I heard from a friend that the manual racks are stronger then the P/S racks. Does anybody know if this is true? I’d be swapping an ea82 power rack into my ea81. With my big lift and big tires manual steering is something I’d like to get rid of.

I really don't think so.

 

Inner tie rods are essentially the same, and that's the weak link of the racks.

 

Get a good EA82 power rack and throw it in there.

By stronger you mean “more reliable”?

 

Someone with experience can describe the “why” behind a suggestion, what is this persons reasoning and experience?

I think his reasoning had something to do with the manual racks having bigger teeth on the pinion. Again I have no idea if this is true. I guess a better question would be, has anybody ever had a catastrophic failure with their P/S rack?

Inner tie rods are essentially the same, and that's the weak link of the racks.

 

 

I think his reasoning had something to do with the manual racks having bigger teeth on the pinion. Again I have no idea if this is true. I guess a better question would be, has anybody ever had a catastrophic failure with their P/S rack?

 

I've never heard of an induced steering rack failure. looks like Gloyale has some experience above regarding what is going to fail if it does.

 

this is an indirect comparison but i've rebuilt wrecked and totaled subarus.  the control arms, struts, rims, tires, knuckle get mangled all the time and i've yet to see a damaged rack. 

I broke or bent a lot of parts offroading my Loyale, but never had any trouble with the power steering rack. That was with 29" tires on it too.