Any EPAS fans out there?

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Slugfarm

Slugfarm

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I recently toasted my 3 on the tree transmission so I’m upgrading to the Tremec T-5 with a floor shifter, which means I can now install electronic power assisted steering since the column shifter is gone. I’m liking it over a Borgeson or suchlike in theory, but haven’t ever met anyone that’s used it in their old Mopar. Does anyone here have any experience or opinions?
 
Car is a 65 Valiant slant six, a wee bit hotrodded.
 
My Daughter is into the R53 super charged Mini Coopers. We are doing complete suspension and engine upgrade. One thing I can tell you. without the battery hooked up you cannot steer it to easy. When I first went to push it out of the shop I thought the steering was locked up.

So if you put a switch on the assembly , No one will ever steal your car .

Otherwise it steers great when driving it and pulls no power from the engine performance. I did not know it was electric until we started redoing the car. If you can do it I think it would be a great upgrade.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
My Daughter is into the R53 super charged Mini Coopers. We are doing complete suspension and engine upgrade. One thing I can tell you. without the battery hooked up you cannot steer it to easy. When I first went to push it out of the shop I thought the steering was locked up.

So if you put a switch on the assembly , No one will ever steal your car .

Otherwise it steers great when driving it and pulls no power from the engine performance. I did not know it was electric until we started redoing the car. If you can do it I think it would be a great upgrade.
Click to expand...

Umm, R53 Mini's have an electric powered HYDRAULIC power steering pump. They have hydraulic power steering.

EPAS units like the one the OP is considering are fully electric, no hydraulic side at all. It's just a motor that provides assist directly to the steering shaft.
 
72bluNblu said:
Umm, R53 Mini's have an electric powered HYDRAULIC power steering pump. They have hydraulic power steering.

EPAS units like the one the OP is considering are fully electric, no hydraulic side at all. It's just a motor that provides assist directly to the steering shaft.
Click to expand...
I don't really care what the **** you have to say. The Steering is electric controlled and with no battery power it don't steer. Its amazing you don't have 50 or more quotes in this post at one time like usual. Oh I see there aren't that many to Quote yet . Mrs. suspension queen.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
I don't really care what the **** you have to say. The Steering is electric controlled and with no battery power it don't steer. Its amazing you don't have 50 or more quotes in this post at one time like usual. Oh I see there aren't that many to Quote yet . Mrs. suspension queen.
Click to expand...

Yes, it’s an electric over hydraulic system, which is not in any way the same as what the OP is talking about.

The heavy steering is also not a thing with the EPAS units the OP is discussing, they have a pass through when there’s no power so the steering is just the same as it would be as a manual unit with the same ratio.

No reason to throw a tantrum, the example you gave just isn’t an EPAS like the thread is about.
 
Those early GM type "in the column" EPAS systems are just awful, they don't feel good on center and aren't all that reliabile either.

The newer rack mount EPAS on cars after about 2011 aren't too bad, but they don't have road feel like a hydraulic box let alone a rack.

I would put a P/S pump and a borgeson box on it in all cases for the best experience. Otherwise I'd probably still go with stock power steering.
 
Now that we're back on track in this thread:
I found this thread in the past as I thought about doing something similar before but found a Borgeson setup on fleabay for like half the cost of a new one as it was off of a wrecked Valiant and decided to go that route.
Hopefully you can glean some information from it.
EPAS Electric Power Steering install
 
I'm pretty strongly considering going to an EPAS like this kit 1974 PLYMOUTH DUSTER EPAS Performance 3004 EPAS Performance Electric Power Steering Kits | Summit Racing

Having a potentiometer to be able to control the amount of boost that you get would be great. You could run very little assist most of the time, then turn it up if you're going into the city or about to do a tight/slow autoX course? Yes please.

Plus the install would lend itself to installing a steering quickener too, I could install a 1.5:1 quickener and have a 12:1 steering ratio and then use the EPAS to provide boost to get back into the ballpark of the 16:1 manual system I run now, which I really like the majority of the time. And then yeah, turn it up if I know I have parallel parking in my plans or need the steering to come around faster on the track.

Plus no change in header clearance, no extra pulley's or belt routing changes etc. And I already have the 165 amp alternator and new wire harness to back it up.
 
72bluNblu said:
I'm pretty strongly considering going to an EPAS like this kit 1974 PLYMOUTH DUSTER EPAS Performance 3004 EPAS Performance Electric Power Steering Kits | Summit Racing

Having a potentiometer to be able to control the amount of boost that you get would be great. You could run very little assist most of the time, then turn it up if you're going into the city or about to do a tight/slow autoX course? Yes please.

Plus the install would lend itself to installing a steering quickener too, I could install a 1.5:1 quickener and have a 12:1 steering ratio and then use the EPAS to provide boost to get back into the ballpark of the 16:1 manual system I run now, which I really like the majority of the time. And then yeah, turn it up if I know I have parallel parking in my plans or need the steering to come around faster on the track.

Plus no change in header clearance, no extra pulley's or belt routing changes etc. And I already have the 165 amp alternator and new wire harness to back it up.
Click to expand...

