After doing your research, you’ve discovered our standard-setting power steering kits, and you know they’re the best on the market. You’re ready to order. You’re clicking through the options and you reach one that you’re not sure about - whether to add a cooler or not. Should you? Is it necessary? Is the money better spent elsewhere?
In most cases, the answer is yes, you should buy the cooler. But, of course, it’s (a little) more nuanced than that.
Most important in making this decision is how are you setting up and using the car? Are you planning to run lots of front grip, or wide, sticky front tires? Are you adding steering angle? Are you planning to track the car at all? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you should run a cooler.
Yes, we realize that this describes almost any scenario in which any of us modify our cars. So the opposite question is valid, when would you not run a cooler, and why do we offer kits without them if we recommend them in almost every scenario? These are offered for unmodified, otherwise generally stock, non-track cars, where owners simply need a reliable, simple, affordable upgrade to replace worn, leaking stock components and keep their car working well.
Simply put, for a relatively stock, street-driven car, a cooler isn’t necessary, but for a more highly modified car or anything that will see track usage, the best move is to get the cooler.
We have a lot of experience making vented, but baffled, reservoir caps from our power steering reservoir, so we put that to work here. Our cap is vented to allow air in when fluid is pumped out, but baffled so fluid can’t escape.
Our pumps are a reliable, simple design that’s commonly available and easily replaced in the event that it fails after many years of use. It’s mounted with a single allen bolt, and only needs a simple power and ground connection to run. We include a pigtail so you can wire it into your factory switched circuit, or another circuit of your design.
As the name suggests, the WWR was originally designed to be a compact and aesthetically pleasing alternative to large, ugly factory washer fluid reservoirs. Any builder knows that reclaiming a bit of engine bay space, while maintaining washer function and cleaning up aesthetics is a triple win, and the WWR is the cost effective solution that we created when we simply couldn’t find anything good enough.
Years of experience with a variety of reservoirs have allowed us to develop versatile options for mounting, and our WWR is available with any of our standard five bracket options
It’s worth noting that the motor does not have a built-in check valve, and will allow fluid to flow in both directions. This isn’t an issue where the reservoir is mounted low and feeding the washer nozzles on the hood, any fluid draining back through the lines will simply collect back in the reservoir. However, if the reservoir is mounted higher than the nozzle (as in a sprayer for an intercooler, radiator or tire), a check valve can be helpful to prevent leakage.
One frequent question we get is whether the methanol or ethelyne glycol in washer fluid would be corrosive to their aluminum intercooler or radiator. While it’s true that these chemicals are corrosive to aluminum when they are pure, in washer fluid, they are present in limited amounts - about 40% methanol and 1% ethylene glycol, and many years of usage have proven that they won’t present an issue in these concentrations. However, if you’re concerned, for an intercooler sprayer setup, you can always use pure water.
Our Compact Windshield Washer Fluid Reservoir/Intercooler (or Tire- or Radiator-) Sprayer is a great addition to any build. Grab one, or a few, for your ride!
In nearly a decade of engineering and manufacturing the most complete, easily installed, durable and aesthetically pleasing power steering solutions on the market, we’ve learned a few things. We wanted to share a bit about what we’ve learned and how we’ve applied that to make our products the best in the industry.
Triple Baffled Power Steering Fluid Reservoir
At the core of each kit is our industry-exclusive triple baffled power steering reservoir. The result of years of engineering starting with advanced computational fluid dynamics and honed on the track - both in drift and grip competition - there’s simply no equal.
Power steering fluid has a demanding task in a track environment, and commonly can be found pushing out of reservoir caps under heavy use, especially when high speeds, extreme steering angles, aggressive aerodynamics and big, sticky tires are in the mix. Frequently assumed to be boiling, this is actually the result of foaming and aeration as fluid is returned to the reservoir at extremely high flow rates and pressures up to 120psi.
Our reservoir has unique internal baffling to reduce that 120psi return fluid to 12psi in only two inches of fluid motion. No more aeration. No more spillover.
Power steering systems need to be vented for proper operation as a loop hydraulic system. Since a simple vent hole could allow for fluid to push out, we needed to engineer a solution that would allow air to pass freely without allowing fluid to escape, and we did. Our unique baffled caps are the third of the baffles in the reservoir and set the Chase Bays product apart from the many imitators.
We didn’t stop on the inside. Our reservoir is equipped with versatile mounting solutions for any of our five bracket styles, or a bracket of your own fabrication. For a very simple mounting solution, the M8x1.25 threaded holes in the side can be used for direct-mounting to your vehicle!
Hoses
Each of our power steering kits utilizes top-shelf Brown and Miller Racing (BMRS) hoses and fittings, the same components found in NASCAR, Indy Car and IMSA race cars. We use 10AN and 6AN sizes, with appropriate adapters for direct fitment to your vehicle. Our team fabricates and individually tests each hose here in Birmingham, Alabama.
Using high-quality hoses and fittings is critical to avoiding leaks and aeration, barb fittings and hose clamps are the common sources of power steering systems leaking fluid out or pulling air in during heavy performance usage.
Coolers
Our Power Steering Kits will vastly improve the durability and aesthetics of your power steering system. In many cases, it makes sense to add a dedicated power steering cooler to reduce temperatures and increase overall fluid capacity in the system. Unlike engine oil that needs to warm up, there’s never a situation where having power steering fluid circulating through a cooler presents any concern, so if packaging and budget allow, we absolutely recommend adding a cooler to every system when possible. In fact, in some applications, we have found that a cooler is absolutely necessary for the longevity of functionality, and in those, our kits are only available with an included cooler.
We offer two proven styles of cooler, an inline finned heatsink design and a 10-row, drawn-cup style, both featuring 6AN inlet/outlet fittings, black finishes and mounting bosses made for simple, sleek and aesthetically pleasing installations. Our inline style cooler is found as an option in our kits and is proven to reduce temperatures by up to 20°F, but the most extreme situations can step up to our 10-row drawn-cup cooler.
Conclusion
No more leaks, no more spillover. A better engineered system that’s more aesthetically pleasing. A system that you can stop thinking about, and just enjoy how your car drives. That’s what you get with our Power Steering Kits. Ready to upgrade your car? Find your kit now!
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Fortunately for your build, Chase Bays has come to the rescue with the ultimate coolant overflow reservoir. This isn’t just another offering, it’s the standard by which all other solutions should be judged.
We started by selecting the best material for the job, 6061 aluminum, anodized in a sleek, black finish. No rust, no cracking, no matter how many heat cycles. Then we got to work packing in all the important features to make it the best solution possible.
Coolant expands and contracts with heat cycles, so some sort of container is necessary to capture the overflow when the engine is warm and return it to the radiator as it cools off. The system needs to be vented, so that coolant can flow back and forth unhindered. Seems simple enough.
