,
A long intermediate shaft supported by a caged needle bearing extends down under the car. There will be a cover that seals the wheel well from the engine compartment.
Under the car lives this shaft that is perfectly placed to minimize bump steer and give correct Ackerman. It slides back and forth on linear bearings. As you can see there is no space here for a conventional steering rack, probably the same issues that Nismo faced with the JGTC car since we are using nearly the same powertrain. The shaft bolts to the tie rods.
Basically, the rod serves the same function of a drag link in an old school steering system. Instead of the bump steer creating nightmare that is a normal drag link, Gary’s system is held firmly by the linear bearings so it serves as a hybrid drag link/steering rack. The rod acts like a drag link but has the proper geometry of a steering rack. You have seen our lower engine cradle and lower control arm mount subframe in previous editions of this series. You can see how the steering drag link attaches to the cradle.
This arm connects the intermediate shaft to the drag link. It has multiple holes so that the motion ratio can be changed to adjust the steering quickness to the driver’s taste. It’s somewhat complicated but all important to add up to what will eventually be the best handling BNR32 ever built! Eric who is a weight Nazi had to be convinced that the system would be worth the extra complication and mass but since Nissan had done something similar on the works JGTC cars it helped the suspension department’s case.
You can see how the inner tie rod will line up perfectly with the lower control arm pivot point for low bump steer. Further gusseting and support will be added for the rack mounting. The RH header sits just above the front differential (Eric pirated the front diff from a VR38 GTR) so it was wrapped in DCI Performance’s extreme duty Header Wrap Si. The front and rear diffs are from OS Giken and the clutches and friction plates were WPC treated.
You can also see how the tie rod will be in nearly the same plane as the lower control arm in this picture. The toe curve will be so much better than stock.
