exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
I took my little hot rod to a autocross last weekend, a first for me, and thought, (something that always gets me into trouble), that wouldn't it be really nice to have power steering. I was way over powered and got soundly trounced by just about everything that was there, 45th out of 48 cars, and one didn't even run. I know now that I need some lower profile sticky tires, a lower center of gravity, and drop the ride height an inch or two, if I want to compete with the Porsche's, Honda 2000's and that one Lotus that shows up. I was only 5 seconds off the fast time and I really believe that that 5 seconds was spent fishtailing, trying to correct the cars attitude, and slowing down on the really sharp turns to keep the tires from rubbing the inside of the wheel wells.
So I'm wondering if any of you have thought about or installed Electric Power Rack and Pinion steering on your MGB's . I've seen on other forums that they work fairly well, I can pick them up for other cars for a couple hundred bucks off eBay but I'm unsure which units I can adapt to my Fast Cars Inc front end, any help or information would be greatly appreciated, thanks Tony |
britcars Phil Ossinger New Brunswick, Canada (346 posts) Registered: 02/02/2009 07:58PM Main British Car: 1977 MGB Roadster, Rover 3.5 ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA! |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
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exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
I've seen EPS units that are incorporated right on the rack with and without a small control module on the column itself . Because of the lack of space to mount something under the dash, such as I've seen in the above mentioned forum, I'm wondering if anyone has tried to adapt one of these units to a MGB
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
I think you will find that the challenge is finding a rack of the correct length to avoid bump steer issues.
Jim |
exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Jim can't you correct that with the tie rods
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DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Nope!
The rack length, or more correctly, the length between the tie rod pivots is critical. They should intersect a line drawn vertically through the upper and lower A arm pivots. That is what determines the rack length in most cases. Once the rack length is set the tie rods are whatever length is needed to set the toe. Cheers Fred |
exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Thanks Fred for setting me straight on this. I'm pretty new on suspension and steering issues, having moved over recently from chopping motorcycles where the only things you have to worry about is trail, center line on the tires, and chain alignment.
I've never been the brightest bulb on the tree but seem to get by borrowing knowledge from forums such as this one. My guess is I'm going to have to go back and study the EPS thread and either find a way to fit one of the units that attach to the steering column or start working on building upper body strength |
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DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
The EPS units are a gods send Tony.
They tuck up nicely under the dash and are surprisingly easy to retrofit. The "bruno controller" for the in column unit works very well. There are rack and pinion units available as well, but why go to all that trouble for something that probably doesn't fit as well as the original? And takes up precious room in the engine bay. Live like you mean it. Fred |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Tony,
I realize this a little late... but none the less. If you have a FastCars front end then consider adding EPS systems which have the assist in the cockpit. This removes any concerns about bump steer issues. There is an extra advantage you can gain with EPS on the FastCars front end... dial in extra front caster and you'll get a camber gain in the outside tire which will plant the front end. The EPS will offset the added steering effort required. |
exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
I've been looking at column mounted EPS units and although they seem rather reasonable in price, and easy enough to install. I'm having a hard time picking one out to purchase. I would like something simple that all you have to do is attach a positive and negative wire to but can't seem to find one that has internal sensors is there such an animal out there. I have quite a bit less room under my dash than most because it is stuffed with things like a fuel injection computer, rev limiter, and all the wires to control this beast
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Tony, I think we figured out that if you didn't hook up the small wires you got something like half-scale on the adjustment, which is plenty for an MGB. Nobody has tried it yet.
Jim |
exfed12825 Tony Gentile Waterford, Pa (61 posts) Registered: 03/30/2016 02:43PM Main British Car: 1974 MGB 347ci Bessel Motorsports/ Ford stroker 530 hp |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Jim I've been looking at Saturn Vue and Chevy Equinox units but my research says that if the units fail it just works like it isn't there. That tells me that they must have to be hooked up to some kind of RPM or Speedometer sensor
Koyo part # 65312144 991-26401-0 Q1T18274M1 If there is a better choice for the EPS, I haven't been able to find it and I'm looking for suggestions on what units to look at |
DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: Electric Power Rack and Pinion Steering
Hi Tony,
The Vue/Equinox EPS units do operate in a "limp mode" if the signal from the BCM or Bruno controller is missing. They revert to what feels like 1/2 assist. Which is just about right for most applications it seems. Upon a complete failure or power loss the system disengages and be comes "straight through" without any assist or resistance at all. Cheers Fred |