In heavy usage, there can be a lot of rapid expansion. High engine, and water pump, speeds push coolant through the system, and into the reservoir, very quickly, and at high pressures. These factors can cause coolant to push out of the reservoir vent, creating a mess, and requiring you to have to top off the coolant. Not ideal.
OE reservoirs avoid these issues by sheer size, being oversized relative to the amount of coolant that would push back and forth. This allows for a simple vent near the cap, often with a hose to direct any overflowing coolant downward. Almost all the time, their sheer size means there’s plenty of room for expansion before they overflow. But, you’re left with a massive, ugly, plastic reservoir taking up way too much space.
We prefer sleek and clever solutions. Many other offerings on the market simply copy, and downsize, the OE strategy of a vented cap and single port for coolant to move back and forth. These are a smaller package, but with performance limitations. Under heavy usage, they lack the volume to deal with the amount and pressure of coolant overflow, and you end up with a mess to clean up from coolant spewing out of the vent all over your engine bay.
At best this is an annoyance of cleanup and coolant top-off. In motorsport settings, fluids dumping on the track is downright dangerous, and something that sanctioning bodies universally frown upon.
Our Chase Bays overflow reservoir solves this with a clever, dual-port configuration. The first inlet/outlet port connects to the radiator as you’d expect. The secondary, venting and overflow port, is unique in that it extends nearly to the top of the reservoir. This means that even when coolant is being pushed into the reservoir under high pressures, it has to find its way into and down this extended port to push out. This unique solution also means that whatever coolant does find its way out of the vent can be directed where you want - it doesn’t simply spew out wherever it wants to go. Our solution is legal for motorsports use, including in FormulaDRIFT, IMSA and most other sanctioning bodies.
Where to route this? For street- or show-oriented cars, this can be routed to the ground, similar to how OE systems are configured. For motorsport-oriented builds, this can be routed to a secondary Chase Bays coolant reservoir, to ensure that coolant doesn’t get dumped on the track.
How to mount the reservoir? We don’t re-use OE mounting configurations that may lock you into inconvenient placement, nor do we believe that flimsy, one-size-fits-none brackets are what our customers deserve. We offer five different bracket configurations, plus reservoir mounting that allows for direct, bracket-less mounting or, for unique installations, allows for easy fabrication of your own bracket.
Ready to get the best coolant overflow reservoir for your build? Check it out and order here!
]]>Here, we want to explain some key differences between our two core offerings, our Single- and Dual-Piston Brake Booster Deletes. These aren’t “version 1” and “version 2” of the same product, these are two different solutions to suit different use cases. Both share common ground in that they will result in consistent, improved pedal feel and feedback, but there are some key differences, and we want to help you select the right one for your build.
We’ll start with our Single Piston Brake Booster Delete. This is a compact solution that has been on the market for many years and has been proven on thousands of builds, ranging from competition motorsports to street and show car builds. It’s an economical and ultra-compact solution. It’s sleek, it’s aesthetically pleasing, and it will bolt in just like a factory piece. You’ll immediately notice improved pedal feel and more consistent braking performance.
Our single-piston solution is ultra-compact, more compact than our dual-piston solution. When combined with our brake line relocation, this will offer the cleanest possible look for your engine bay. This ultra-compact design is extremely economical and offers a very competitive price point.
For motorsports-oriented builds, our Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete takes things a step further in the direction of ultimate performance. For starters, we adjust the pedal ratio to 6:1, generally considered optimal for manual brake setups in top-tier racing series. This helps provide optimal pedal feel and pedal effort, allowing a driver to turn lap after lap, even in endurance racing settings, consistently. We have even taken this to the track to prove the part, time and again, drifting and racing. We've podiumed a few times along the way.
Being a motorsport-oriented solution, we designed the Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete to be legal for any sanctioning body, whether FormulaDRIFT, SCCA, NASA, WRL or any others. This includes a true dual-circuit design with a dual-chamber reservoir to ensure that a failure at either end of the car won’t affect the other.
Both of these products offer excellent bang for the buck and are proven on countless cars on the street and track. Still not sure which is best for your build? We’re happy to help! Email us at sales@chasebays.com with your build details and our team will be happy to help get you the optimal solution for your unique situation!
]]>Deleting ABS from any car can certainly prove to be a daunting task. The ABS works with individual wheel sensors to help detect and subsequently prevent wheel lock up. While this may be perfect for a daily driven normal street car, on cars being developed for performance driving, factory ABS can sometimes cause problems. Motorsport grade ABS systems are great but generally start around $8,000 for parts alone. You can repurpose certain factory ABS systems to work as a stand alone system, but again, this can become costly.
Deleting the ABS sometimes is as simple as pulling the unit and re-plumbing the system. However, many times removing the ABS can pose major issues to the car's electrical system causing “limp mode” outcomes. This is chassis-specific and the internet can be a useful friend here.
The biggest question to ask is what are the implications of deleting my ABS? Who else with my chassis has completed this task and what issues did they face? For drifting this really allows left foot braking without ABS intervention. Keep in mind you would really need a manual brake of some sort to get the proper pedal feel. We offer an excellent solution in the Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete. This comes with our bias valve integrated, which is a critical part to fine-tune your non-ABS brake system. If you select another master cylinder solution, we would advise buying the bias valve to complete the setup.
Research your platform, see if someone makes a delete kit electronically and hydraulically. If not, ask professionals who are familiar with that platform what to do with the electronics. Next ensure that you have properly unioned the lines to their appropriate position. Trace where the front lines connect to the ABS and ensure that union is mated to the front line that leads to the master cylinder. Same with the rear lines. You or a professional will need to be comfortable with flaring. If you aren't comfortable or don't trust your work, seek professional advice. It is critical these items are flared properly. NEVER use a single flare on a braking system. Double flares are common on US cars and DIN on Euros. Japanese cars have a little of both. Identify what you have on your car for consistency.
Chase Bays offers line solutions for popular chassis including BMW E30, E36 and E46, Nissan S13 and S14, Honda Civics and Integra, Miata and more. Using the E36 as an example, lines running from front to rear including front line relocations for both the OE master cylinder and our Brake Booster Eliminator, handbrake lines and even caliper lines to complete the setup. Our lines will adapt directly to the chassis, master cylinder and calipers for the most aesthetically pleasing, leak-free, easily installed solution.
If an off-the-shelf solution isn't available or a custom solution is needed, building a hardline will most likely be the easiest method since soft lines require proper tooling to crimp. Use a proper line bender as well, some people will attempt to bend the lines by hand. After spending so much time on properly laying out your hardlines, flaring, the last thing you want is to kink the line because you didn't want to use a proper bender. Make sure you flare and add the fitting before you bend a section if that end is short. The flaring tool takes a certain amount of space. If you bend too early, you may not be able to get the fitting on.
Braking systems are super critical. You must be proficient at using these tools or seek a professional. Failure to do this, well, you know. Do your research before committing. Build a game plan, then execute.
