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Power Steering


Taz

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i just wanna know some facts on installing power steering, ive done a search but all the threads are a tad old. so just need to know if its possible? what way to do it? what do i need and can i do it myself or get some mechanic to do it for me?

 

 

cheers tom,

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hmmm one that seems to be popluar is the Subaru one. there are some mods required to subframe to make it fit.

 

apperenntly mazda mx5 one is better fit but lot more exy.

 

ive installed mine by myself. slight mods to the subframe but nothing as extensive what ive seen people do. i got people contracted to do the work ie shortening and rethreding the arms and new pipelines. didnt have the tools at home to do this otherwise would have done it myself.

 

I should have a bit of write up under members journal not sure if its clear though.

 

i do know a guy here that allready has everything setup in his 260. i know he be selling the bits of it as he abondoned the project. i can ask him if he wants to sell it seperately but i know he paid around 2k for the pros to install it for him.  based on recon subi rack.

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yeah hada  quick chat with him. it cost him 2k with moded subframe linkages etc.... no pump.

 

sounds exy but i guess it is a bolt up job.

 

i think mine cost me in parts alone around 500. so its not a cheap exercise.

 

 

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There are a lot of write ups on Hybrid Zed on this. Subaru Racks seem to be the go. I looked at the MX5 rack and whilst it appears to be a better fit it wasn't as strong for the weight. (My Zed has a V8 in it. So I have purchased the Subi rack on Ebay for $150- and am shortly going to get my act together and install it using the detailed Hybrid write ups as instructions.

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i have installed a late  model subaru liberty rack into mine

 

as others have said there is some notching to be done on the subframe to make it fit and also shortening of the overall length.

 

i highly recommend the subaru rack but you are looking for abit of $$ to get it done. also need to get high pressure oil feed line custom made, low pressure oil return line, pump and reservoir

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biggest issue for me ive seen most people do is take chunks out of the frame. not something i would like having.

 

i rotated the power head 180deg.

got new fixed pipes made up.

got the subframe and marked it all out.

instead of the lines pointing forwards like with normal rack now mine are pointing backwards.

doing that it reduces the amount u need to cut out or modify. all i did got an oxy set heated the area where the lines should go and bashed it in. made two identations in the subframe.

prob two is the engine mount bracket. the power head goues through the middle of it.

 

ive seen few different way people do this but again i didnt like it.

 

ive sloted the inner part of the bracket. than bent moulded another inner piece and reinforced the outer with another layer of metal.

 

this way looks like it was like that from factory.

 

the pump i used was r32 skyline non hicas pump. VL commodore/R31 skyline can be used as well. as for the bottle anything that u can fit. skyline one is fairly small. i used R32 again as it had low fluid senser level in it.

 

the universal coupling was another mod that i did. had the original one cut and turned down and sloted to suit the subaru universal joint to the rack. bolted and than welded around for extra protection. from outside it looks like its factory dato installed.

 

its a pain but its so nice afterwards. parking is a breeze. now the missus can drive it without complaints. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Easy way to tell is, they didn't make it.

 

Seen a few kits coming up on the internet for electric power steering. Replaces the steeting column and has an electric motor on it. Haven't seen any reviews of it installed yet, but I believe NZeder has one to install.

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not sure, its on the drivers side of the engine bay. its got an after market air con so might be.

 

im a few km's away to check at the moment but will have a proper look on the weekend

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Seen a few kits coming up on the internet for electric power steering. Replaces the steeting column and has an electric motor on it.

 

 

Id like to see some pics of this if youve got some....Im finding it very hard to even imagine a car with electric steering..............servo assist perhaps, but not straight out electric

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Is it legal to have full on drive-by-wire in a car?

Those electric power steering are not drive by wire - they are torque assist. This is the basic principle.

 

1. A torque input sensor is connected to the column

2. A vehicle speed sensor is feed into the steering ECU a long with the torque sensor.

3. Based on the above the ECU can tell the car is moving slow and turning.

4. The torque assist motor (in the column type EPAS - Electric Power Assisted Steering, or the pump in an electric hydraulic setup) is used to assist with the loads applied to the column or rack (depending on the setup)

 

These are designed so they are fail safe so if the fail they stop assisting again you are 100% sill in control the EPAS is just like having a guy with larger mussels who will help pull or push on the wheel when things get harder.

 

Does that help? 

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I looked into these electric power steering units. Apparently they are not very strong and should be used on very small cars only. That's why most cars today don't have them. Don't waist your time going down this track as Zed steering is heavy and no electric motor will be as efficient as a Subi Rack.

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I looked into thise electric power steering units. Apparently they are not very strong and should be used on very small cars only. That's why most cars today don't have them. Don't waist your time going down this track as Zed steering is heavy and no electric motor will be as efficient as a Subi Rack.

And the zed is a big car? These modern small cars weight what 1000-1100kg how is that different to a zed? Remember gone are the days of small cars that weight under 750kg like the Datsun 1200 etc + the zed steering is not that heavy really.
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Ah but the angle of the steering column has a bearing on how heavy the manual steering will be also. The old Zed has a long nose and that's partly why it has been natorious for heavy steering. But, I look forward to hearing how the first electric power steering goes in an old Zed then, if some one is keen.

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That's really cool Nzeder, looks like very light steering.

 

So what kind of mods do these electric power steering units require? Is it way different to the subaru rack?

A fair bit as the column is not a bolt in solution - you need to make a few changes. Also the donor car that these units come from is smallish but a wagon that comes in at 980KG but when loaded supports a total of 1464KG (ie the little wagon/truck is full with a max load in the rear deck). Depending on the market they were powered by 1000cc upto 1400cc. That is about all I know as I have one of these units and I have not got my car from the body shop so I have not looked at the mounting in any details - and I might not install it yet, time will tell.
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