Electric Power Steering - A Viable Alternative?

rambos_ride

I have been in the process of moving so have been taking the auto-ferry across Puget Sound and went out and bought some rodding mags for something to read while crossing.

I was all grins reading an ad for this Electric Power Steering setup from Flaming River. They claim it will work on a manual steering box and is driver adjustable to boot!

z

I could barely wait to get home and get online!

As I'm fumbling for my credit card thinking I gotta buy me one of these! the website loads and I find the link to the Electric Power Steering...just a click away now...WHAT THE #$$%$$#?????

I think I soiled my shorts and I swear my heart skipped a beat - Did I miss something? Because in those pictures I don't see that the unit is 24k Gold Plated nor does it come with a Swedish Bikini Team member to install it for me - really? Man, that's some spendy technology!

Needless to say, my credit card immediatley lept back into my wallet! Too bad - I thought this might be good for someone like myself wanting to keep the original components but have a power steering boost.

Very cool! But WAyTooMUch!:mad:

[Deleted User]

Dan, I had heard about those but had not seen any info on them. I don't remember now which one, but one of the Mags did a report on a car that was using a steer by wire system. Though not the same process as the flaming river unit. The drive by wire unit was not connected to the steering column by anything but a wiring harness. I think until they are on the road for a few years I will stay with what I have.
Man, I would love to have power steering though.
Bob

vmike

Something along this line I've thought about but not yet tried was to use one of the several electric landing gear electric/hydraulic pumps I've collected to supply a conventional power steering sector. Actually one could probably just buy a new (shudder) accessory 12 volt hydraulic pump, but that'd be too easy. My idea is to put a cam and switches on the column to start the electric pump when you turn the wheel past a predetermined point right or left, maybe even use an small accumulator to limit pump run time. I was thinking for normal highway curves the steering would just be manual, but for turns the pump kicks in. Maybe even bypass switches to move the car around with the engine off, plus you could use an adjustable relief/bypass valve to adjust the amount of steering assistance, firm or soft steering. Obviously all I've done is to think about this or I'd have answered these possibilities by now.



mike

Unknown

My first thought thought was "cool", but that is more than my entire investment in the entire car! I guess I'll just keep over inflating the front tires.



terry

[Deleted User]

52 kahuna wrote:

My first thought thought was "cool", but that is more than my entire investment in the entire car! I guess I'll just keep over inflating the front tires.

terry

My thoughts exactly!

hornet53

For $6k I'd go buy a wrecked late-model GM car factory equipped with the electric power steering, strip the parts I need and resell the rest of the car! That's insane.

rambos_ride

hornet53 wrote:

For $6k I'd go buy a wrecked late-model GM car factory equipped with the electric power steering, strip the parts I need and resell the rest of the car! That's insane.

Are they putting electric ps units in newer cars? Which ones?

[Deleted User]

I'm going to hold off until I get my electric trim rings, my electric radiator & my electric muffler!

[Deleted User]

Actually I did read an article in, I think, Popular Mechanics, a year or so back about a company experimening with a mufler that used a sound generator to cancel out the sound from an engine. >>Electric Muffler<<
Bob

MikeWA

BJ__TN wrote:

Actually I did read an article in, I think, Popular Mechanics, a year or so back about a company experimening with a mufler that used a sound generator to cancel out the sound from an engine. >>Electric Muffler<<

Bob

My car is too quiet at present, so about the only electronic muffler I would want is an amplifier! Thinking about exhaust cutouts (they have electrically operated models now- hopefully for less than 6 grand) connected to shorty lakers- its nice to have the quiet on the highway, but would like a little more snort for "local work".

[Deleted User]

Mike (WA) wrote:

My car is too quiet at present, so about the only electronic muffler I would want is an amplifier! Thinking about exhaust cutouts (they have electrically operated models now- hopefully for less than 6 grand) connected to shorty lakers- its nice to have the quiet on the highway, but would like a little more snort for "local work".

Mike, my neighbor worked on a sledded '49 Merc for a collector here that used those. They were electronic diverters that would adjust the exhaust thru the lake pipes or the under car regular exhaust, and since they were electronic, you could set them at any position to fine tune your sound! I believe they were not that expensive and I plan to use them on my sled.

Jay

hornet53

Mike (WA) wrote:

...but would like a little more snort for "local work".

Local work, I like that.

hornet53

rambos_ride wrote:

Are they putting electric ps units in newer cars? Which ones?

I know the Saturn ION for sure. I think some of the other small GM cars too.