Bryan Leonard has extensive experience as a professional race car builder, driver and driver coach in series including IMSA, World Challenge, WRL, Porsche Sprint Challenge, and SRO.The quest to build the perfect road race car is a battle that privateers and manufacturers alike have tried to conquer. Asking the right questions on the front end of this battle, will save you time and resources. Here we will outline a good jump off point for building a race car.
We will list some of the key points then explain them in a bit more detail.
I could write an entire book about building a proper race car, but I think the most important things that remain the same among all the disciplines we have listed are suspension and brakes. Consistent brakes create consistent drivers, heat management. Braking is the hardest task to master on a race track. Having good pads, good rotors and a manual brake are paramount to creating the perfect road race car. Pedal boxes and dual master setups are expensive and are not plug and play. Major modification and considerations must be made before going this route. The Chase Bays DBBE is the easy button. Proper pedal ratio, proper consistency, that manual brake feel that is so important.
Suspension is another overlooked item. Solid bushings and proper dampers can make or break a build. I would always purchase the nicest dampers your budget will allow. People who state you don't need that kind of damper for x, y, z are simply wrong and don't understand how critical they are.
Heat management, from the engine to the power steering to the driver, all racing is heat management. Oil coolers and proper radiators will help protect the investment and also allow the car to operate at the designed temps. Power steering coolers keep the steering inputs consistent, there is nothing worse than being mid-corner and having a power steering issue.
In closing, this is just a jump off point for building a road race car. There are many considerations to be made, far too much for a blog. We provide many solutions for road race cars that fix problems with brakes, engine oil/fluid cooling, power steering cooling etc. Make a plan and get your car built!
Bryan Leonard has extensive experience as a professional race car builder, driver and driver coach in series including IMSA, World Challenge, WRL, Porsche Sprint Challenge, and SRO.We wanted to write a short blog to give you guys a little insight to the event and share the pictures we got.
The two day event was stacked with a lot of good drivers from Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama, as well as some really cool cars! I mean when have you ever seen a handful of SUPER NICE Toyota JZX's drifting in Alabama? probably never. D-Realm was out on track slinging around their full interior big body sedans all weekend, and looking good doing it!
Summer time in Alabama is always full of on and off rain showers and what feels like 1,000% humidity, and of course it wouldn't have been a Midpond event if it didn't rain a little bit at some point during the day. The rain made for some fun laps for the drivers, some cars getting stuck in the mud needing to be pulled out, some near misses of a few trees and some cool pictures of cars dropping a wheel off in a mud hole.
All of the guys who use Chase Bays parts ripped all weekend. We are always stoked to see our parts being put to the test and getting real world feedback. Events like this give us a chance to meet our customers and be there for them in case of an issue with any of our parts.
Huge Shoutout to Jimmy and the rest of the crew who helps him put on these events, all of our loyal customers and the spectators who come out to support us and events like this!
Now, Lets meet the ABSOLUTE RIPPERS that use our products.
Jimmy Yates SR20DET Powered Nissan R32 Sedan, Jimmy is using the following Chase Bays Products.
Chase Bays Power Steering Kit - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 SR20DET or KA24DE | CORE MOUNT
Chase Bays Brake Line Relocation - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 - inBay OEMC
Chase Bays Clutch Line - RHD Nissan Silvia S13 / S14 / S15
Chase Bays Fuel Line Kit - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 with KA24DE | SR20DET
Chase Bays Compact Fuel Pressure Regulator
Jakob Young's Nissan Silvia is equipped with the following Chase Bays products.
Chase Bays Power Steering Kit - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 SR20DET or KA24DE | CORE MOUNT
Chase Bays Steering Rack Hard Line Replacement - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14
Dustin English's Toyota JZX 100 Chaser is equipped with the following Chase Bays Products.
V2 Chase Bays Hydro Handbrake in pull up configuration
Damon English's Toyota JZX 100 is equipped with the following Chase Bays Parts.
Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete with Bolt-On 6:1 Pedal Ratio
V3 Chase Bays Hydro Handbrake in pull up configuration
Chase Bays Triple Baffled Power Steering Reservoir
Nathan Taylor's 1JZ Nissan S13 Coupe is equipped with the following Chase Bays Products.
Chase Bays Compact Upper Water Neck - Toyota 1JZ-GTE | 2JZ-GTE
Chase Bays Raised Inline Filler Neck
Chase Bays Brake Line Relocation - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 - inBay OEMC
Chase Bays Fenderwell Brake Lines - 89-98 Nissan S13 / S14 240sx
Chase Bays Power Steering Kit - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 with 1JZ-GTE or 2JZ-GTE
Chase Bays Tucked Aluminum Radiator - Nissan 240sx S13 / S14 / S15 and R32
For the full gallery of pictures from the event click the link below
Knuckleup.tx Field Trip to Midpond photos
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A group of friends and I built a 1997 BMW M3 for the trip in a matter of weeks. The build was full of parts I felt were necessary to make the car reliable enough to do nine track days and over 4000 miles of street driving.
One of the most important things to having a reliable car is keeping all the fluids maintained and sealed up, such as engine oil, power steering fluid, brake fluid and coolant/water. While thinking of what this car would need to be ready for the trip, I immediately thought of Chase Bays. I knew I needed reliable and high-quality products to manage my fluids and make it through this trip. These products included:
• Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete
• Chase Bays Power Steering Kit with Cooler
• Chase Bays Raised Inline Filler Neck (to delete that pesky expansion tank)
• Chase Bays Clutch Line
• Chase Bays Handbrake
• Chase Bays Handbrake Brake Line Kit
• Chase Bays Coolant Overflow
• Chase Bays Windshield Washer Reservoir
• Chase Bays Engine Oil Cooler
• Chase Bays Oil Catch Can
All of these products were super straightforward to install, which was great given our timeline of three weeks to complete the car and hit the road.
Our Drift Week trip started in Boise, Idaho, with our first destination being Tucson, Arizona. After two successful days at Musselman Honda Circuit, we headed to Southern California. There, we had five total track days at three different tracks. The last leg took us to Tooele, Utah, for the final two track days at Utah Motorsports Campus. Then, it was time to return home. Sounds simple enough, right?
Well, you can prep a car as much as possible, but that is a lot of driving and track days piled up next to each other. As anticipated, my fluid systems were flawless, and the brakes were insanely consistent on the track and the thousands of miles spent street driving. I could hardly remember what the boosted setup felt like because I loved the manual brakes so much. The power steering system stayed cool and consistent while pushing the car to its limits.
Thanks to the Chase Bays Oil Cooler, the engine oil temperature was easily managed throughout the trip. Removing that troublesome BMW expansion tank was helpful. We remedied this by using the Chase Bays Upper Water Neck and welding it to the thermostat housing. Then we installed the overflow tank for the venting side of the system. We still were struck with a challenge as the 225k mile head gasket decided it had finally had enough. The compression ring between cylinders 5 and 6 had failed and caused a misfire.
