Rack & Pinion ?

I have a 1998 Riviera my question is I need A new rack and I have magnasteer could I use a rack out of a 97 park ave without magnasteer would I have any problems with my steering not having magnasteer anymore Please someone help me out.

There won't be any problem driving your car without Magnasteer. In fact with a proper fitting Non-Magnasteer rack I think it will be better.
I have disconnected mine and driven it that way. I would like to find a non-magnasteer rack for my 98 as well. If you find the one from the 97 Park Ave fits please let me know.
I know someone with a Bonneville that had magnasteer and was able to buy a non-magnasteer rack for his bonny and prefer's it without magnasteer.

The only problem we have with the Rivieras is that they only came equipped from the factory with magnsteer so no one at the parts store can look up a part number for a non-magnasteer rack for you.

If you know this 97 PA will work go for it and once again please let us know, as I and some others on here would like to do the same.

There might be some useful info in the following link

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/brakes-suspension-f6/magnasteer-adjustment-not-possible-t2573.htm

'97 and '98 PA or PAU without magnasteer would be likely donors; probably best to check by calling Ed Morad at moradpartscompany.com

By the way - I bet Morad has a used rack WITH magnasteer at a fair price. There's around $150 diff between the rack with or without Magnasteer.

That said, are you so sure you need a rack? If you read more about racks on this baord you might find that a bottle of Lucas power steering fix will make the rack behave - but you really should read the posts and decide for yourself if you want to try that.

In summary the points are:

- you may not need a rack if your problem is related to the issues that GM issued the tech service bulletin (TSB) about; it will turn out you need new PS hoses or a bottle or 2 of Lucas and the same of synthetic PS fluid

- if no kidding you need a rack it might be best to get a used one from Ed Morad (moradpartscompany.com) He has 3 of them on hand, $60 each plus $30 shipping BUT you need to get tie rod ends new or reuse yours. If you are doing the install yourself probably best to ohone or email Ed and ask what's up. I suspect Ed's leaving he inners on and taking the outers off, which means you can screw yours on if they are still good. Depends. You could just get all new from RockAuto.com, have a look they are not that expensive.

Good luck and keep us all posted.

Albertj

Thanks for the help guys im going to go buy the rack this weekend and put it in and see what happens ill keep you posted as for my car i've already put a rack from 97 park ave with magnasteer it drove good for like 100 miles then it went back to driving really stiff like my car only wants to keep stright and when you turn the wheel a little while driving the whole car will jerk around its weird and say i'm gonna make a u turn the steering wheel will start moving a little bit on its own as I wait for traffic. Also if anyone blows there control arm bushing and dont feel like like buying a whole control arm i filled mine with 3m window weld and it's been good for 10000+ best thing i've ever did.

jimbo,
Please let us know if the Non-Magnasteer from the PA bolts right in without any hose issues or whatever. Thanks
And could you come up with the 3M part or model number of the window weld you used.?
Did it come in a regular size caulking tube?
That kind of info is good to know.
Thanks for contributing here. I certainly appreciate it.

snowman74g wrote:

Thanks for the help guys im going to go buy the rack this weekend and put it in and see what happens ill keep you posted as for my car i've already put a rack from 97 park ave with magnasteer it drove good for like 100 miles then it went back to driving really stiff like my car only wants to keep stright and when you turn the wheel a little while driving the whole car will jerk around its weird and say i'm gonna make a u turn the steering wheel will start moving a little bit on its own as I wait for traffic. Also if anyone blows there control arm bushing and dont feel like like buying a whole control arm i filled mine with 3m window weld and it's been good for 10000+ best thing i've ever did.

...sounds like dirt or other foreign matter in the fluid, or a rack valving failure, not magnasteer - magnasteer is not a very strong effect , it just makes the wheel a little stiffer to turn at speed. Junk in the fluid will inhibit boost until pressure is high enough to move it then it jerks in the direction you are turning. Valving failure will make the rack 'unbalanced' and the wheel will in that case turn by itself when parked. Rack balance can be adjusted *if* there are no mechanical problems with the rack otherwise.

Albertj

how much does it cost to have rack & pinon replaced? my is busted up real bad. i priced one for 287.00 at pepboys. i have a 96 riv

The price you were quoted from Pep-boys is a very fair price for a Riviera with Magna-Steer. I just priced one from Advanced Auto Parts and it was around $350.00 (It was an A1-Cardone) with an $80.00 core charge.
The price also depends on warranty available.
Have seen re-built racks for our cars as cheap as $150.00 on Ebay and add a core charge to that.
Some re builders I looked at a while ago on Ebay didn't even want the old one back, so there wasn't a core charge.
If your planning on keeping the car and want a warranty from a local store then your going to pay a little more.
If you are planning to pay someone else to do the installation I don't know how long of a job it is, but you will have to drop the rear of the cradle some to get the rack and pinion assy out.
While the cradle is dropped might as well upgrade the front sway bar while your in there as that requires the cradle to be dropped some as well.
Your best bet is to call around for the best prices and ask about warranties too. It will help you make better decision as to where to buy from and who to do the job.
Most shop's don't like it when you bring your own parts though and if they will do the job they will probably say no warranty due to customer supplied parts.

