Power steering

[Thowdfella]

I have a 122s 1966 and find the steering really hard at low speeds. Looking at electric power steering I found DCE Motorsport have one for about £900 called EPA’s 200 Microsteer kit. Has anyone fitted one or an alternative one? There doesn’t seem to be much room under the brake cylinder so might have to go under the dashboard. Skanddix do one that’s fits behind the dash but more expensive.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Thowdfella

I have a 122s 1966 and find the steering really hard at low speeds. Looking at electric power steering I found DCE Motorsport have one for about £900 called EPA’s 200 Microsteer kit. Has anyone fitted one or an alternative one? There doesn’t seem to be much room under the brake cylinder so might have to go under the dashboard. Skanddix do one that’s fits behind the dash but more expensive.

Have you got the tyre pressures up above 30 psi ? stiff joints ? Tight steering box ? The steering on a 122 has always been delightful , It should not be overly heavy with that big wheel .

[Triple-S]

Previous owner of my Volvo 145 fitted EZY electric power steering (Dutch company). It has a sensitivity switch and seems to work - but apart from close parking don't like it so I switch it off. I was born with arm muscles.....and the feel of the road matters to me. As has been said before, you either have stiff joints or the tyres need inflating as my schoolgirl daughters both did their first lessons on my Amazon - no problems for the wife either.
All of the EZY workings are housed in a replacement upper column so invisible apart from switch. Costly though.

P

[Burdekin]

Also check the idler arm bush, it wears quickly and folk over tighten it to try and compensate but just makes the joint tight.

[57paul]

People have fitted a vauxhall corsa electric one to various old cars that may be an option

[Burdekin]

Originally Posted by 57paul

People have fitted a vauxhall corsa electric one to various old cars that may be an option

Corsa C I think was the one .

[sleek lemur]

This subject does seem to split opinion, with various well-respected forum contributors opining that the standard set up should be fine. I have fitted EZ to my 1800E and am happy. Also meant I could junk the steering wheel, which, unlike the wheel on the Amazon, is not a thing of beauty!

The steering box is somewhat worn, but I don't think there was anything broken or maladjusted in the steering previously, however the comment re the idler arm bush above is a new one for me. I will check that out on my car, as all the joints had been replaced prior to my purchase.

Burdekin, when I Jack the front wheels off the ground, the steering turns smoothly without sticky bits....however would testing with the wheels off the ground potentially fail to identify a problem?

[Burdekin]

Originally Posted by sleek lemur

This subject does seem to split opinion, with various well-respected forum contributors opining that the standard set up should be fine. I have fitted EZ to my 1800E and am happy. Also meant I could junk the steering wheel, which, unlike the wheel on the Amazon, is not a thing of beauty!

The steering box is somewhat worn, but I don't think there was anything broken or maladjusted in the steering previously, however the comment re the idler arm bush above is a new one for me. I will check that out on my car, as all the joints had been replaced prior to my purchase.

Burdekin, when I Jack the front wheels off the ground, the steering turns smoothly without sticky bits....however would testing with the wheels off the ground potentially fail to identify a problem?

Loosen the nut and see if there if there is any side to side play.

[Thowdfella]

The stiff joints are in my shoulders!!!
The steering is fine above manoeuvring speed and when jacked up is perfect. My son has an 1800 and his is the same Even after overhauling the steering box.
Just looking for advice on fitting the different electrical alternatives and whether they are worth the expense.

[142 Guy]

I installed an EPS column unit from a Nissan Versa on my 142. I removed the EPS unit and controller (and most of the steering column) from a wrecked Versa in a pick and pull salvage yard. The all-in cost of the salvaged EPS unit, paying for the machining of support bearings and adapters and welding of parts cost me about $ 600 Cdn - not including my labor / design time.

I picked the Versa EPS for two reasons. The controller has a default assist level that it implements when it loses the speed signal and the clocking of the EPS drive motor was a good fit on my LHD 140. The default assist eliminates the need for a speed signal generator (which would have to be a CAN bus device). The Versa EPS would probably not be a good fit on a RHD car because of interference with the heater (at least on a 140).

My 142 has 185/65 tires and a 14" Moto Lita steering wheel. All of my suspension bits have less than 7,000 km on them including a relatively new upgraded brass idler arm bushing. The car is fine driving around; but, maneuvering, particularly parallel parking is a fight. Although urban driving was definitely acceptable before, whipping around in traffic is much easier and I would never go back.

I have read comments that claim that the installation of EPS can eliminate feel and contribute to wandering at highway speeds, particularly that it eliminates the return to center feel. Perhaps; but, that is because of 1/2 way engineering. I will offer the observation that a lot of the Volvo steering feel is drag. Some EPS units do have a return to center function. My Versa unit does not and I am happy with that because it complicates installation. The real problem is the Volvo steering geometry has very little return to center / self aligning force built in because the OEM caster settings are 0 to 1 deg. You will typically find that modern cars with assist are running caster in the 5 deg range. Volvo did this because minimizing caster minimizes self aligning forces; but also minimizing the force required to steer. With 0 deg caster, add in some power assist which offsets resistance combined with that big OEM steering wheel and you have steering very sensitive to user input at high speed (too much forward gain in Engineering parlance). Increase the caster, a little negative camber is also beneficial and perhaps a slightly smaller steering wheel and you will eliminate the wander issue and have a car that is easy to park and whip around at low speeds. The Versa unit on my car has an input for a CAN bus based speed signal which I have wired out; but, so far I have not been particularly motivated to fiddle with that because the assist level is low enough at highway speeds that with my slightly revised geometry (I am experimenting with about 1.5 deg caster) I am not wandering all over the place at highway speeds.

The final benefit that I got when I did this is that when I lifted the steering column out of the Versa I took the lower shaft with its U joints and splined collapsible shaft. This allowed me to eliminate the rubber bushing mounted break away shaft on the 140. Even with fresh rubber bushings on the break away shaft that contraption contributes a lot of flex in the steering column. The revised lower steering shaft with its U joints will facilitate a possible switch to a steering rack in the future if the steering box ever gives up.

When I started out on the conversion, I sourced a spare steering column and mounting bracket from another 140 owner I know who had a parts car and who donated the parts to me because he was also interested in the conversion. I did this to allow me to go back to OEM in case the conversion turned out to be a bad idea. After two years, safe to say that I am not going backwards and returned the parts to the original owner marked up so that he could do a similar conversion.