Fitting a quick rack to an LS2 Monaro. Not a straight swap!

[vxr2010]

on a cv8 the quick rack was simply the standard rack fitted to an au car , and yes it does make a lot of difference

[Aitch H]

I never felt there was any problem with the steering on both of my CV8’s, but I did have just about every other modification to the suspension, bushes, brakes etc that was available. After all they are a modern day muscle car, not a track car like a Lotus so I suppose I expected them to steer the way they did, and they were both far, far better and more precise than my 70’s yanks! The only time I noticed that they felt a little ‘old’ was stepping out of a very modern car and straight into the Monaro, but as has been said on here before, that just made it more of an occasion when I drove them

[stu vxr]

Aitch H said:

I never felt there was any problem with the steering on both of my CV8’s, but I did have just about every other modification to the suspension, bushes, brakes etc that was available. After all they are a modern day muscle car, not a track car like a Lotus so I suppose I expected them to steer the way they did, and they were both far, far better and more precise than my 70’s yanks! The only time I noticed that they felt a little ‘old’ was stepping out of a very modern car and straight into the Monaro, but as has been said on here before, that just made it more of an occasion when I drove them

Agree totally, the thing is though there are many cars from the era of the Monaro that steer way way better, from the factory it's truly awful and I feel that's being kind.

Having said that with front end pack and the so called quick rack it's better, I also run pedders suspension.

The above though is my only criticism of my car as I am supercharged and there is nothing I have ever driven that presents such an occasion.

[Aitch H]

stu vxr said:

Agree totally, the thing is though there are many cars from the era of the Monaro that steer way way better, from the factory it's truly awful and I feel that's being kind.

Having said that with front end pack and the so called quick rack it's better, I also run pedders suspension.

The above though is my only criticism of my car as I am supercharged and there is nothing I have ever driven that presents such an occasion.

Both of mine had the full Monkfish treatment, poly bushed, focus pack, Pedders suspension, Hinson engine & transmission mounts and everything done under the bonnet failing supercharging and they were both great cars making very close to 500Bhp each on SRR, the thing you have to remember though is they were already old when they were built. The chassis is based on what was the Senator in the UK and whatever it’s called out in Oz and that was already at least 14 years or more old when the Monaro was first introduced in 04, remember the Senator was a 80’s/90’s car. Again, that’s no criticism from me as I love these cars but worth remember when comparing them to similar aged cars. Really we should be comparing them to late 80’s/early 90’s cars like GSI Carlton’s and the like, then the steering, fit and finish suddenly seem a lot better

[SturdyHSV]

stu vxr said:

On a different note not sure whether the so called quick rack is worth it, selective to say the least, I have and I can't honestly say probably the worst value for money I have ever spent.

I only felt a slight improvement after having been fitted, electric power steering will always be better.

I would give anything for my Monaro to steer like a modern car sadly that upgrade will never be available.

Not wishing to blindly defend the quick rack as realistically I've not driven a particularly wide array of cars to form an informed opinion, but what in your experience is lacking steering wise?

Is it a matter of quick response, precision, feel / feedback, weight?

I only ask as you mentioned electric will always be better and wishing it steered like a modern car, yet from journalists and the like, opinion seems to be that electric power steering whilst quick and light doesn't offer much feel / communication?

Obviously there's no right and wrong as it's very much subjective (and journos have to prove to us they're driving gods that can tell when a 600bhp 1700kg car has lost 35kg since the last time they drove it 3 years ago because they can feel the difference )

[stu vxr]

SturdyHSV said:

Not wishing to blindly defend the quick rack as realistically I've not driven a particularly wide array of cars to form an informed opinion, but what in your experience is lacking steering wise?

Is it a matter of quick response, precision, feel / feedback, weight?

I only ask as you mentioned electric will always be better and wishing it steered like a modern car, yet from journalists and the like, opinion seems to be that electric power steering whilst quick and light doesn't offer much feel / communication?

Obviously there's no right and wrong as it's very much subjective (and journos have to prove to us they're driving gods that can tell when a 600bhp 1700kg car has lost 35kg since the last time they drove it 3 years ago because they can feel the difference )

I only felt a difference lock to lock when fitted, the steering still felt unresponsive when turning slightly, for example compared to electric have to turn the steering wheel more to get the same degree of turn on the wheels.

I had the front end pack done at the same time along with alignment etc i also run coilovers.

I don't think the poor steering on the Monaro is particularly down to the chassis as some suggest, I just think it's a combination of poorly designed front suspension along with the racks available, after all the quick rack is not really aftermarket as it's a cv8 rack that merely reduces lock to lock.

I think myself personally I expected to much, unlike other mods I have had, other peoples opinion will differ and I respect that, mods are a personal choice.