This is where another aspect of Drift Week came into play—community. We were in an Airbnb with some great folks, including Kevin and Ryan from Canada. We hardly knew them before the trip, but this adventure was not only track days and drifting but meeting new friends and building awesome relationships with those people through drifting! We hitched a ride with them and gathered all the parts to perform a head gasket repair in the garage of our Victorville Airbnb. We saw some amazing places such as Pelican Parts, Hoonigan, and Moon Eyes. Ultimately, we fixed the car. We missed a few track days due to it, but we were back at it before long.
Another thing that helped this repair be so much simpler was the simplicity of the Chase Bays parts we had installed. The Motorsport Dual Piston Manual Brake made pulling the intake manifold a breeze since the brake booster was no longer there. The cooling system was nice and simple since the expansion tank was now gone. So many aspects of the engine bay had been simplified thanks to the Chase Bays products, which made working in the bay much easier.
Once we completed the Southern California tracks, we headed up north to Utah. There, we hit a bunch of snow on the final track days. The brakes shined here as they worked just as well in the frigid cold as in the warmer southern weather (we missed the California snow track day). I could control the car consistently with left foot braking thanks to the easy-to-manage manual brakes provided by the DBBE. I could throw big entries in the wet and use the foot brake to slow the car without just locking up the brakes or jabbing them as inconsistently as you can with a vacuum-assisted brake setup.
In conclusion, we built an amazing car that was an absolute joy to drive, even with some really old high-mile bones. The parts from Chase Bays helped keep the car cool and consistent throughout the entire 4000+ road miles and 7 track days. Not a bad way to spend a week, if I do say so myself.
]]>There are many reasons why this is a must. Just looking through our blogs and social media will explain in depth why this is a must for anyone that wants to be on track. The key points are; consistent brake feel, which leads to predictable brake conduct, which allows you to experiment with braking zones and find the sweet spot sooner.
5. Power Steering Kit with Cooler
Power steering is a great thing. It certainly cuts down on driver fatigue allowing you to function longer. However, many times power steering fluid will boil due to how much we demand of it. Chasebays has power steering kits that correct this. The coolers are sleek and don’t require much room. Just like engine oil, power steering fluid needs to be thermally maintained.
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]]>The pedal will feel a little more firm than a brake booster variant, but not in a negative way. The brake boosted variants always have a lot more travel than a manual style and will be significantly more sensitive to input. So over the years, people have the muscle memory for that and think that is normal. A properly sorted manual braking system will only feel slightly stiffer than the booster version, in a good way.
The modulation of max braking just before lockup is where manual brakes really thrive. We call it the 90-99% zone. Finding the exact level of leg pressure to get that exact threshold is just not possible with power brakes, as stated above they’re too sensitive which create inconsistency. So YES the 90-99% zone is a little more leg effort than power brakes but that’s what makes it so great. This is massively to our benefit in finding the right leg force every time. Even on a daily driver, it will feel more consistent and positive than the alternative.
In summary, properly sorted manual brakes are easy to drive on the track and street. There are many benefits as we have discussed previously, to a manual braking setup. You will be very pleased with the drivability and on track performance from a manual braking setup.
]]>The power steering system is a common failure point for the S Chassis. The factory power steering system develop leaks in the aged lines and on the track, the constant back and forth of the wheels will overheat your fluid. Even when swapping your S Chassis, theres always a headache of adapting the power steering system.
The Chase Bays Power Steering Kit for Nissan 240sx / Silvia S13, S14, S15 is designed to eliminate these common factory power steering leaks, fluid spillover, & overheating issues w/ improved aesthetics, durability, & design. It comes with our Triple Baffled Power Steering Reservoir and BMRS lines which are ran in the highest forms of Motorsport. We’ve optimized and produce each fitting ourselves, increasing the o-ring size or changing the depth of thread, all to insure a consistent leak free install.
The addition of our power steering cooler kit will aid in keeping the fluid at proper operating temperature. But the last reason to upgrade to our Power Steering Kit is to aid in engine swapping your S Chassis.
It is a fully complete A.N. Hose and Fitting replacement of the stock reservoir and hoses. From the reservoir to pump to rack (and cooler if upgraded). ALL Hose and Hose Ends are BMRS aka Brown and Miller Racing aka the best Hose/Hose Ends in the world.
Our over-engineered Triple-Baffled Power Steering Reservoir (aeration & spillover proof) is at core of this kit. Our reservoir is constructed of 6061 aluminum & anodized black w/ laser etched cap. Reservoir itself uses our aluminum bracket & can be mounted in stock location or on the radiator core support to give clearance for top mount turbos.
We've put serious engineering time into internal design to negate aeration & spillover. The smaller fitting on Reservoir is fluid return from the rack and can be sent back at pressures up to 120psi. When that hits fluid in the reservoir it can cause extreme foaming aeration if not properly slowed down & directed. More the steering & RPM on the car, higher the pressures will be. This is what commonly causes spillover. Most people think PS fluid is boiling over, but in most cases its just turbulence.
Power Steering is loop hydraulic system, it needs to be vented. Even the cap has a unique baffle design to block fluid from pushing out of vent. Go to any road race/drift/rally event & look at all factory (most aftermarket) PS reservoirs. By end of the day there's spillover around reservoirs. It was our goal to be the 1 in 100 reservoirs to have no spillover. We're proud to say; that goal has been met.
Our clever reservoir mounting brackets makes a few adjustments from stock. Bracket itself works for S13, S14 & S15 chassis unlike stock. On S13 bolt holes are slightly further back on shock tower (like S14 & S15) but positioning is nearly the same. We did push reservoir toward engine 1" to allow room for wheel tubs.
If you have top mount setup then it may collide w/ reservoir. On our mockup chassis we have top mount GT2871R & it clears. Use our install photos as reference.
If you need more clearance in that area we make a kit that mounts reservoir on core support, click here: https://www.chasebays.com/products/chase-bays-power-steering-kit-nissan-240sx-s13-s14-s15-with-sr20det-or-ka24de-core-support-mounting
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We were fortunate enough to be invited by some friends to a private track event at Barber motorsports park. Shout out to Kai Goddard and Laura Hayes with Thunder Bunny Racing. We brought an EK to a Supra GT4/ BMW GT4/ Porsche GT4 party.
The day started out pretty tough with a check valve and push rod issues on the OEMC system (yet another reason to ditch it). SO we spent hours trying to sort that problem. We did so successfully and were finally able to hit the track. The next snag we hit was ride heights. So we had to immediately come in and start increasing ride height. Assuming the car was balanced we increased each corner the same amount to try to retain that balance. Eventually, after testing, we added rake in the car, solving the ride height issues.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to realign the car or check the corner balance, so we didn’t have an optimized setup. With that said we were able to lay a baseline time down of 1:57.41. I would say the major issues I had driving was the brakes, having to be so gentle on them and also having a bit of inconsistency from previous turns. I just didn’t really have the consistency to make great laps. We made multiple laps in the 57 region.