Hey guys, bad news for me now... my rack shit its pants pretty well. I priced out a reman through B2B ($577 CAN) and through Napa ($507 CAN). Us Canadians kinda get the stiff 1 eye in the keester all the time on parts, so I thought I better check with you guys on a possible cheaper south of the border source.

Any recomendations?

Also I will probably be doing my control arms, I was wondering if Energy suspension makes polyurethane bushings for the control arms, and if so part #'s???

No poly bushings available for the 95. sux but what can ya do. if you know someone with a lathe,you can but poly rods at mcmaster-carr and lathe them down.or you can buy the 2 part poly mix also at mcmaster and make em.sorry to break the news. if you get the urge to hack your self in the head with an ax from the frustration,go ahead,i hear health care in Canada is awsome!

robotennis61 wrote:

if you get the urge to hack your self in the head with an ax from the frustration,go ahead,i hear health care in Canada is awsome!

So thats why they charge so much at the parts counter, cause we don't have to pay for healthcare... you just made me have an epiphany.

Eh, the rack price new through GM is almost $1100!!!!!! MonsterParts has it for $611
P/N is 26044840

We deal with a rebuild joint locally. When I get a chance I'll get a price for 'ya Klix.

I think the rack and pinion is worn out on my riv.
I know a failed unit would have pretty notable issues but what about a unit with say 200k miles?
Reason i ask is it seems my cars responsiveness and steering feel has been gradually decreasing.
I have a completely stiff front suspension and new outer tie rods. There is no play when i try to move the tire/wheel with the car jacked up.
Here are my symptoms:
With the car off (key to acc) and i shake the steering wheel back and fourth. Sounds like the gears have a lot of play. The tires dont really move either.
Something else i have noticed is i can move the steering wheel a few degrees back and fourth on the highway and the car doesnt really move.

I have tried to check the inner tie rods and cant feel any discernible clicking at the ball joint, but it is difficult to feel with the boot on.

At $50 ea for good inner tie rods and $300 for a reman rack and pinion WITH new tie rods. would that be the way to go? Or have i misdiagnosed my problem? Could my subframe alignment cause these issues?

If it's one of the inner tie rods, moving the steering wheel should cause tire movement on the side that has the good tie rod. If both sides show equally lacking response, then I'd suspect the rack, or if both tie rods are really bad, you might as well take out the rack, and then maybe it's a good idea to replace the entire thing. $300 doesn't seem bad.

FYI, a Firestone tech refused alignment service on my wife's Toyota, because of a bad inner tie rod. I replaced it, even though the joint seemed perfectly intact to me. I even saved the old part as a back-up. But when I brought the car back to the shop, they were able to perform the alignment with no problem.

Neither wheel seems to move much when i have someone shake the steering wheel back and fourth a few degrees.
Can anyone with a new-ish rack or inner tie rods verify that the noise i am hearing and the movement in the rack is normal or abnormal?
With the car off, but the key on so the steering wheel isnt locked. shake it back and fourth maybe 3-5° from center. I get a clunking noise at the base of the rack and neither wheel moves very much in comparison with how much the steering wheel is moving.
Maybe this is normal because of the magnasteer or because of how much turn to turn our racks have, i really dont know.

Another thing I'd check as I had this problem is make sure the rear trans mount/ steering rack shelf is tight and not moving side to side or it creates a little bit of steering wheel play. Ideally, drive the front tires up on to ramps and get under there and look while somebody steers the wheel back and fourth that little bit so you can watch it.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=riviera+rack+and+pinion&_sacat=0&_odkw=riviera+rck+and+pinion&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313


if you decide to replace....might save you some cash...my gf's 95 needs one I might get one off of ebay....the 80 dollar one sounds too good to be true though.....

That is a great price for a used unit. but i think ill stick with rockauto for piece of mind.
Rockauto has one for $200, and after the discount shipping is pretty much free.
As hard as i drive my car though i'd like to install an acdelco unit for $347.
For $100 less the A1 cardone reman is tempting too.

Whichever one i go with i just hope it makes the car less numb on the road.

Codith, ill double check that but i dont recall any movement when i was checking the inner tie rods.

This is probably a real long shot, but is there any chance of a Grand Prix rack working on a Riv? I have a very low mileage one laying around, and when i put my car back together i figure it makes sense to have all the best parts i can in it.