Edited by stu vxr on Tuesday 15th October 19:53

[SturdyHSV]

stu vxr said:

I only felt a difference lock to lock when fitted, the steering still felt unresponsive when turning slightly, for example compared to electric have to turn the steering wheel more to get the same degree of turn on the wheels.

I had the front end pack done at the same time along with alignment etc i also run coilovers.

I don't think the poor steering on the Monaro is particularly down to the chassis as some suggest, I just think it's a combination of poorly designed front suspension along with the racks available, after all the quick rack is not really aftermarket as it's a cv8 rack that merely reduces lock to lock.

I think myself personally I expected to much, unlike other mods I have had, other peoples opinion will differ and I respect that, mods are a personal choice.

Edited by stu vxr on Tuesday 15th October 19:53

I think that's fair enough, certainly the very initial response in the first say 5 or 10 degrees of lock either way there isn't a lot of action, I think some have said tyres play a part in that initial response too

I've got quite a small wheel on mine (330mm) and it does mean your hands really don't have to move very much for the car to react, but that isn't actually resolving the problem, just changing ones interpretation of it I think.

[vxr2010]

i thought the pedders rack was a good mod , from what the fish said they don’t do a quick rack just the pedders rack which is an au standard rack , mini roundabouts became a bit easier to steer around as the lock to lock was shorter and quicker , if you have a “moment “ lol , steering is a bit quicker and easier to catch it , on a note the monaro is based on an older car , that’s why it’s nice to drive v a too modern a car that does too much for you , the rack on my monaro an 04 cv8 with coilovers and road response pack steers better and feels better than my 2010 maloo that has pedders shocks

[MedwayMonaro]

My Monaro previously had a standard rack and I've recently swapped for a quick rack. I also have a 2018 Volvo S90 that had electric PAS system (as do most cars today).

FWIW, the Volvo does steer nicely and is easy to drive, thankfully as I do around 25k a year in it.

The previous Monaro rack has a degree of play around the centre, which is mostly eliminated by swapping to the quick rack. In either case, where the Monaro has a hydraulic system, it's not as easy to drive, but the feel and response is far more feelsome (is that a word?) than the Volvo, or any of the others cars I've driven with electric PAS.

[RichMVXR]

Got the rack today. Think I can see what’s different, they have rotated the feeds as pictured?

[RichMVXR]

Got the car back from fitting and the steering is a bit of a mixture at the moment. It feels a lot more like a normal car now and does 2.5 turns lock to lock which is better. It’s stiffer though and at the moment the wheel doesn’t return to centre as easily. It may just be tight and new at the moment so will give it a few more drives to bed it in.

They managed to modify the existing return pipe as it was in good condition and could be bent with a pipe bender.

[mfp4073]

My car is on SORN at the moment and I haven't used it for over a month. However I had to move the car out of the garage the other day and I noticed straightaway how heavy and much more effort It took to turn the steering wheel ( compared to a new car ) so that's normal. The steering should have a satisfyingly beefy feel to it especially at low speeds. At high speeds the feel will lighten up but not by much.
I don't have any issues with the steering wheel not returning back to its central position, that might be an alignment issue or even low tyre pressures?
The racks don't require a break in period they should be good to go when first fitted.

John

Edited by mfp4073 on Saturday 2nd November 11:22

[RichMVXR]

Tracking may well be a good shout as they weren’t set up to properly align it. Seems the wheel is as heavy to wind up as it is to unwind when moving which does feel weird.

[stu vxr]

RichMVXR said:

Got the car back from fitting and the steering is a bit of a mixture at the moment. It feels a lot more like a normal car now and does 2.5 turns lock to lock which is better. It’s stiffer though and at the moment the wheel doesn’t return to centre as easily. It may just be tight and new at the moment so will give it a few more drives to bed it in.

They managed to modify the existing return pipe as it was in good condition and could be bent with a pipe bender.

I remember reading an old thread years ago about how some people felt the quick rack was a little stiffer, I would say this is normal, not sure about not returning to centre though probably best to get full alignment done, although I thought the garage would have done that as a norm after fitting a rack?

[RichMVXR]

They did align it but don’t have the best set up.

The weight in the rack feels good to be honest but the fact it doesn’t unwind quick enough spoils it somewhat. I’ve spoken to them today and they will take it back in to have a look. They’re wondering if the fluid isn’t exiting the rack fast enough so will check the pipe work again.

[stevieturbo]

The steering should always self centre, and it's dangerous if it is not. That needs remedied asap.

Could be the rack, any one of the joints, and/or alignment.

[RichMVXR]

Had the car hunter aligned and it feels better. Actually the steering now feels fantastic. More responsive and makes the car feel much better on corners. I’ve yet to drive any real distance with it but hopefully that’ll be soon weather permitting.

Old...



After alignment...

[Drihump Trolomite]

Pirtek are good for custom pipes if needed