Dustin and Landon jumped on the car immediately and swapped over to the Chase Bays DBBE. It took us longer to bleed the brakes than it did for the guys to swap components. Once that was complete, we hit the track again, I immediately hit a 1:51.37. Right out of the gate the car was much more of a pleasure to pilot. The brakes gave me way more control and confidence to be completely honest. Theoretical time was 1:46.911. That is with the generic 7 sectors of Barber via AIM. Overall huge success. Everyone at chasebays have put the right amount of time, effort, and energy into this product. This is the second car I have had success with, that is equipped with the Chase Bays DBBE. Will be great to properly spring the car, corner balance, and align to go out and see what it will do.
When you begin to use your car for drifting, road racing, rally, or just some fun hard driving, you’ll see the occasional rise in the engine coolant temperature with a factory radiator. Replacing your radiator with a larger aluminum radiator is the first step towards cooling efficiency and engine longevity. Chase Bays has taken this to the next level by creating an aluminum radiator that not only has larger coolant capacity and a dual pass flow design, but it also tucks itself within the engine bay to allow for more space, our larger fans, and added ease working on the car.
Theres quite a few reasons to go with our tucked radiator, first off…It looks better! An all aluminum tig welded radiator specifically designed to tuck itself underneath the core support of all of our most popular chassis. Moving it down and forward under the core support also allows for a better position for air flow and lets you run larger fans when needed. While some minimal cutting to the front core support is typically required, we did this to make the radiator as large as possible while saving overall space. This leads us into the second major reason to run our Tucked Radiator, extra space savings!
Saving space in a crowded engine bay is huge so remember our Tucked Radiator when engine swapping your Honda/Integra, S-Chassis, E30/E36/E46, or FD RX7 to get all the extra room you can get. We use a 3” thick dual pass aluminum core to have more than enough coolant flow and capacity while letting us adjust the width and height dimensions to perfectly fit each chassis. The amount of room saved averages from 6” to 8” depending on model and thats huge in a situation like dealing with a situation like putting a long JZ or V8 engine in a smaller engine bay. Hose Inlet and Outlets on our radiators are on the same side due to the dual pass core and once you install our tucked radiator lower and forward under the core support, factory coolant hoses won’t work. Because of this we offer a multitude of options when it comes to how to set up your fill point and hose routing, which is our third benefit to going with our Tucked Radiator!
We offer a completely modular system of 20AN ORB threaded adapters for the inlet and outlet. The most important piece being our Raised Inline Filler Neck that when mounted directly off the radiator will raise the fill point nearly back to stock height. The fill point still needs to be the highest part of the coolant system for ease of bleeding. From there we have multiple possible combinations for inlet and outlet adapters that allow you to thread on 16AN/20AN/1.38”/1.5” adapters to make your setup work perfectly!
Our final reason to get the Chase Bays Tucked Radiator for your setup is because its quality you can depend on and made to perform flawlessly. All of our radiators are pressure tested during production and then your order is checked thoroughly by our in-house quality control. When you go to order our Tucked Radiator you have the option to add our Chase Bays Radiator Fans that will bolt right on to the bracketing on each radiator. We also make a Dual Fan Relay Harness with 180º F Thermoswitch that greatly simplifies the wiring (couldn't be easier). It’s all fireproof sleeving and labeled to end any guesswork while installing. All together it’s a cooling system made to open up space in their crowded engine bays, greatly improve cooling performance, & get a better look aesthetically.
Dimensions // Application
24" Wide x 11" Tall x 3.5" Thick (3" Core) - Honda Civic // Integra
27.25" Wide x 13.5" Tall x 3.5" Thick (3" Core) - S Chassis // R32
22" Wide x 17" Tall x 3.5" Thick (3" Core) - BMW 3 Series
27.25" Wide x 13.5" Tall x 3.5” Thick (3” Core) - FD RX7
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By Bryan Leonard, Pro Race Car Driver and Chase Bays Builds Manager
https://www.instagram.com/bryan_leonard_racing/
The fact is, manual brakes are on the fastest road race cars in the world. From IMSA to F1. But how is this possible!? You read online it was like trying to put your foot through a brick wall! How exactly can manual brakes improve lap times?
The major point I drive home to all those that I coach; consistency. If you can be a consistent driver and make decisions with intention rather than reaction, you are setting yourself up for success. So to be fast we have to be consistent drivers. We are the throttle, brake, and steering actuators on a car.
That means we need those things to be consistent. Throttle is generally consistent (unless you get into DBW with throttle shaping but thats not for this convo). Steering can be consistent if it is either manual, electronic, or properly cooled and managed hydraulic power steering. We also assume our suspension setup is correct and not out of alignment, producing consistency there too.
Braking consistency, this is the last step. I have and will always stand by the comment: braking is the hardest thing to do to extract a lap. How you get on the brakes, how long you are on them, when you release them, the time frame you release them in coupled with steering angle. That's hard stuff.
There is a reason why you see Miatas at the track beating up Corvettes and Porsches. Of course there is the driver mod, but doesn't that mean the Miata driver is utilizing the brakes more effectively? Because they certainly are in a lesser power car.
Now here's how we pull it off. I spoke of consistency earlier, we need to be proactive not reactive with everything we do. In order to accomplish this, we have to have a consistent pedal. The manual brake is the surest way to accomplish this. In a prior blog, I used the analogy of pressure from your finger to a wall. Here is a refresher, if I ask you to place your finger on a wall and give me a little pressure, you can do that, if I ask for a lot of pressure you can do that as well. Just because the wall didn't move doesn't mean there was no pressure applied to the wall.
So with a more firm pedal we can produce brake pressure that is consistent and predictable. With this you will be able to repeat results each lap because the pedal feels the same way. You will have the confidence that heading into 10a at Road Atlanta, that your brake pedal will feel exactly the same each time, thus allowing you to play with brake zone depth and releases. As we stated before, its also important how and when you release the brake pressure as well. Now that we know what the initial force feels like and how quickly the car decelerates. This will allow us to properly set up braking zones.
In conclusion, the opportunity list looks like this.
1. Consistent pedal feel (assuming proper setup, no air in the system, or overheated brakes)
2. Allows us to easily explore gains and loses in the braking zone by playing with brake timing and release.
3. Trains us to be proactive rather than reactive to our pedal. Power brakes inconsistency in pedal feel cause slight hesitation. This lowers driver confidence thus hurts lap times.
This is an example of a power assisted brake. Notice how the pressure is inconsistent? This could be due to the fact that the pedal moves to much and the driver "pumps" the pedal trying to get it to slow down.
