hey i like the free work out… but yah i may be just plugging the lines as well… or may attempt this mod as well…
I pulled my ps off and capped rack. I did not vent it, but it seems air is getting out because it leaks when sitting for about a week.
It is a little tougher when stopped but once you start rolling I don’t even notice it is not there. It is very responsive, but I noticed more torque steer and freeway grooving. I prefer it to ps on my 02 CR-V which sometimes requires two hands when your not moving.
How did this swap work out? Did you finish it?
Re: Power steering to Civic manual rack swap…preliminary thread (pics)
Originally posted by AMERIKAN
[B]. Now if only my car were off the jackstands, I could actually let you know how this works.
[/B]
Luciferi, do you have any more pics of your car? Also, what brand of roll bar is that?
TIA
hey Luciferi, thats pretty nice…is it really yours? i know that 1 pic is like “the model” for that kit.
Why can’t you just put in a Manual DA rack? I don’t have any problems with the amount of effort needed to steer at low speeds, so if the ratio is the same it would be fine with me. I would want to do the swap just to clear out my engine bay and not have to worry about the PS rack locking due to lack of fluid movement.
Originally posted by AMERIKAN
[B]Luciferi, do you have any more pics of your car? Also, what brand of roll bar is that?
TIA [/B]
yes, i have penty of pictures, none recent though. The roll cage was custom built by Huseman Engineering in Riverside Ca. Huseman Engineering is a complete fab shop specializing in off road racing and drag racing. Rick Huseman Racing is currently leading the Pro Lite points for the Championship Off Road Racing series
Originally posted by VTEC_Teggy
hey Luciferi, thats pretty nice…is it really yours? i know that 1 pic is like “the model” for that kit.
Why wouldn’t it be mine?
This seems to me like a waste of time and while everyone really likes the idea no one really thinks how this could be a bad thing.
The 90-93 integra is the only integra ever made to have a speed sensitive steering. The 86-89 had fixed power assist. The 94+ has a RPM sensitive steering meaning the flow of the fluid decreased after the engine was raised up.
What limits the speed of the power steering is the sensor that is placed on top of the transmission that the speedometer cable hooks onto. The assist gradually decreases from 0 to 30 MPH and is totally no power assist after 31 MPH. This is accomplished by taking away the fluid from the rack’s valve assembly and relieving pressure.
This modification will make the vehicle harder to turn from 0-30 MPH while doing nothing from 31 MPH on up.
If you really want to improve your handling I suggest increasing your front wheel caster.
Caster is the rate of change in camber while turning. The factory caster is set fairly low. Increasing your caster will provide better feedback and enhance the stability of the car.
Since these cars have permanently set caster. The only way to increase the caster is to replace the radius rods with the ones from a 86-89 accord 5 speed and drill the two mounting holes with a 1/2" drill bit on a drill press. The sleeves and bushings from the integra will fit w/o any problems. I would get it aligned immediately and instruct the aligner to increase the caster to maximum.
radius rods with the ones from a 86-89 accord 5 speed
i still need to pick some of those up prolly a good thing to do while im getting the bushing kit installed huh?
Hello Carchitect,
Replacing the Radius Rods is not the only way to adjust castor, Progress and OPM Motor Sports both produce Radius Rod spherical bearings mounting in the front crossmember that allow adjust the to length of the rods. A number of companies produce front cross members with adjustable Radius Rods. A-Sports also produces replacement adjustable Radius Rods with spherical bearings. The front inner shoulder of the Radius Rods can also be machined back to allow shorting and maximum stock settings.
The biggest problem though is stock alignment setting for castor are 0.5 to 2.5 degrees castor. If you attempt to put much more then the maximum stock settings you begin to bind the lower control arm at the damper forks and unibody pivots reducing the effectives of the suspension.
The only current probable solution I am aware of is Progress has recently released spherical bearings for the lower control arms that may provide enough degrees of freedom to increase the castor beyound stock settings with out binding the pivots.
I currently run the OPM Motor Sports spherical bearings in the front cross member with 2.6 degrees castor.
I’ve removed the PS belt and I can tell you there is a noticable difference when I go through turns. The best way to discribe it is that I can feel exactly where the tires are going to loose traction in a turn without PS. With the PS on, you can’t feel anything close to what you feel without it.
Thats why I took my belt off, not for .000038 HP.
-Steve
back from the dead…
possible to update the pics for a hopeful learner? 