jlce88 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 good write-up...this is def a rainy day project next on my list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praedet Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Just did this over the weekend. Thread is here. Seems to be a good mod so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Love the bushings.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05BluePearlGT Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 now like any of my other questions in the suspension forum: will they fit the 2.5i ? i have done the same mod on my integra with the energy suspension bushings and the results are beyound my expectation, freaking awesome. I used ES Motor Mount Bushings on my civic. They worked awesome. My wheels would hop like hell stock in the civic. Turbod worse. The MM bushings worked awesome to keep the wheels on the ground better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockets GT Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Highly recommended for those who don't plan to do a great deal of suspension work or go with bigger wheels and tires. What would be affected by getting bigger wheels? I am installing the SR bushing this weekend and am planning on getting some 18's over the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 These rack bushings have nothing to do with other susp. mods or wheels/tires. Every LGT needs 'em regardless of other mods...in fact I'd say they're MORE needed with mods and new wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTsleeper Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 ^^6 so what ur saying is i need to get these, just because. that big of a difference....steer feel turning,ect......? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 It takes the mushy feeling out of the wheel. The wheel feels likes it's turning on buttery smooth bearings now, whereas before, there was a spongyness to it. You'll feel it immediately after installing them. Backing out of the driveway, slow corners in parking lots, hard corners on off-ramps etc. Is it a WOW I'm driving a different car!? No, but it makes a big difference in the steering to me. For $41...you can't go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 I did this earlier today and wish I had done it sooner. Definitely helps tighten up the steering and does a lot to kill the on center dead area that the steering has stock. One question though. In praedet's thread he mentioned that the area between the shoulders on the bushing is narrower on the whiteline bushing than on the stock one. I was just wondering how big a difference this was on other people's bushings. On mine the area between the shoulders was about 3.5mm narrower than the bracket. Because of this the bracket sat so that you couldn't even get both bolts started without bending the bracket. Once I got the bolts in everything fit fine. Did anyone else have this issue or was it just me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Yeah, I had the issue, but I was able to spead the shoulders apart with a flat-tip as I tightened the bracket down and it fit snug. FWIW that same bushing fits perfectly on the STi with no stretching-the 05+ STi bracket is a little narrower than the LGT's bracket. It's all good though and it feels good...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Prolly won't help tracking...the effects are hard to explain. They are strictly a driver feedback "feel" mod. Unlike the '04- steering racks, the '05+ racks are pretty solid. These bushings will do little if any actual physical steering modification. Make sense? Kinda hard to explain. Don't expect a different car by any means. It just makes the steering wheel itself feel slippery smooth and makes it glide on it's bearings better. No more slight spongyness when give steering input, just immediate response. You're still stuck with the slight vagueness at dead center and the piss-poor high-ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifiandmtb Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 My review (posted on MRTRally.com) & feedback to Whiteline: Hey Whiteline - I bought the STi steering racks bushes from you about a month ago on the proviso that they *should* fit a GEN4 Liberty. Well, you were right. The drivers side bushes fitted like a glove, but the passenger side wrap-around bush needed a little Dremelling. The flange width on the "small" side was about 3 mm too small. Not hard to fix, but I'd hate to try & cut the excess out with a knife or something http://www.mrtrally.com.au/forums/icon_smile_wink.gif For other interested parties, here's how to do it. Fitting the bits 1. Jack the car up as high as possible & use some nice, solid jackstands. My front wheels were dangling with about 6 inches of clear air. This gives you enough room to wield a breaker bad & work on the bushes with at least a modicum of clearance. If you have access to a hoist, this would make it even easier. 2. Pull off the plastic panel under the engine. I won't need to tell you how to do this...I'm sure you've had it off before. 3. Now remove the small panel bolted to the front cross-member that covers the middle section of the steering rack & front sway bar. You will absolutely need a breakerbar here - those 14mm bolts are done up tight. The awkward access makes it even more difficult...but they all loosened in the end. 4. Now you have full access to the steering rack. Again, using the breaker bar, go around all six bolts (four on the driver's side, two on the other) and crack them loose. At this stage, I removed the passenger side bracket & loosened the driver's side bolts. It was easy to remove the passenger side wrap-around bush...and at this stage I realised a little Dremelling was needed. 