This is an example of a manual brake trace. Notice how the initial braking force is high and slowly tapers off. This is what the brake trace should look like, this eliminates braking distance thus resulting in faster lap times.
These are all dual master setups with balance bars. They are great, but it’s not exactly in most of the grassroots/amateur motorsports worlds budget. Enter the Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete with Bolt-On 6:1 Pedal Ratio. This system allows you to receive many benefits from the manual brakes, without the fab/cost of an expensive system. Having now driven with this system, and won our first race with one, I can confidently say this is your ticket to faster laps. We took someone with zero experience with a manual brake, installed this system on his car, he immediately went faster. The only piece of advice I would give is to pump your brakes before the braking zones. Not a large amount of pressure, maybe 10%...just enough to reset the pads. Unless you have anti-knock back springs you need to do this. The power brakes give off the false sense of not needing to do this. I can assure you, you need to. When you strike curbs or load a side, the pads will push back a little. Thus the pedal will travel further making it seem like you have a long pedal. This happens on manual or power brakes. The power brakes just mask this a little bit more. By giving the brakes a small tap with your left foot pre-turn, you will have knocked the pads back into place.
Anyone that I have introduced to manual brakes have questioned why they didn’t do this sooner. I would list this Chase Bays mod as a must for any track day/ grassroots/Am racer where the series allows it. Its compact, its attractive, the engineering is already finished.
As I said before braking is the most crucial thing you can do on track. People should stop worrying about horsepower and start wondering how to get their mid corner speed up. The way to do this is to properly execute braking zones. Ditch the factory components, get a Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete. You will easily go faster immediately and become a better driver. Things to remember:
Set the pads in the straights right before a braking zone
Initial brake force is the highest, trail off, as you wheel angle increases, steering angle should decrease.
Release gradually, do not snap off.
By Bryan Leonard, Pro Race Car Driver and Chase Bays Builds Manager
https://www.instagram.com/bryan_leonard_racing/
When searching for speed on track, the most misunderstood and hardest to accomplish properly...and best place to find a lap time...is in the braking zone. How you apply brake pressure, when to apply it, how much is needed, and when do you release. Those are crucial to getting the speed out of your car. I have driven everything from bone stock miatas to big horsepower time attack cars to 992 GT3 cup cars, and everything in between. I have driven these cars from a general track day to a professional wheel to wheel race series, and again, everything in between.
The one thing all properly built and sorted race cars have in common? Manual brakes. There are multiple reasons for this but the biggest one is, consistency. The brake pedal feels the same way everytime. When you can rely on that, you can produce a much better lap time. Is the pedal harder? Absolutely, and that’s a good thing. Its not hard enough to generate fatigue. If it's that hard and the car doesn’t stop properly then the bore size or pedal ratio is incorrect (assuming the right pads are used and/or heated properly if a race pad is used). I have completed 4 hour stints with manual brake setups and haven’t remotely felt any leg fatigue.
The analogy I always use with newcomers to manual brakes is as follows. If you press your finger against a wall, and I ask you for a little pressure you can feel that in your finger. Now I ask for medium pressure, you press harder the wall doesn’t move, you feel that in your finger. Now I ask for a lot of pressure, you can see where this is going. Just because the wall didn’t move didn’t mean there was no pressure. The same holds true with manual brakes. There is some movement in the pedal since you are displacing fluids.
In our analogy, you can see that your finger feels the pressure. The wall is consistent therefore you can easily apply different pressures without having to worry about an inconsistency in the wall. This is true with a manual brake as well. Under braking you will be able to feel in your body the exact pressure you want. Every lap of every turn you will be able to build a game plan. Also not all braking zones are the same, some require high pressures some require just enough to scrub a couple MPH off. With a manual brake you can feel that pressure much easier.
Have a look at this brake trace, for those of you who haven’t seen brake traces through data acquisition such as VBOX or Motec, a brake pressure graph shows you how much pressure and at what point in time you used it. Initial brake pressure should be your highest, generally, and you should trail off as you add wheel angle. As you can see in the first photo, my brake pressures are almost vertical each zone. This is good. The car is a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car with no ABS. You can see in the second photo how much more pressure I was able to use with ABS in a different car, in this case a Cayman GT4 MR.
So imagine those lines, now, with a brake booster those lines end up building what I call “mounds”.
The onset of your brake pressure is more rounded with the peak being in the middle of your brake trace. What happens is you will continue to brake for too long, then snap off your brake pressure. So you end up with a “mound” then a snap off. The reason why is, you realize you have been braking to long and its time to turn, thus snapping off brake pressure. This will unsettle the car and cause a fight between you and the car at mid corner. I do not have an example of a power brake with data since we do not use that type of system in race cars. I drew a theoretical one compared to an above trace. Hopefully this helps with the question, why are manual brakes better. There is certainly more detail available but this is a good generalization.
Now that we are convinced and believe in the manual brake, we should discuss cost effectiveness. The two cars I showed have incredibly expensive systems. If you were going to create your own, you would start with a pedal mount system which is roughly 900 dollars before you purchase master cylinders. Now you have the option, floor mount or overhung? Both have extreme challenges from a fab standpoint. If you aren’t doing this yourself be prepared. We built a system for a Gen V camaro that was just over $9,000 dollars from modifying the floor board to accept the pedal assembly, to the parts (brackets, master cylinders, throttle pedal, throttle pedal attachment, false floor, lines, fittings, etc) the labor to cut and weld and build something beefy enough to not rip the pedals from the floor during heavy braking. There are a few setups that are firewall mounted that protrude into the engine bay that run roughly $4,000 dollars for a few select cars.
These are all dual master setups with balance bars. They are great, but it’s not exactly in most of the grassroots/amateur motorsports worlds budget. Enter the Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete with Bolt-On 6:1 Pedal Ratio. This system allows you to receive many benefits from the manual brakes, without the fab/cost of an expensive system. Having now driven with this system, and won our first race with one, I can confidently say this is your ticket to faster laps. We took someone with zero experience with a manual brake, installed this system on his car, he immediately went faster. The only piece of advice I would give is to pump your brakes before the braking zones. Not a large amount of pressure, maybe 10%...just enough to reset the pads. Unless you have anti-knock back springs you need to do this. The power brakes give off the false sense of not needing to do this. I can assure you, you need to. When you strike curbs or load a side, the pads will push back a little. Thus the pedal will travel further making it seem like you have a long pedal. This happens on manual or power brakes. The power brakes just mask this a little bit more. By giving the brakes a small tap with your left foot pre-turn, you will have knocked the pads back into place.
Anyone that I have introduced to manual brakes have questioned why they didn’t do this sooner. I would list this Chase Bays mod as a must for any track day/ grassroots/Am racer where the series allows it. Its compact, its attractive, the engineering is already finished.
