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ls400 steering rack

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Old 10-25-05, 01:27 PM
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soardrft
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Default ls400 steering rack

after a couple of unsuccessful drift events i am noticing my steering angle sucks. in car i feel sideways, but if i watch the tapes my tires still look straight. for my last event i push my car to the limit with the jic tie rods. after reviewing the tapes man oh man it helped, but i still looked like an x-crosser. honestly i was close to giving up until i heard this being done. our beloved d1 driver is using a ls400 steering rack. Now this has me thinking. i know he will spend 10 times more money than i will, but can anyone tell me if it would be a bolt on process or a major custom job? gotta follow the leader in this case because he is having the same problem i am. if anyone watches this guys videos you will notice his drifting is great, but he never wins events. look closely next time and you will notice it is due to the angle of the car. he is consistant, but no angle.
Old 10-25-05, 03:51 PM
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mikeloc24
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Originally Posted by soardrft
our beloved d1 driver is using a ls400 steering rack. but can anyone tell me if it would be a bolt on process or a major custom job? gotta follow the leader in this case because he is having the same problem i am.
I've never heard of an LS rack being used in an SC but perhaps you can compare part numbers to see if they match up?

What did this other guy have to say about it? Did you speak to him yet?

edit: I just checked with steering rack.com and looks like the part numbers are different man. That does not bode well for an easy bolt on application unfortunately

Last edited by mikeloc24; 10-25-05 at 04:05 PM.
Old 10-26-05, 06:03 AM
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never spoke to the guy after this modification was done, but he will be here for D1 so i guess i will take 1,001 pics. and hopefully i can get a tutorial on how to do it.
Old 10-26-05, 11:27 AM
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VJ RC51
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Originally Posted by mikeloc24
I've never heard of an LS rack being used in an SC but perhaps you can compare part numbers to see if they match up?

What did this other guy have to say about it? Did you speak to him yet?

edit: I just checked with steering rack.com and looks like the part numbers are different man. That does not bode well for an easy bolt on application unfortunately
Different part numbers dont mean anything. Its like buying parts at autozone for a camaro, if they say they are sold out, ask for the same part for a firebird, it will pull a different part # but is exactly the same
Old 10-30-05, 01:34 PM
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I assume you're talking about Ueno...I will ask him in december when he's here for D1. I hung out with him and most of the D1 guys in Vegas last year. I didn't have and SC then but he was friendly enough and I'm sure he'll be happy to let us know what's up.

One of my friends from Japan that has his own shop is building a drift SC also and it's one of the first things he said he wanted to change. He didn't mention the LS rack but he was complaining about how much we need to crank our wheels to get angle.
Old 11-10-05, 07:46 AM
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ok so i been trying to get more info on this steering rack. when searching i ran into another way to produce steering angle, however you can't believe everything you hear. i recieved an email from a drift shop in LA that said this:

I could just cut and weld the upright, or redrill and make rod end type outter tie rods but that would be more cause of the parts and time.

can anyone explain what this would do? the funny thing is i drift my car but only know basic suspension tuning. hence my poor setup which i am trying to improve according to my driving style. thanx in advance.
Old 11-10-05, 09:58 AM
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I see your research is going pretty well. About LS steering rack, he took it out from Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS) so LS ones could be diffrent from Celsior ones, also it said that front suspension geometry was completely revised. He also did a makeover in the fenderwells.
Now, all this info is about his Version 3 Soarer, not 1 and 2.
Old 11-10-05, 10:25 AM
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yeah i got that far, but another shop is saying just re-adjust what i currently have and i should have the same outcome. wondering if i should trust it. i mean sounds good on email, but its 500-1000 out of my pocket. now the same shop told me to use spacers on my tie rods which to my suprise helped out a lot when i used my old techniques, but made it hard as hell with the new one i am trying out.
Old 11-10-05, 10:32 AM
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Yes, Its like an S2000 with an FD Steering rack it will give you more angle.

Im actually going to be doing something a bit different see if it works. It worked on my AE86 and I don't see why it would not work on the SC. (Note that I have not seen the steering rack on the SC300)

I know about the LS400 steering rack, A buddy of mine have done it on his car and he got about 1.5 more angles. I believe if you add spacers inside the inner tie rod it'll give you atleast another inch.

I would post pic of my AE86 set up but its down right now.
Old 11-10-05, 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by soardrft
ok so i been trying to get more info on this steering rack. when searching i ran into another way to produce steering angle, however you can't believe everything you hear. i recieved an email from a drift shop in LA that said this:

I could just cut and weld the upright, or redrill and make rod end type outter tie rods but that would be more cause of the parts and time.

can anyone explain what this would do? the funny thing is i drift my car but only know basic suspension tuning. hence my poor setup which i am trying to improve according to my driving style. thanx in advance.
I kinda get what he meant but not enough info in there.

You can add spacers in the inner tie rod for more angles. If you got more than 3-4 spacers you need to weld the Inner Tie Rod for safety.

Im thinking thats what he meant....
Old 11-10-05, 10:37 AM
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so your friend did the ls conversion? how did he do it can you give me more info?
Old 11-10-05, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by soardrft
so your friend did the ls conversion? how did he do it can you give me more info?

I don't have more info of what he have done. All I know that he swap an LS steering rack on the car.

I didn't have an SC at the time. I will ask him this weekend when I head out to LA.
Old 11-10-05, 10:42 AM
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just to be clear this was done on a sc? wow please let me know because i know the spacers are a great upgrade, but the steering rack from my simple knowledge will do me justice.
Old 11-13-05, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by MongolKhan
About LS steering rack, he took it out from Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS) so LS ones could be diffrent from Celsior ones, also it said that front suspension geometry was completely revised. He also did a makeover in the fenderwells.
Now, all this info is about his Version 3 Soarer, not 1 and 2.
i'm 99.99% sure the LS and Celsior steering racks are the same....I need to get my Toyota EPC program up and running to check the part #'s but I'm confident they're the same.....but the question remains.....what chassis did the steering rack come from? UCF10? UCF20? UCF30?

I wonder what he did with the fender wells...
Old 11-16-05, 08:23 AM
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Originally Posted by roo

I wonder what he did with the fender wells...

Pretty muched just tubbed them out so that he would have enough room for the steering angle and large rims. You can see the custom wheel wells he fabbed in the engine bay pics.


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