difference between pinions on racks

[wilky19]

whilst replacing the pinion on my power steering rack i found there were two different type of pinions.

both pinions looked the same and both had the same part numbers on and both made by the same company. but the replacement pinion wouldn't fit with my rack. so after a bit of head scratching I figured out why.

can anyone spot the difference?
original on left and replacement on right



still can't tell the difference

original


off the replacement rack


the replacement has 7 splines whilst the original has 6.

what is really weird is that the replacement wont fit in my rack. but the 6 spline will work in the donor rack and work fine

has anyone noticed anything else like this or do the help with the dispute between the pas racks being 3 turns or 2.7

[dkrevs]

That's interesting. Yes, it must be LTL ratio related. More splines->quicker rack. Are pinions interchangeable between PAS and Non-PAS racks?

[wilky19]

That's interesting. Yes, it must be LTL ratio related. More splines->quicker rack. Are pinions interchangeable between PAS and Non-PAS racks?

i don't know, but if they are you would have to use a non pas column cos the pinion piece is shorter on a manual rack.

[Evogone]

MMMM can you build as non PAS rack using the PAS pinions etc and have a 2.7 non pas rack ?

[Squeak]

this could be interesting,.....

[dkrevs]

Hmmm, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask at Quaife if they could make a 8 or 9 spline pinions. And then organizing group buy.

[wilky19]

MMMM can you build as non PAS rack using the PAS pinions etc and have a 2.7 non pas rack ?

yeah if you pack the 2.7 rack with grease and seal the holes in it.