Elrick

The inner tie rods are bad on my 96 so I am going to replace the entire rack. I did this to my old 86 a few years ago and I put a quicker rack in. It was 2 turns lock to lock where the stock is 2.5. Does anyone know if the LT4's stock rack is 2 or 2.5 turns and where do you suggest I buy the new one? all the catalogs have them, some will rebuild your original. I can't remember where I got the rack for the 86. I think that the rack that is 2 turns is stock from the Z. Thanks

indianavette

Someone else can weigh in re 90-96 C4s, but I believe all '84-'89 Z-51 cars had the quicker steering. Not sure those early racks will fit your car.

TorchRedlt4man

The inner tie rods are inexpensive. You do need a special tool to remove them which I believe can be rented for free from some of the parts stores.

I replaced my inner tie rods just this last year.

My rack is original (bought the Vette new) and has over 132,000 miles. Works perfectly.

There are no quicker racks for the 96 Vette. AFAIK, they are all the same.

I cannot recommend one supplier for a new rack over another.

c4cruiser

The early C4's had different steering ratios depending on the suspension package. The Z51 suspension and the 87-88 Z52 suspension used the quicker ratio.

The later C4's used the same rack and ratio and I believe it's the quicker ratio. So look for a good reman unit. Might be a good idea to replace the outer tie rods too. Moog is about the best. TRW is also a good brand.

Also, flush out all of the old PS fluid and use a good synthetic fluid like Red Line. Inspect the hoses to make sure they are in good shape.

WVZR-1

If I had no hydraulic issues with my current rack I'd do the inner and maybe the outer. A reman is just that and the likely hood of substantially worse issues is certainly a possibility. The '96 rack is a single part number BUT to answer your own questions with "your" own car what is it "lock to lock"?

mtwoolford

Ah yes, someone else trying to engineer out all the "grandma mods" the factory put in over the years.

One my 96, I replaced the factory rack with a "sport Rack"; with the (faster) 13:1 ratio instead of the 16:1 stock ratio, 2 turns lock to lock versus the stock 2.5 turn (or more) lock to lock.

ZIP corvette part number SC-700. This is a rebuilt unit. I also replaced the stock rubber mounts with polyurethane SC-755.

A caveat: before you send your original rack in for the core deposit refund, compare your new "sport" rack on the bench against the original rack; they both look the same, but the sport rack will move the tie rod ends noticeably faster (farther) per unit revolution of the input (steering column) shaft. As it turns out, the first rack I received was a standard rack, but ZIP handled the replacement with the correct (sport) rack without problem.

StealthLT4

Yes, all 1996 racks are 2.5-turn.

Yes, a 2.0-turn rack will fit yours. Just be sure to get the 89-96 inner tie rod ends, as the suspension geometry changed, and earlier inner tie rod ends will not work.

I bought a reman 2.0-turn rack for my '96 on ebay and it has worked well.

WVZR-1

Might be the best advice of the day, week he!! month maybe -

CHECK THE PARTS - ASSUME NOTHING !!!!!!!!

StealthLT4

Also be sure to measure the length. The seller sent me 84-87 inner tie rod ends (shorter than 88-96), and I didn't notice until I installed it. Then I got to waste another day pulling it out...

Elrick

The rack in there now is 2.5 and I would guess it's original. I have all the paperwork from the 2 po's and they were pretty good record keepers. I have some play in the wheels when I put my hands at 9 and 3. I can see the inner tie rods moving. I already put moog outers, new timken wheel bearings so this is the last step i guess. I think I will look into just replacing the inner tie rods. There are no leaks or mourning sickness but the wheel is just not as responsive as it should be plus it will get the rack out of my way while I am trying to do the opti and get off the crank pulley. Thanks for all the replies

Klondike

"Turn One" does performance power steering racks and has performance pumps for C4's. I was going to get one of their pumps and was looking to maybe get my rack rebuilt.....until I saw the above post about a sport rack. I'm not sure what ratios Turn One offers or if they just rebuild what you send them. A quicker rack would be great! My LT4 steers like an old farm truck instead of a sports car. That's the one thing I liked about mu old 5.0 Mustang. It steered quick and went where I pointed, but it handled like a farm truck!