While i'm here, I haven't abandoned this, but it was pushed aside for a while.
Instead of the external powerpack i'm shifting towards a new housing for the stock rack assembly. Reuse the control valve and maybe the rack gear in a machined housing. Allows increased piston diameter and improved mounting points. Looked around for a stock vehicle rack that i could reuse the control valve and a larger rack from, but me being behind the axle steering is certainly not the norm among modern vehicles. Flipping stuff upside and backwards down changes the steering pinion angle. Been learning about hydraulic seals. My other hobby stuff is all under 350 psi, so it's easier. Parts will be two easy to machine cylindrical parts, then one complex piece to replicate the factory swagged housing.
I did find a machine shop that will cut sector gears onto a custom 50mm dia rack. way bigger than the stock 32mm and could omit the slider entirely. From my research most helical gears are proprietary so i can't lean on a standard. Instead i need to have them measure and reproduce the stock profile. I don't do gear design at work so i gotta learn more than the basics.
Crossmember is refined a bit in terms of interior structure and alignment "cams." Still a ton to do and i'm starting to find a few inconsistencies in the scan. Also, i need to make a full kinematic model of the suspension/steering to verify it'll drive ok. Was going to avoid that, but the steering heims just don't fit in the exact stock positions.
Phase 1 will be the crossmembers and improved mounts paired with a stock steering rack. Next phase would be the larger rack itself.
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