Hello Guys

My 170K mile manual steering rack is to the point were its pointless to put money into to so I decided to get a remanufactured one from Autozone. The question is would it be beneficial form me to get a Civic SI manual steering rack since my car is a 91 DX hatchback?

I used the search function and from what I read it has a quicker ratio but is it compatible with the DX?

Thanks in advance.

 

Why would it be worthless to rebuild? Do you realize that a remanufactured autozone rack is just a rebuilt factory one? Just buy the rack end bushing, new pinion seal, rack boots and maybe inner tie rods if yours are worn. Then rebuild your rack. Its very easy to do. Removing the rack is the hardest part, really. There are some good threads about it on here if you search.

 

fury summed up everything ive been saying about manual steering racks.

theres nothing to "rebuild" on them except for the rack end bushing which is $10.

the labor to take the rack out is the main part. swapping the bushing is easy after that.

just dont forget to adjust the rack properly. it takes a few adjust and drive attempts.


the DX/HF and Si racks are interchangeable tho. ive only used the Si rack, its actually not as quick, even tho its variable. but i doubt the difference is that noticeable. its not worth changing in my opinion.

 

Shout outs to Fury4 and Tyson-
I went ahead and researched a little more and discovered the cause of the vibrating and noise came from a missing rack end bushing on my passenger side. I also discovered a handy tool at my local Harbor Freight that allowed me to remove the inner tie rods without having to remove the rack. Its part 96558. It saved alot of work! I will also be heading down tomorrow to my parts dept and getting the rack end bushing and boot. The outer/inner tie rods seem in pretty good shape so im going to re-grease and reuse.

Thanks again. Im going to put the $300+ I saved on some track racing and beer this weekend.....

 

unfortunately i dont think thats going to work. the way the OEM inner tie rod is constructed, the tool wont clear. later tie rods and aftermarket ones are designed to work, but not our year OEM....

i havent tried tho. but once you look at it, youll see what i mean.

 

I didn’t think it was going to work either until I got it in there. I did have to remove the outer tie ride though. I ended up using the 17mm adapter it came with (crows’ feet?) and slipped it on the lock nut. I did have to beat back the locking washer of course. I then slipped the tie rod through the metal tube and started turning. It also comes with ratchet adapter at the end of it.

I found a youtube video that demonstrates it. I would have rented it if I could since its $40+ but I think it might come in handy in the future since I do plan to do more track stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSa-L529Ac

 

great to know!