Rack & pinion steering on a straight axle is a disaster waiting to happen. The link from the steering column to the R&P has a nasty habit of getting a bind and locking up, usually at the worst possible moment in a tight turn due to body lean and/or a rough road surface. The necessity for the linkage to change length and undergo extreme angular changes of the universal joints at the same time can, and usually does result in the parts getting into a mechanical bind.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!