Been beating up the forums on LS Swaps into third gens. One common problem is the accessory drive. What if some of that could be eliminated? I have a Polaris ranger with electric power steering that handles the job well. Could an electric power steering system-aftermarket or otherwise- be adapted to ours cars in order to save room? it would also reduce parasitic HP loss. Any thoughts on this matter?

For clarification, I'm not suggesting the Polaris setup would work on our cars, but rather the concept of it.

 

About as much tech as you could ask for.

http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40677

 

U no that's been done? Kits available from e z electric and us auto performance.....

 

Didn't know it had been done already. I guess I'm a little behind in the times! lol

 

I hav'nt seen it done on a thirdgen, but there are kits they'll sell you to do that, mostly mustangs and old corvettes I think

 

no reason I can see why it would not work well....

 

I'm sure someone on here has done it and made it work. I just had that "Hmmmm.. I wonder" moment when I posted this. Maybe its a dumb idea. Maybe it can solve someone's problem. who knows?

 

try it.... be a pioneer....

 

Was just looking at the universal kit from American Powertrain. A bit pricey but not out of this world pricey.

 

Speaking as a guy who works in a shop that does alignment/ suspension work, electric power steering is more trouble than it's worth.
To make one of those systems work, you'll probably have to swap in some later model steering column, because you need a steering angle/ torque input sensor.
Then you'll need the power steering module, and all the related wiring... And you've got to find a way to retrofit an electric steering rack into a Third-Gen.

In the end, your result is an ultimately less reliable power steering system; trust me, I've seen some of these systems f*ck up really badly, to the point where they try to turn against your input, or they lock entirely.

Electric power steering is a bad idea. Stick with hydraulics, or start lifting weights and go full manual.

 

My friend has electric steering on his swapped iroc. Im trying to get more photos of it currently. Saturn Astra electric pump . Photo is from testing.

 

 

Hi, I'm the guy with electric/hydraulic power steering.

Here's a video of the first successful test. The first test ended in me plumbing the lines backwards and blowing the seals out of the box.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnkOntdg5_L/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=18qafvon5bpgk