All my other vehicles have rack and pinion steering, which even with a 140K on my Ford PU still fees tight and solid. My Tracker on the other hand, sloppy compared to the newer Fords I have, even after replacing most of the steering parts, tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. Anyone know if the 99 and up Trackers/Sidekicks have rack and pinion steering ? I'd like to take a look at converting.

Yes they do have rack and pinion 

Thanks Smife, good to know. Now, how does it hold up to wheeling?  Might have to start looking at the u pull it's.

I dont think the rack and pinion would improve things much over stock. The lower A-arm bushings are soft and weak, the lower front arm frame mounts flex and the strut towers are like limp spagetti. Improve those areas first, retrofitting the rack and pinion will not fix/cure those weak points. not too mention mounting a rack in there wont be that easy.

My Sidekick had steering that reminded me of a old school truck that had massive amounts of "give", after replacing the A-arm bushings, new ball joints, TRE's and installing a lower arm mounting support bar(to mount the calmini skid plate) the steering was as tight as any of the cars I have owned that had rack and pinion steering.

I have also seen the idler arm fall apart/break welds causing alot of give to the steering, also slop can develop within the steering box and in the steering column itself.

Thanks Smife, good to know. Now, how does it hold up to wheeling?  Might have to start looking at the u pull it's.

Try asking this question over in the Gen2 forum - on road it's pretty good, in fact with my OME's I have almost sports car precision, or at least as close as you can get with 3500 lbs of tall 4x4 - off road here is mostly mud & sand, so less brutal than some of you might be.

Talon, I have an across the engine strut brace, externally strengthened strut towers, Sky's heavy duty idler arm, Calmini's front frame brace, and more. The only things I haven't replaced in the steering department are the center link and the rag joint. I'm going to attempt to get at the rag joint again today, the damn thing is buried under my turbo, and the last time I couldn't get the bolts loose. I also tried to adjust my steering box, but didn't want to go to far with it, I've read ( here I think ) the to adjust it correctly the front wheels should be off the ground and a helper should be turning the steering wheel while it's done. Anybody know for sure? 

I believe the FSM covers how to adjust the steering box.  I would check over on Acks Faq.

We looked at doing a conversion from the 2nd gen Tracker to the 1st gen and it won't work without some serious work due to the later generation being wider.  You might be able to cut down the steering arms but the triangulation will likely still be off.

Maybe find a Subaru or something that isn't quite as wide.  Or a custom rack from a racing shop.

I found that the center drag link was the problem with mine.  I had that replaced and I feel it drives great now. 

Thanks Guys. I checked the steering box adjustment yesterday and found it to be a bit tight. Contrary to my own warped logic, I loosened it up a tad and it helped quite a bit with the on center " wandering " and made the truck much more relaxed to drive. Still has a bit of freeplay in the steering wheel, but according to the FSM up to 1.5" of play in the steering wheel is acceptable. ( not to me though, and I have about 1.5" of play) I've never replaced the center link, and I thinks it's about time. Gonna have a look at some parts sources.

Keep us posted if the centerlink replacement helps. I am curious myself because I have noticed a degrade in my steering also. I've been kicking around doing some "custom" linkage with heims.....


Personally I would not go the rack and pinion route, because I tend to wheel pretty rough and I would question how well it would hold up. But for road driving it would be awesome.


Another thought, and I know you probably inspect every inch of your rig, bentparts....... but recently I had cracks develop around my steering box... It happened last year and I plated the outside of the frame, I notice the steering was even more loose and after fixing it I definitely noticed it being tighter.....this year I developed another crack on the inside, so I had to drop the steering and plate the inside of the frame.

... but recently I had cracks develop around my steering box... It happened last year and I plated the outside of the frame, I notice the steering was even more loose and after fixing it I definitely noticed it being tighter.....this year I developed another crack on the inside, so I had to drop the steering and plate the inside of the frame.

Good to know.  I guess we all should check for that!

Thanks heiney.5. That's something I've never looked at and probably should. There really isn't as much slop in the steering as I make it out to seem, I'm just spoiled by the complete LACK of play in my r+p equipped vehicles.  I did peruse the 99 and up forum and actually found quite a few threads about the rack and pinion in the new models, mostly how much it costs to fix or replace them when they go bad, which seems quite often! I'll stick to my old school links and box. Gotta new center link on the way. Should help get that last bit of play that  is  removable out.