I just looked at that and I’m not sure how that would fit with my headers.

The thing would have to be mounted straight up. It might fit then.

I like the idea.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
I just looked at that and I’m not sure how that would fit with my headers.

The thing would have to be mounted straight up. It might fit then.

I like the idea.
Click to expand...

The EPAS unit goes under the dash, none of it is in the engine compartment.

You can look at the thread posted by @Professor Fate in post #3 or the link to the slant6 forum thread in that link

This is where it ends up on most A-bodies

epas-under-dash-jpg.1716081618
 
I am in the beginning stages of an EPAS install using an ‘07 Prius column. Currently on 275’s up front with a 16:1 box and parking lots are not fun. I am stalled with two concerns. Foot space above the gas pedal is going to be tight for a size 12, but I believe a little fabrication can get the motor from the above pictured 4 o-clock position to at least 3.
More concerning is the effect on return to center which sounds to be partial at best when running in the 3 wire failsafe modes. It seems most people ignore or learn to live with it. It’s unclear to me if the aftermarket setups/controllers like 72bluNblu posted suffer from the same problem, but based on my(limited) research the adjustable knob is a bit of a red flag. Hopefully the aftermarket controller alleviates this issue.

IMG_5940.jpeg
 
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Oh wow. I am just seeing that slant six forum install for the first time and unless that’s simply a bad photo angle…no way that would be enough room above the gas pedal for me.
 
Kind of looks like @'Cuda_ragtop got the motor higher up under the dash?

www.forabodiesonly.com

Restomod Steering Column

Anyone have pro/con comments, experience and/or suggestions related to steering column manufacturers and models? This will go on our '68 Bcuda restomod build for a telescoping/tilt floor shift automatic. I'm aware of Ididit and Flaming River brands, but there may be others one of you have...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com

1735712156406-png.1716346442


Hard to tell for sure and I can't find a picture of it installed. But looks much flatter to me.

Edit - and the motor is pointed the opposite way so it isn't over the top of the throttle.
 
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turbovan said:
Oh wow. I am just seeing that slant six forum install for the first time and unless that’s simply a bad photo angle…no way that would be enough room above the gas pedal for me.
Click to expand...

I think the angle of the photo has a lot to do with it. If you look at what the motor is right up against under the dash I think it's tucked up there further than what it looks like. It's just closer to the camera and the camera is pointed down toward the pedal.
 

turbovan said:
I am in the beginning stages of an EPAS install using an ‘07 Prius column. Currently on 275’s up front with a 16:1 box and parking lots are not fun. I am stalled with two concerns. Foot space above the gas pedal is going to be tight for a size 12, but I believe a little fabrication can get the motor from the above pictured 4 o-clock position to at least 3.
More concerning is the effect on return to center which sounds to be partial at best when running in the 3 wire failsafe modes. It seems most people ignore or learn to live with it. It’s unclear to me if the aftermarket setups/controllers like 72bluNblu posted suffer from the same problem, but based on my(limited) research the adjustable knob is a bit of a red flag. Hopefully the aftermarket controller alleviates this issue.

View attachment 1716443914
Click to expand...

I haven't looked specifically into the controllers much. Obviously the OE applications can have pretty extensive controls and return to center could definitely be something that could be a bit of an issue. Although I'm sure that might also depend on how much caster you're running too.

I didn't see it mentioned in the other kit, but Flaming River has a kit as well that claims that it also has provisions to be tied into a speed sensor, in addition to a potentiometer to adjust the amount of boost. The VSS input would allow the steering to be speed sensitive, which would also be a nice addition.

Flaming River FR40200 Flaming River Microsteer Electric Power Assisted Steering Kits | Summit Racing
 
I will be sending info to my steering ecu for adjustable assist, but it needs to be can bus; engine rpm and vehicle speed. I believe that will require an arduino between the steering and Megasquirt but I’m still learning. The non-abs ‘07 Yaris steering controller plugs into most the Toyota racks and is said to utilize a simple vss/pwm speed input.

There are a couple of people who have tried running up to 9° positive caster in an attempt to correct the RTC issue without success. There is also a steering center reset process which I’ve read helps, but still doesn’t fix the problem.

I would personally get email confirmation that those aftermarket kits do not suffer from this issue before spending $1700+.
 
Last edited:
turbovan said:
I will be sending info to my steering ecu for adjustable assist, but it needs to be can bus; engine rpm and vehicle speed. I believe that will require an arduino between the steering and Megasquirt but I’m still learning. The non-abs ‘07 Yaris steering controller plugs into most the Toyota racks and is said to utilize a simple vss/pwm speed input.

There are a couple of people who have tried running up to 9° positive caster in an attempt to correct the RTC issue without success. There is also a steering center reset process which I’ve read helps, but still doesn’t fix the problem.

I would personally get email confirmation that those aftermarket kits do not suffer from this issue before spending $1700+.
Click to expand...

That's my plan if I ever get around to doing an EPAS install. I already have an Arduino and a Raspberry Pi along with a CAN bus in my car, so should be fairly straightforward to get some messages going to it. I just need to get a motor assembly one of these days to start sizing things up.
 
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