How would someone know if they have a standard rack instead of the GT rack from 1988.

They're all the same.

I agree. When I replaced mine, they sold me a ”standard” '88 rack for a coupe, as opposed to a ”performance” rack for a GT. I placed both racks side by side, and turned the steering from lock to lock. They were identical.

When you read contemporary documents from 1988 there was talk of two different racks. They were having issues with the power steering on the GT rack and talked of putting the regular rack on the GT. Fast forward almost 30 years and we can't find evidence that there was two different racks. Evidently they put the same rack on all 88s for whatever reason.

What diffrences are there in other years?

Someone on here claimed to have mounted one in place of the other. I don't recall if he went older or newer, but it was not a direct bolt-in replacement, although from what he said, it was fairly minor. Several people claimed it wasn't possible to do what he did.

I believe that the rack bolts to the front crossmember, which is different between years. Obviously the tie rods are different lengths, and the control arms are different.

quote Originally posted by 2.5: What diffrences are there in other years?

Pre-88 GTs (and maybe the 84 Indy) had a rack with fewer turns lock-to-lock than the other pre-88 models.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Pre-88 GTs (and maybe the 84 Indy) had a rack with fewer turns lock-to-lock than the other pre-88 models.

And the mounting is different.

quote Originally posted by solotwo: And the mounting is different.

The mounting is the same for all pre-88 racks.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: The mounting is the same for all pre-88 racks.

Opps I thought it said 88 Vs others.