Shift fork are killing me.

[Tom Blaney]

Not to say that I'm an animal, but I have broken my third set of shift forks on my 90 Si since the beginning of last year. The middle fork breaks both fingers (which soom turns to aluminum soup).

I shift fast, but don't think I "bang'em" is it me or is this an issue with the CRX/Si's

[Chris Sawatsky]

I don't think it's a common issue... have you tried using a cryo-treated set of forks?

[almracing]

Tom,

I just replaced the 1st/2nd fork this spring. Lost reverse at the last 2001 NHIS race... turns out the pieces of the broken fork were wedged into the reverse gear.

Anthony
ITA #86

[Tom Blaney]

Chris:

Where can I get those?

[CivicFP]

What oil are you using in the gearbox? Those Hondas have aluminum forks, and you need to use 5W-30 or Honda transmission oil. Using something like MTL synthetic or other lightweight oils can contribute to premature failure of the forks. Exactly where are the forks cracking (at the very ends, or elsewhere?).

[Tom Blaney]

That's interesting, I do use MTL. The 3-4 gear fork (the middle fork) is breaking about 1/2 way down the finger just at the edge of the ring. On one of the boxes it broke about 1/2" up from the main part of the casting effectivly the entire finger.

[Chris Sawatsky]

tom, you'll have to send new shift forks to a place that does cryo stuff, like www.frozenrotors.com

But try using honda MTF first. I swear by it, so do most other honda drivers...

[CivicFP]

Sounds just like the failures I've seen with MTL. The aluminum doesn't like it. Cars with steel forks don't have any problem with the stuff. Use the Honda stuff, or Castrol GTX 5W-30. I've run both with no problems.

[racer-025]

Originally posted by Tom Blaney:
Not to say that I'm an animal, but I have broken my third set of shift forks on my 90 Si since the beginning of last year. The middle fork breaks both fingers (which soom turns to aluminum soup).

I shift fast, but don't think I "bang'em" is it me or is this an issue with the CRX/Si's

Could it be that extra tall 4th gear? It seems last weekend I noticed you were shifting different than all the other CRX's. And don't tell me it's that stock 4.25 final drive eithor. Good win though.....

[Tom Blaney]

Originally posted by racer-025:
Could it be that extra tall 4th gear? It seems last weekend I noticed you were shifting different than all the other CRX's. And don't tell me it's that stock 4.25 final drive eithor. Good win though.....

I am using a bone stock gear box with a OPM LSD... If you don't believe me I will be glad to open it up. I want to make this perfectly clear. MY CAR IS DEAD ON LEGAL.. I built the motor last fall for ARRC, it has .2 pistons, stock rings, & sunbelt head (which is legal, but not worth the cost, since I can do a 3 angle, & freshen locally)

The reason I was shifting later was that on most of the laps, I was shifting to 5th near S/F. On some of the lapping moves I hung 4th. If I had my 4.8(7?) stock box which I used all last year, I would have been shifting to 5th before pitin. The reason I am shifting later on the front straight is that I am coming down the hill a lot faster than most of the others. You can ask Don Reily, Pete Smith or Windell Holmes. All three noted that I am faster down the hill. Thats what experience and tenacity will do. As I explained to anybody that asked, the 4.2 gearbox (which I will be running at Pocono) is actually pretty good at LR. except for the uphill, where Don (and he agreed) would catch me up 1-2 car lengths because I fell out of the power band.

Since I started running in IT, I have been fully open to anybody regarding what is in the car and how I drive it. I have been racing for many years, and this is more fun that I had before. I am willing to and have been helping 4 guys on my setup and technique (except for the crashes) all of them have become faster in one season not because of the car but because of their driving.

If you would like me to help you or give you some pointers just stop by. If you want to check on the legality of the call call me at 845-892-8155 days, and I will give you the phone numbers of all of the folks that I bought stuff from or who have helped fix the car.

[racer-025]

Tom, I am not pointing the finger at you at all. You raced a great race against my buddy Don. I just like to sturr up some dirt from time to time.

[Tom Blaney]

Fair enough, I guess that comment came from my showroom stock days...

Look me up at Pocono, I'll buy you a beer and we can laugh it off

[racer-025]

Yeah, I wish I could make it to Pocono, but we have 3 races plus the 1-hour enduro next weekend with the tune & test session this weekend. It's the first time out for the Suzuki so things will be interesting.

[-TJ]

I've got a set of L3 shift forks laying around here...never been raced. I'd have to mic 'em to make sure they are within spec. Let me know if you're interested - shoot me a reasonable offer!

-TJ
[email protected]