As I said before braking is the most crucial thing you can do on track. People should stop worrying about horsepower and start wondering how to get their mid corner speed up. The way to do this is to properly execute braking zones. Ditch the factory components, get a Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete. You will easily go faster immediately and become a better driver. Things to remember:
Set the pads in the straights right before a braking zone
Initial brake force is the highest, trail off, as you wheel angle increases, steering angle should decrease.
Release gradually, do not snap off.
Bryan Leonard
The FACT is, the fastest road race cars in the world have manual brakes. From F1 to McLaren GT4. The difference in those setups from just slapping a big master cylinder on a plate and calling it a day, is they use pedal boxes with a 6:1 or 7:1 ratio.A proper manual brake setup is achieved with:
• Matched pedal ratio with Master Cylinder bore size
• Good pad compound
• Front / Rear Bias Adjustment
With these three things you will get the exact same great braking every cycle. The modulation of max braking before lockup is where manual brakes really thrive. The 80-99% zone. Finding the exact level of leg pressure to get that exact threshold is just not possible with power brakes, they’re too inconsistent...especially with boost. Maybe your buddy did X and Y on the track with it but thats anecdotal info. Acquired Motorsport Data isn’t wrong. YES the 80-99% zone is a little more leg effort than power brakes but that’s what makes it so great. This is massively to our benefit in finding the right leg force every time.
Manual brakes are also great in Drift and Rally environments where nearly every turn has a different entry angle and speed, it’s a far less calculated Motorsport. We’re always making tiny on-the-fly adjustments. If we take the same turn 10 times, we may only hit the foot brake half the time. As well, left foot braking is more common…your left foot isn’t used to braking and is often done on the fly as a correction. With the stiffer slightly more leg pressure 80-99% braking, this allows us some forgiveness in not locking up the front brakes and easier modulation in the opposite foot used to controlled modulation.
OKAY I WANT MANUAL BRAKES AND A 6:1 PEDAL RATIO! How can you achieve pedal box function seen in F1, Indy, IMSA, & GT4 without $5,000+ in parts? Without days of prep, relocation of under-dash components, and fabrication? How can we have a DUAL Piston / Isolated Front and Rear Circuits setup thats approved for nearly every sanctioning body from FIA to WRC to Formula Drift plus SAE and DOT approved? How can we achieve this without removing and drilling the stock pedal or without massive modifications to the firewall or interior? Well after years of hard work, testing, and procurement...these guys have got it figured out.
The Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete with Bolt-On 6:1 Pedal Ratio
This product covers EVERYTHING and its been proven time and time again to shave SECONDS off lap times.. Thanks for reading and hope this helps improve your build.
]]>Manual brakes provide more consistent braking performance. This is important because it allows you to have more control over when you stop and how much braking you're inputing. This is where it thrives for left foot braking and where the major benefit is for Drifting and Rally.
Finally, manual brakes are less susceptible to fading, which can be a major issue when racing. The brakes will remain consistent throughout the race, allowing you to stay in control even when the brakes get hot. So, if you want to give yourself an edge over your competitors, the Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete with 6.1 Pedal Ratio is a great option. It offers more control, reliability, and consistent performance.
Setup is extremely important for manual brakes...read How To Properly Set Up Manual Brakes to understand setup more.
Thanks for reading and hope this helps your build!
]]>Hydro E brake, Hydraulic Handbrake, Hydro...there are many names and many options out there for a Hydro Handbrake. It's hard to choose! Even Alibaba even has handbrakes (don't buy them). We made this unbiased ultimate guide to assist in your purchase.
Theres are six major factors we'll be judging; Comfort, Handle Ratio, Size, Strength, and Price. Out of the gate people who cheap out regret it so just don't buy anything under $200 dollars. Also keep in mind who supports and gives back to the industry when you're purchasing anything. Sending money to companies who have no intentions of helping maintain and grow the industry is a bad idea.
Aesthetic is important. This is one product you have to look at a LOT and aside from that many of us hold this as an important standard even if it sits in our engine bay.
Comfort is strictly how it feels when you pull. Some handbrakes are so poorly designed they cause blisters.
Handle Ratio is often overlooked. It's the distance from the pivot point of the handle to the clevis/pushrod from the MC divided by the total length of the handle from pivot point to middle of where your hand pulls. If its wrong you get too long of a throw or too difficult to pull. MC size, brake pads, and caliper size play a factor but we'll work off if those are sized properly.
Size is about the base. How compact it is with the MC plus the foot print. This can effect where it goes if its too tall or too wide of a footprint.
Strength is simply about how strong it is PLUS the shimmy in the handle. There is a lot of force on this product so strength is important plus it is very difficult to get a solid product with no play in the handle left-to-right or forward play.
Price as always is important. A decent designer/engineer can make something incredible with no cost restraint but sales will go down beyond a certain price point. This has to be paired with the concept that more sales = more buying power which can keep the price lower on a fantastic product.
This one wins because it's good looking, compact, strong, has a modular handle ratio, and it uses a Tilton Spherical Master Cylinder which is $265 on its own. It looks great and the handle is more rounded for a comfortable feel. It's out of most folks price range at $635 USD but when you understand manufacturing and of course the high priced MC it make sense. Great group who make a lot of great products.
Aesthetics - 5
Comfort - 4
Handle Ratio - 5
Size - 4
Strength - 5
Price - 3
Total score = 26
Easily passes as the best bang for buck at $229 to $279, for what you get it really should be sold for more. Its a good looking piece, very compact, strong, proper handle ratio, and looks to be the most comfortable grip of all. Also had a Hoonigan x Chase Bays collab years back which is fun. More color options would be nice but apparently that will happen late 2022. Speaking of giving back, they are building a TRACK!
Aesthetics - 4
Comfort - 5
Handle Ratio - 5
Size - 4
Strength - 4
Price - 4
Total score = 26
This one rocks because its got a true carbon or kevlar handle and its based of the 99-06 WRC Handbrake. The handle is round which is comfortable for pulls and it has a small footprint since it uses Tilton/Alcon spherical bearing design. It's ratio could be higher so it's likely a little more difficult to pull. The con, it's $500 without a Master Cylinder. The base is simple and if they were a larger company would likely go down in price substantially with higher purchasing power.
Aesthetics - 5
Comfort - 4
Handle Ratio - 3
Size - 4
Strength - 4
Price - 2
Total score = 22
A nice item from a newer company. The handle is squared which can get uncomfortable during a drift day but its compact, has a proper handle ratio, and is well priced. The handle has a cool look and shows machining marks which in many design circles is frowned upon as unfinished. Overall can't go wrong with this one at $229.
Aesthetics - 3
Comfort - 3
Handle Ratio - 4
Size - 4
Strength - 4
Price - 4
Total score = 22
Very cool aesthetically even if its bulkier than the above offerings. It is strong, has the proper handle ratio, and has a rounded handle for comfortable pulls. It's quite expensive at $395. The carbon handle is just awesome though and likely where all the cost comes in.
