Entire front suspension replaced 1 year and 10k miles ago (UCA, LCA, SRBs- oem, links, sway bar bushings, rear UCA eccentric bushings also)
---
What type replacement rack and pinion assemblies might be an upgrade? lower ratio TBird?

 

[chris2523]

gen 1 and bird had the faster ratio.
going through the aftermarket, it's a bit of a lottery but usually ordering for a gen 1 is fine.

 

[Lvnmarks]

I've gone this route a few times. No issues.

http://shop.rackdoctor.net/1993-1998-Lincoln-Mark-V111-Rack-Pinion-16995-237-8.htm

 

[beerdog]

Replacing the stock rag joint with a Flamming River joint will give you a much better feel since it is a solid u-joint. It is over $100 though.

 

[dnsherrill]

I'm not fully convinced the rack is bad, this is with both wheels off the ground, steering wheel locked (rack unpressurized), and a helper pushing and pulling the rim at 3 and 9 o clock. no play in either side tie rod ends, the rag joint appears stable. I don't know if this much play at the output shafts is normal.https://youtu.be/EvPu5soRtSE
no PS fluid leaks, no noises when turning, no wandering or dead spots

 

[chris2523]

i can see a lot of left right movement, and some up and down movement.
i'm going with "definitely not good"

 

[dnsherrill]

i can see a lot of left right movement, and some up and down movement.
i'm going with "definitely not good"

considering this will cause premature failure of the other newish front end components, I guess this is worth replacing sooner rather than later

 

[dnsherrill]

replaced the unit this weekend, not the most fun I've ever had, but so far it looks like it's resolved the clunk that's been bugging me