5. Now onto the drivers side. Once you remove all the bolts, you will find that the rack doesn't really drop all that much at all. The pipes & universal joint up top see to that. Mark the position of & loosen the lower universal joint bolt (12mm). This can be done from below. No need to take the bolt out or anything - you will now see that the rack has moved a little more & you can squeeze the "bush remover tool" nut behind the old bush. 6. Using the uber-fancy "bush remover tool", pop the two OEM bushes out. Once you stop the goddam nut from turning http://www.mrtrally.com.au/forums/icon_smile_angry.gif the nut bites into the rubber & the bush pops out. 7. Now squeeze the top-half of each WL bush into place. You will have just enough room to do this - again, the steering rack pipes stop the rack from dropping down very far. 8. Pop the lower WL bush halves in. It will look like this! http://photos.all.id.au/SJ_Whiteline_Control/IMG_6316 9. Now add a little grease to the inside of the WL bushes & whack the metal sleeves into place. 10. Align the steering rack over the drivers side bolt holes as good as you can & put everything back together. Judging on the factory tightness, I'd estimate the torque measurement to be "bloody heaps". 11. Now re-torque the lower universal joint bolt. You will find nothing actually separated here, so marking the relative positions was unnecessary. I'd mark it anyway, just in case! http://www.mrtrally.com.au/forums/icon_smile_tongue.gif 12. Double-check that all bolts are now tight & restore order down below. 13. Go for a drive. Probably a good idea to do some low-speed maneouvering before hitting the highway, just in case something's awry. Driving impressions Well, first thing was that the wheel was off to the left a little. Obviously, the new bushes placed the rack in a slightly different position. I'd estimate the maximum difference would be less than 2mm, but that's enough to put your wheel a bit wrong. The second thing I noticed was more subtle. The steering is more direct, and the wheel is more stable. The steering seems at once both calmer & more precise. I foudn myself turning in a little more than necessary until I became used to it. The car was always a bit "steer with your fingertips", but now even more so. On my private test-track (read Royal National Park) the steering calmness was welcome. The wheel feedback is more solid, & corrections (for crosswinds or camber changes) are smaller. The difference is subtle, but it is noticable. When I arrived back home, I fixed the steering wheel straightness with a little "ghetto alignment" {lengthen the LHS steering arm & shorten the RHS steering arms an identical amount} & all is now perfect. I will report back if I find any other behaviour, but as far as I can tell there are NO NVH tradeoffs & a subtle, welcome firming feel to the steering feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubieRU Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I got the bushings installed about 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately I don't feel any improvement in the steering feel -- it still feels very light, like there is not enough contact between the tires and the road. I tried an alignment as an alternative cure, but it did not help either. Any suggestions? This light steering feel driving me nuts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trabbic Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I got the bushings installed about 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately I don't feel any improvement in the steering feel -- it still feels very light, like there is not enough contact between the tires and the road. I tried an alignment as an alternative cure, but it did not help either. Any suggestions? This light steering feel driving me nuts! What tires are you running? Also the only time when you will most likely be able to feel the difference is at high cornering speeds/efforts. Have you had a chance to push it yet? My vB Garage How to Install Steering Wheel Radio Controls Cubby Gauge Mounting Solutions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebpda9 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I got the bushings installed about 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately I don't feel any improvement in the steering feel -- it still feels very light, like there is not enough contact between the tires and the road. I tried an alignment as an alternative cure, but it did not help either. Any suggestions? This light steering feel driving me nuts! my steering is very light too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlloydlgt Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 My steering wheel was off when I bought the car. Alot of people had this problem with the wheel being off to the right when they bought the car. I had mine adjusted at my first oil change by the dealer. Just did the install and love the improvement....but: My steering wheel was off-center when new, too and now its much worse. Does this sort of thing require a wheel-alignment after install? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Simpletons Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 If you can hang...just adjust the front toe equally yourself. If your wheel is turned to the right slightly while driving straight, adjust both front wheel's toe to the RIGHT. Vice-Versa. While adjusting, use half-turn increments only. A full turn is too much. It's EASY and it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlloydlgt Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 worked like a charm... quick fix! Love the new feel.... now if i could just find a new rear wiper for my wagon.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tronix Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 One question though. In praedet's thread he mentioned that the area between the shoulders on the bushing is narrower on the whiteline bushing than on the stock one. I was just wondering how big a difference this was on other people's bushings. On mine the area between the shoulders was about 3.5mm narrower than the bracket. Because of this the bracket sat so that you couldn't even get both bolts started without bending the bracket. Once I got the bolts in everything fit fine. Did anyone else have this issue or was it just me? I noticed the same problem, the bushing will not seat correctly in the legacy bracket, it needs to fit to operate properly. so what I did was i took the bracket to my grinding wheel, grinded 1/8" off the larger side of the bracket and hit it with the wheel to smoothen it out. now the bracket fits the bushing perfectly. and the bushing seats perfectly. not doing this will cause the bushing to work its way one way or the other, or if you stretched it to fit its not working as designed. So I suggest anyone doing this mod to grind that bracket to fit the bushing. I did this mod last night. wasnthard to do at all. I only had one problem, I had help and My buddy pulled the rack down off the steering knuckle. I tried to line the wheels and steering wheel back up when we put it together, put it was off after i let the car down. My wheel is off about 18 degrees. So I need to jack it up and fix that. does anyone know if you can pull the steering knuckle apart without dropping the whole crossmember? If you can i'll just adjust it tonight. if not it may have to wait till have a little more freetime. -Tronix(mm stiffy)GT for more pics and info... http://angevine.org/legacy/legacy.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 This sounds like a relatively easy mod with some nice after-effects to it. My question is, does it reduce/eliminate the steering clunk that is prevalent on every Legacy (and I mean every one since 2nd gens) I've ever driven? Also, I have a rack available to me and was wondering whether this could be done with the car upon on a drive-on rack (so you would walk around underneath) or whether the wheels "have" to hang free? Thanks in advance. SBT - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal9e3 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Just did this last weekend and have a couple of things to add to the install procedure. Dremeling the passenger side bracket is highly recommended, tho it does add a significant amount of time to the install. Also, it is best to reinstall the steering shaft coupling bolt before reattaching the rack. I left it until the end and the rack was displaced downward slightly so I couldn't get the bolt back in. Haven't had a chance to test drive it yet. I also did a TBE install and it had 'issues'. I'll let you know when I have some FB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 While trying to track down a creaking/clunking from the chasis when accelerating from a stop or stopping, I discovered that there was some play in the steering rack bushing on the passenger side. The Whiteline bushings went in last winter, but the creaking started only few weeks ago. I don't know if it's the source of the noise but the bushing allows way too much up and down deflection within the bracket, which is on as tight as possible (so tight I couldn't remove the bolts with hand tools). I can reproduce the noise by jacking up either rear side. Each push down on the jack handle causes a clunk from somewhere up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 I took the Whiteline bushing out and examined it and it didn't show any signs of wear. To eliminate the up and down play of the steering rack within the bracket on the passenger side I cut a SuperPro poly bushing in half and trimmed the shoulders off, then placed the piece between the Whiteline bush and the bracket. This shim was thin enough for the shoulders of the Whiteline bush to keep it in place but thick enough to take up all of the play. The source of the clunking was found and corrected. It wasn't the steering rack movement but rather mounting bolts on my Cusco Type II lower arm bar that had loosened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlloydlgt Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 I found that on my install the piece was a bit skinny and a bit long. Both of these could have led to an inperfect fit. I decided to trim about 2-3mm off of one end to ensure no "overlap" as it was wrapped all the way around. I should have cut off the shoulder or lip becuase it was a tad skinny, but upon bolting it down the piece spread enough. These could have caused a small amount of play over time, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Bumping this thread because I'll be doing this install soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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