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juicing up power steering ?

General Tech Talk

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juicing up power steering ?

Post by Wish I had coils »

Well after reading the thread about hydro steering it got me thinking,
My power steering is sh!T so i thought i would ask what people thought about get the pump juiced up a bit.

Like making the relive valve a bit bigger or something along those lines.

Just want my power steering lighter so the misses can drive it on those rare occasions, and make life a bit nicer for my self.
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Post by Nat84 »

Tires are like boobs, they always look big until you have played with them for a while, then you just want a bigger set
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Post by MightyMouse »

Many moon ago, I was involved in re-engineering vehicles for the disabled.

What we used to do was disassemble the power steer box and grind down the torsion bar that controlled the valving. This way less steering input was required to twist the bar and thus apply hydraulic pressure to the assist mechanism.

The "lightest" I did could be moved with one finger - but to the disabled driver it felt "normal".

Remember its the cross sectional area of the internal torsion bar that controls the assist ratio. Havn't done a rack and pinion system - but the controlling principle is the same.

A word of caution however - the torsion bar not only controls the hydraulic valving but it is the mechanical link between the steering wheel and the wheels - remove too much metal - break the torsion bar - no steering.
However you would need to have removed a LOT of metal for this to be a factor.

Needless to say its NOT going to be a legal mod without engineering.
( usual disclaimers )

It seemed like a much better idea when I started it than it does now.
Posts: 487
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Post by Wish I had coils »

MightyMouse wrote:Many moon ago, I was involved in re-engineering vehicles for the disabled.

What we used to do was disassemble the power steer box and grind down the torsion bar that controlled the valving. This way less steering input was required to twist the bar and thus apply hydraulic pressure to the assist mechanism.

The "lightest" I did could be moved with one finger - but to the disabled driver it felt "normal".

Remember its the cross sectional area of the internal torsion bar that controls the assist ratio. Havn't done a rack and pinion system - but the controlling principle is the same.

A word of caution however - the torsion bar not only controls the hydraulic valving but it is the mechanical link between the steering wheel and the wheels - remove too much metal - break the torsion bar - no steering.
However you would need to have removed a LOT of metal for this to be a factor.

Needless to say its NOT going to be a legal mod without engineering.
Cheers mighty mouse, I have never pulled a steering box apart but i got a spare 1 there so i might have a look

any more idea's peoples
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Post by Mousie »

isnt there a ajustment on the top of the box that allows how mutch fluid and there for how mutch pressure is needed to turn ?
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Post by simcoz »

take your pump to a powersterring shop and get it tested and upgraded if possible.
may cost more but its the right way to do it
if the shop doesn't have a flow bench then go to a shop that does as its the only way to test pressure and flow.
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Yom
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Post by Yom »

Mousie wrote:isnt there a ajustment on the top of the box that allows how mutch fluid and there for how mutch pressure is needed to turn ?
GU do have a magic bolt on the steering boxes. GQ probably do as well.

I have seen a few people upgrade to late model GU steering boxes. Might be worth looking into - the steering in our '07 GU is brilliant compared to older GU's and GQ's we've had.
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Re: juicing up power steering ?

Post by pongo »

Wish I had coils wrote: Just want my power steering lighter so the misses can drive it on those rare occasions, and make life a bit nicer for my self.
I run 35's on my patrol no probs to the steering.

Either fix your steering as per std or get a new misses.

Will be cheaper long term to do the latter
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Re: juicing up power steering ?

Post by Wish I had coils »

pongo wrote:
Wish I had coils wrote: Just want my power steering lighter so the misses can drive it on those rare occasions, and make life a bit nicer for my self.
I run 35's on my patrol no probs to the steering.

Either fix your steering as per std or get a new misses.

Will be cheaper long term to do the latter
Yeah new missus would be cheaper, It might just have to be on the cards.

Never the less would like the steering a bit lighter. The old girl has the death shakes up again so i was wondering if an alighnment would fix this and help with the steering? Just an idea
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Post by Wish I had coils »

well i have some sucess thanks to NAT84 for the site was a step in the right direction.

So i started by pulling the high pressure hose off the pump, Then removed the main fitting drilling the the hole out to a little bigger size.

Then pulled the flow piston out, which acts as the high pressure bypass and pulled it apart packing a small washer in behind the spring which has incressed the pressure. put it back together and the steering seems much lighter and a lot nicer to drive.

I need to pull the main fitting off and drill it out a little more which is ment to increase steering at low revs, it is better but not perfect will keep al posted.
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Post by pongo »

:armsup: nice. will definatly experiment with the spare pump i have here after Aust Day. didnt think there was any real easy mods to be done
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