Irish Mini Owners Club

Just wondering if any of our technical guru's can tell me the difference between a mkII steering rack and a mkIII rack?

and then, could somebody tell me if a 2.2 turn quick rack can be gotten for and fitted to a mkII?,
I'm not too sure if they only suit from mkIII onwards?

I'm thinking that KAZ's road manner and general wandering while overtaking is down to a worn steering rack because
I'm getting quite a bit of play in the steering wheel!

To the best of my knowlodge its the MKl rack thats different, but they are all interchangable.

hi all i would also like to know about steering racks the steering on my car is very heavy i fitted a new one when i repaired the car but we have a 2000 cooper in work and the steering is very light even when the car is parked i have a 1980 culbman with 7/13 wheels should i fit a rack from a sportpack. sorry about last post in camping weekend.

Sportspack racks have a reduced turning circle, the rack has spacers in it to avoid the wheels hitting the inner arch on full lock.
Your problem is the 7 inch wide tyres, given the profile and aspect of the tyre you have 25%-30% more contact area between the tyre and the road which will give you much heavier steering especially at stand still.

hi all the car in were i work has 7/13 inch wheels also so i tough if i got a rack from one it might be better.maybe im geting old heavy steering and noisy engine? if its not broken dont fix it and all that. thanks

You could always fit power steering.

i reduced a lot of my heavy steering when i replaced the -1.5 degree camber bottom arms with standard items. improved the lightness of the steering some more when i had the tracking correctly set.... threw out the tiny steering wheel too.

woody wrote:To the best of my knowlodge its the MKl rack thats different, but they are all interchangable.

so do you think if I got a quick rack it would fit?

just an observational question but is it not said that quick racks produce bad handling issues on mini's?

A quick-rack will make the car more skittish.

Whatever you choose, make sure that the bushings and felt in the steering column are well greased, that the column and rack are in-line and the tyres are pumped to the correct pressure.

DAVEY_C wrote:just an observational question but is it not said that quick racks produce bad handling issues on mini's?

this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for!
do you know where you heard that?
was it another forum? link?
I'd need to know a bit more before I make any sort of decision

it was on the likes of theminiforum and turbominis etc where some who have fitted quickracks in the past quickly reverted back to standard racks due to handling issues. thats what i came across when i was looking into them but never used 1 but i'll have a bit of a search again...