Aesthetics - 4
Comfort - 4
Handle Ratio - 4
Size - 2
Strength - 4
Price - 2
Total score = 20
You can't have a best without the worst!
The master cylinders are faulty out of the box, they're often rip offs of an already bad design Handbrake, the handle ratio is all wrong, they're weak and bulky. They offer zero benefit to growing our industry and of course there is no tech support. They're really cheap so the price score is hard, it's a 4 simply based on it being cheap but really you'll get an expensive paper weight.
Aesthetics - 1
Comfort - 1
Handle Ratio - 2
Size - 2
Strength - 3
Price - 4
Total score = 12
This handbrake came out after Chase Bays released their compact Hydro Handbrake so we're not sure what was going on over there. It's the biggest bulkiest handbrake one could think of. It isn't aesthetically pleasing at all. The handle ratio is way too high and would create a massive sweep of a pull. It's INSANELY overpriced at $465 dollars. I can't imagine why anyone would want this. The only pro is it looks to be strong...which is easy when it's that large.
Aesthetics - 1
Comfort - 1
Handle Ratio - 3
Size - 1
Strength - 4
Price - 1
Total score = 12
This was an early design in the drift world. It works and there's some reputable cars that use it in their competition drift car. But it's got a lot of problems. The base is very tall compared to modern designs, it's over 5" tall at the top of the MC mounting point, it's just a Wilwood under dash pedal base flipped upside down. The handle is very thin and will actually make your hand blister and bleed on a drift day. The ratio is actually too high and makes for a very long throw. The base has two mounting holes that are inline, you'll notice if you've used one it wants to bend left and right even if mounted on reinforced steel. It's just simply unappealing from a design perspective. Aside from that it is strong and holds together over time. Overpriced compared to the rest of the market.
Aesthetics - 1
Comfort - 1
Handle Ratio - 3
Size - 2
Strength - 4
Price - 3
Total score = 14
Thanks for reading! Make the right choice!
]]>Super excited to release the Chase Bays Power Steering Kit for 92-00 Civic and 94-01 Integra. Not to be confused with our pre-existing Power Steering Delete; this product will KEEP Power Steering in a functional and aesthetically pleasing way. Check out this preview of how things are shaping up!
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Chase Bays sells many brake component products, and in doing so we receive many questions regarding the function of our setups. There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding when it comes to brake hydraulic function. Here are 4 facts to help better understand braking.
1. Master Cylinder Bore: Larger vs Smaller
One of the most common misconceptions is that a larger master cylinder will create more pressure. While a larger master cylinder creates a larger displacement, it takes more force to create the same pressure as it would with a smaller bore. The result after adding the larger master cylinder bore is a harder pedal which requires much more pedal pressure to create the same amount of brake clamp force. This result displays itself as a combination of undesirably high force and unpredictable braking response. In more specific terms, moving from a 3/4" master cylinder to a 1" requires 77.7% more force on the push rod to reach the same amount of clamping pressure. Our goal was to develop a product that balanced the entire system. We factored in pedal force, system pressure, and lever travel and the 7/8” Wilwood fit the bill in every category.
2. Eliminating the Brake Booster: Impact on Braking Function and Pedal Feel
It is not uncommon for us to hear people say that eliminating the booster will cause the pedal to be too stiff for reasonable braking control. While we cannot disagree that some people do have this issue after eliminating their booster, their issues are always due to improper design and setup. Every bore has an appropriate pedal (or lever) design required to produce a certain level of pressure. The key to a great pedal feel and more controlled braking is a properly balanced master cylinder bore in relation to the pedal ratio (the length from the pedal swing mount to where it attaches to the master cylinder) used, with an adjustable proportioning valve before the rear brake lines.
In a brake boosted setup, the purpose of a brake booster/vacuum servo is to reduce the amount of pedal pressure required to push the master cylinder. In doing so it creates inconsistent braking because of varying vacuum levels within the chamber. It is very common in race cars (and show cars) to eliminate the brake booster to attain more consistent and controlled braking. After removing the booster the pedal does get stiffer but it is still reasonable for street and track use (much like the difference in pedal feel after changing from stock to an aftermarket clutch). The stiffer pedal feel allows better brake modulation now that there is no booster between the driver and the master cylinder. Our Brake Booster Eliminator kit ensures the master cylinder size is paired properly with the pedal ratio on street cars. Chase Bays offers a Brake Booster Eliminator Kit, Adjustable Proportioning Valve, and Brake Line Relocation Kit for various chassis.
To see more about these Chase Bays brake products, click HERE
3. Cross-Drilled and Slotted Rotors: The Basics
Cross Drilled Rotors
Cross drilled rotors are OE-style blank rotors that have been cross drilled to allow heat to escape that builds up between the brake pad and rotor through the drilled holes and out the mid rotor vent channels. Many people prefer drilled rotors because they like the look and consider it a good upgrade over an OEM blank rotor. The problem is that the integrity of the rotor is moderately compromised which combined with extreme temperatures and pressure can allow them to crack between the drilled holes. Thus even though drilled rotors are specifically designed to expel hot gases, most available on the market are not built properly and the holes serve merely an aesthetic purpose. If you are set on buying a drilled rotor, we recommend a quality brand such as DBA, Brembo, or Wilwood.
Slotted Rotors
Slotted brake rotors are a great alternative to drilled rotors because they serve the same purpose of expelling hot brake gas, but since they retain the strength of the rotor, they are not prone to cracking in the same fashion as cross-drilled rotors. They are also easier on the brake pads in terms of wear.
What's best for the street vs the track?
Most of our customers will notice more of a difference in stopping performance by changing the brake pads than the rotors. The advantages from cross drilled and slotted rotors comes during extremely hard and repetitive braking such as in competition use. For street use, we believe the best bang for the buck is to get a quality set of slotted brake rotors, suitable brake pads for your driving style, and replace your rubber fender well brake lines with stainless steel brake lines.
4. Brake Pad Quality Breakdown
There are different types of brake pads for different purposes. The qualities we demand from a street pad is completely different from what we need out of a race pad. Day-to-day street driving pads generally demand the following characteristics:
However, our priorities shift when the weekend rolls around. We want our race pads to have the following characteristics:
Each driver must determine the most important pad characteristics for the type of driving he or she will be doing and choose a pad strategy with acceptable compromises. Out of often hundreds of different pad options, each pad compound will exhibit different characteristics and potential drawbacks. The goal is to find a happy medium based on how the car us used. Every situation is different.
With this article, we hope to help people understand braking components better so they can build a functional system suitable for their demands. If you would like to see a full article on specific pad types including their strengths and drawbacks to help you determine which is best for each type of driving…let us know!
https://www.chasebays.com/
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