Rack Doctor Steering Rack

[PeteD]

I swapped my steering rack 4-5 years ago with a rack from Rack Doctor. It is still as good as new. Re-manufactured to order. I believe the company is in NC or one of the Southeastern states; another "hand-built" in the USA product at an unbeatable price.

http://rackdoctor.net/Home_Page.html

[robmpulse]

I think I just found the place to get mine. Been rocking no power steering for years, but now the vehicle has turned into a DD. Time to get her back in shape. Thanks for the referral!

[E30NJ]

I swapped in a lightly used E36 rack into my E30. If you are looking to spend bigger money on a rebuilt rack you might as well upgrade and get a Z3 rack or a E36 325/328 rack. Less lock to lock ratio and they feel A LOT different than the good old E30 rack. Great for a daily driver. Best E30 mod i've done so far.

[PeteD]

Good call - I should have mentioned, I swapped in an e36 M3 rack.

[4door30]

So which rack in the Z3 section there would be the 2.7 turns lock to lock?

[PeteD]

Hi late reply, but I'm not 100% sure which Z3 rack is the 2.7 turns. The owner is knowledgeable in the BMW rack swap world, he could probably tell you if you haven't found the answer already.

[pandaboo911]

There's also a 2.8 turn e46 rack just so you guys know.
It's the one with purple ZF tag. Much easier to find.

[greyis89]

Yeah, great doing business with them, have for a while. Knows his stuff.

[pandaboo911]

Ive used Rack Doctor as well to do the E46 swap. He has been super helpful with me. I did get the wrong tie rod ends, but when i called they apologized and shipped the correct set that day.

I would never hesitate to do business with him again.

Just to clarify, which tie rods were correct for the e46 rack?

[PeteD]

Installed my second rack from them. All good again!

[etaclay]

I have also purchased an e36 m3 rack from him. Excellent customer service and great turn around time. As for the product, going on 7 months without any major issues. The metal straps that held down the boots came off one side. Quick and easy replacement so no big deal.

[just-a-car-guy]

Sorry for the interruption. You're one of the forums I recently used when searching for feedback for Rack Doctor. Here is my experience. Hope this is of some benefit.

Day 1 – Placed order around noon. Web site says item is in stock and they strive to ship with 24-48 hours of order.
Day 4 – Sent email to get status. No reply.
Day 5 – Call to get status. Order has not shipped.
Day 6 – Call to get status. Order has not shipped.
Day 7 – Call to get status. Leave voice mail.
Day 11 – Call to get status. Told they placed order with a different company to send me the part and was drop shipped. Could not provide tracking number. I knew nothing about the other company and my car had been idle too long so had local dealer provide part and install that day.
Day 12 – Order arrived at 6PM from company called Accu-Drive.
Day 13 - Shipped unopened box directly back to Accu-Drive at 9AM.
Day 18 – Accu-Drive receives returned part.
Day 19 – Although they do nothing but have my order shipped from another company, they refund $198.71 and keep $66.23. Stated this is a 25% restocking fee which is in their terms and conditions.
Day 20 – I reply with the following reasons as to why I returned item:
- Your web site said item was in stock
- Your web site said (in bold and underlined) that you strive to ship in 24-48 hrs and are usually received in 5 days transit (based on core return timeline). You ordered and had someone else ship on day 6 and item was received on day 12.
- Your web site talks about the 20 years experience and pride and quality of “your units manufactured in house at your facility”. My product was drop shipped from a third party company called Accu-Drive out of Maryland.
- You mention you have costs in doing business and reference terms and conditions. The terms and conditions are buried in fine print at the bottom of a page and are not even on the main web page. You also have an obligation to meet the customer expectations you set on your web site. Those are implied terms and conditions of which none were met.
Day 21 – They reply with the following reasons as to why they did what they did:
- Our website did not process the order
- It was missed
- It was human error
- We’re a small business
- You got a direct reply from us whereas a big box store would not
- We have costs to throw away clamps, use test fluid, power consumption, etc.
- Customers remove parts like inner tie rods
- Customers steal parts from our units and return them or damage the unit on installation and claim they never used the part "never opened is the claim"
- You would have been happy with the unit and the customer service
- To keep our prices down we simply cannot afford to pay for others errors
- We are already losing money having made no mistake
- We shipped exactly what you ordered
- My coworkers don’t work for free and want to get paid

Then he refers to a bible verse Proverbs 20:14. This verse suggests that I am telling him all the problems with his business just to get the price reduced so I can brag to others about how great a deal I got. So basically he’s saying I’m trying to con him. Funny thing is I never said anything about the $66.23 he charged me or the additional $18 to ship the order back, all for doing nothing more than placing a call to another company and making himself the middle man. I’m out $84.23 for what felt like a combination of poor service and bait and switch. I figure if you say you’re going to do something and don’t then simply take responsibility. Good luck.

[jeffnhiscars]

I don't know what you bought but companies drop ship stuff all the time.

I've also known Rich quite a while and done a lot of business with him. Not only do I trust his workmanship and his ethics, but I've heard enough of his customer nightmares to know there are always two sides to every story.

[cwlo]

I also had a good experience with Rack Doctor. Rich provided good guidance, and pricing amd lifetime warranty are great.

Chris

[crisby325i]

So I didn't want to start a new thread but have some questions regarding steering racks. I need to replace mine and want to upgrade. I've read in this thread and elsewhere that upgrading the rack is one of the best mods to do to an e30. I have a vert that will never be tracked or auto-crossed, but I still drive it to its limits in the mountains and local backroads and want to upgrade. My question is, what's the best daily driver rack upgrade? I am looking at Rack Doctor or one of Zionville's kits. If I go Rack Doctor, which model car is best for a DD that will also be pushed hard every now and then in the mountains? And if I go Zionville, which stage is best geared towards that style of driving? Stage 1, 2 or 3?

I ask because I remember someone saying one of them isn't good for DD because it reduces your turning radius, but I cannot find that particular thread.