The SHG Motorworks rack slider design was drawn up to alleviate failing OEM sliders in our DC5 race car. Especially with racing slicks, we found that the stock slider was just not up to the task. Oddly enough, the European CTR community has also been dealing with creaking, clunking racks and vague, wandering or sticky steering for years.
There are a few reasons for these symptoms. First, the factory grease that was used left a lot to be desired. Between inconsistent application on the assembly line, and the high heat coming off the exhaust manifold, we find the factory grease to be in poor condition when servicing racks. Second, the design of the OEM slider is minimal at best. Considering the huge forces applied to the steering rack especially during track use, there are only 4 small pads that contact the rack housing. These 4 contact points are responsible for keeping the inner tie rod bracket traveling on a smooth flat plane, prevent it from twisting, and to also keep the inner rack bar from rotating which will affect the lash of the rack and pinion gear teeth either causing loose steering or binding of the gears.
We addressed these points of failure by looking at the design of a new OEM slider and the rack housing itself. Taking careful dimensions and consideration for all functions of the slider (including stopping the rack at proper full lock position) we designed a new part made from DuPont black Delrin material which is extremely strong and has self-lubricating properties.
Depth into the rack housing as been increased, each end of the slider surface is extended as far as possible, as well as making the part one solid piece all to increase strength and surface area. All clearance dimensions were tightened and perfected after a number of prototypes were tested. The slider accepts your factory steel mounting posts just like OEM with an exact fit.
Be wary of other companies selling similar products made from alloy. We strongly suggest that this is a bad idea as the nature of the slider is to make contact directly with the cast aluminum rack housing. Using a billet alloy part will no longer allow the slider to be the wear item but presents a high risk to wearing out the rack housing itself rendering it useless.
We recommend installation along with a full rack tear down in order to clean out all of the old grease and a generous application of Red Line CV2 or equivalent high temp/high pressure grease.
Fits the following vehicles:
- Honda Civic EP3
- Honda Integra DC5
- Honda Civic EM2
- Honda CRV
- Honda Element
