Han Solo

Ok, heres my situation. I have a 1995 del sol VTEC (power) and i had to replace the steering gearbox recently. afterwards the steering is extremely sloppy, it is very loosey-goosy and i dont have a good feel for the road. Because of this i wanted to upgrade the rack. I orginally wanted a manual rack from a "S" del sol, but after reading this thread i think i might just loop my stock rack. Will this fix my problem? Is the ratio from my del sol VTEC rack the same as the Dc2?

a1320honda

OK, so we just got through swapping to non-power on my buddys 95 teg. He had powersteering. So heres what we had to do. He got the "K" member from a wrecking yard and the non-ps rack. we pulled his whole "K". We were able to mount the non power rack on his factory "K" using all the factory teg bolts and on the passenger side we had to use the rubber bushing that goes around the rack on the pass. side. The difference is the power steering rack is bigger around and the power "K" has an indent for the bigger rack. No biggie though. We also used the steering knucke from an 88 hatch. the non-ps rack has a smaller input shaft than the ps. but the columns are all the same. So you need the knuckle from a non-ps car. other than that, its all the same. I hope this helps for people who search for this stuff in the future.

Stinkycheezmonky

Are you saying you found a non-PS Integra rack, or what? Because to my knowledge that doesn't exist.

a1320honda

Not from an integra, sorry i didnt clarify. the rack was from a del sol. so we put a non-ps rack on a ps "K" member

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

When mention the "knuckle" from an 88 civic, are you referring to the U-joint that connects the steering gearbox to the steering column? I ask because the term "knuckle" usually refers to the front upright assemblies (hub, knuckle, ball-joint, etc), and I know that the 88 civic ones won't work properly on a DC integra...

mike-y

just to chime in my experiences with doing this. I had a 93 EG hatch, and swapped out the rack for an ITR power steering rack (without PS hooked up of course). The U shape bracket on the passenger side is different on the PS racks (bigger) so you'll need that, or you can re-drill the holes on the non-PS one and make it work.

Anway, I left the fluid in the rack, and looped the lines. I had a little leak out, but it didn't seem to cause any problems.

I could immediately tell the difference. I used to park in a multi-level parking garage at work, and had to make lots of U turns getting up and down in there. with the stock non-ps rack, I had to shuffle my hands like crazy to make the turns. with the PS rack, there was noticably less shuffling. There was a little more effort, but the faster steering action was more than worth it.

There was also plenty of feedback thru the steering wheel this way too. I noticed this on the track during HPDE's, especially if I ran over the corner curbing :-].


btw, in reference to the NSX steering: the NSX power steering uses an electric pump, so there is no drag on the motor, and being electric makes it easy to control via the computer.

ChrisLaw

Is there a walkthrough for this "looping the lines" and adding a breather?

cbmprelude

I have a cx and would like fewer turns lock to lock, what would I need from a dc2 or an ex to do this?

D-t

I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Although I know a strut bar in the front, and a bigger sway bar in the rear will make the car feel tighter, stiffer, and handle better, I'm not to pleased with my gc/koni combo. Still feels kind of loose. I can take turns nicely but I feel that the steering wheel is still Loose? like when taking turns theres too much movement in the wheel, plus I need an alignment too, and I have shitty tires so when I make a hard turn I feel the tires not catching grip sometimes, and the revs will go up but the car is not going anywhere, I'm not enjoying this at all.

What would you guys recommend? Just leaving the ps in but removing the lines connected to it? Is that all that is needed? Or are there any other little things that need to get done as well? I have minimal hands on experience so that's why I ask. Thanks for all the help guys.

BTW I'm on koni/gc w/ 550f/500r spring rates. I dont' have the shocks at full stiff, but I think I'm going to turn all 4 to full stiff or maybe 3/4. What do you suggest? Plus I'm still getting a good/decent amount of roll, so I'm sure a sway bar for the rear will help out. Thank You!

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

The first thing you should do is get a damn alignment and some decent tires. There is NO reason to modify your suspension if your on driving on shitty tires. Grip is ALL about the tires...

D-t

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The first thing you should do is get a damn alignment and some decent tires. There is NO reason to modify your suspension if your on driving on shitty tires. Grip is ALL about the tires...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, I understand that. They are not totally crap, but even if I upgraded to some stickier tires, I think there wouldn't be a Holy crap difference. Difference yes, that I know. Tires are what keeps you planted to the ground, and your contact patch.

Also. Wondering about my question? I have a 97LS Integra. What should I do, remove the ps pump completely, or just remove the lines from the pump? If so what exact steps do I have to take to do something like that?

I love the feel of no power steering on the road. Sucks at lower rpm's, but you have so much more control on the road. Thanks guys.

RedEj8

So i was reading a WHILE ago about some guys de-powering P.S. racks..But they would take the pump and all the lines out, then take the rack out and take it completely apart and took out all of the little moving parts and such needed for power steering and also cut the metal seals off on the shaft inside the rack and just put grease on everything to keep it nice and smooth..Supossedly its much better than looping the lines because you dont have to push the fluid around inside the rack.Anyone done this and have any feedback?

marshun

its not that hard to push ps fluid through a rack thats looped and vented. its seriously not a hard mod. i've done it to a friends car and its seriously cake. but i like my power steering and im keeping it. its nice when im parking

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RedEj8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So i was reading a WHILE ago about some guys de-powering P.S. racks..But they would take the pump and all the lines out, then take the rack out and take it completely apart and took out all of the little moving parts and such needed for power steering and also cut the metal seals off on the shaft inside the rack and just put grease on everything to keep it nice and smooth..Supossedly its much better than looping the lines because you dont have to push the fluid around inside the rack.Anyone done this and have any feedback?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If looped & vented properly, your only pushing around air inside the tubes. A minor amount of fluid remains inside the rack to keep the parts lubed, but none of it gets pushed around when steering...