power streering rack

[boilerman63]

help i have a 1990 t25 camper and would like to fit power steering to it
( its right hand drive) i believe the racks are hard to find does anyone
know if any other racks fit

[Fritz]

Boilerbloke,,,,,,,,,,,I think you will find fitting a power rack to a T25 is the easy bit,,,,,,,,the hard bit is fitting all the pipe work to the engine conpartment, mounting the PS pump and then finding pulleys to suit this modification (if they arn't all ready fitted).

They do come up from time to time on E-bay, or try Syncronutz @ Shotts, ask for Ian in the parts department. http://www.syncro-nutz.co.uk/

Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,,,,

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[boilerman63]

hi fritz have tried various places but have not found anyone with a rack
will try ur suggestion tomorrow .what iwas asking does ant other vw rack
fit as they quite often use the same parts on other models. have fitted an
aaz 1.9 engine and have the power steering pump from the engine.
as far as fitting the pipework its not so hard a job have already replaced
the pipes on my 1990 caravelle i used 10mm microbore isulated pipe
which does the job ok.

[Fritz]

I'm not sure of any cross reference regarding the T25 power rack, but I'm sure Russel at Syncronutz will be able to answer this question, as he's is a wizard on these things and knows what bits fit and what bits need to be made to fit.

Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,

[irish.david]

I've recently fitted PS to my van using the electric pump method. To me it makes more sense to use an electric pump mounted close to the rack than having an engine driven pump and having to run hydraulic pipes the whole length of the van. As long as you've got a 90amp alternator fitted then the extra electrical load shouldn't be a problem. The other advantage with an electric pump is that you can switch it off if you don't need it. If you're going to be doing a long motorway run where you don't need PS then switching it off will save some cash as the pump won't be running.

If you can find a power steering rack then all you need is an electrically driven power steering pump off a saxo VTR/VTS or 106. Make sure that you get the whole frame for the pump as well as it has vibration dampers in it that means that the whole van doesn't vibrate when the pump's running. I mounted the pump behind the top rad grill on the RHS (looking back to front). It's a tight squeeze and the headlamp case needs a few mods but it will fit and will benefit from the extra airflow to cool the motor when it's running. You could also mount it underneath nearer the rack but it's easier to fill/top up behind the grill and the extra cooling will help too.

When that's in head to you're nearest hydraulic hose supplier (yellow pages) and get them to make up some flexible hoses to connect the pump to the rack. Only the supply line needs to be high pressure hose. The return line is only low pressure.

When thats installed get some high current cable and a 70amp relay (try Vehicle Wiring Products if you can't get it locally). and run a cable from the main battery to the pump. The battery cable goes to the common on the relay and the electric motor is connected to the NO contact. The motor neg and one side of the relay coil is connected to the chassis.

To switch the pump on the other side of the relay coil needs to be supplied with 12v. What i did was break into the alternator charging cable from behind the dash and run it to toggling push button switch. This means that for the power steering pump to be running the engine must be running and the button pushed in. This means that during a journey you can switch it on and off, and it won't drain your battery if you forget to switch it off when you stop the engine.

For the push button i used an illuminated push button from Maplins. The advantage of this is i wired it in such a way that the it would be illuminated when the pump was running giving an indication of what was happening. I also used some electrical trickery to connect the switch to the sidelight wiring so it comes on dimly when the side lights are on and get brighter when the pump is running. This means that you can still find the button at night and it'll still tell you what the pump is doing.

With my Westy i was able to get a rack pretty easily (Cheers to CJ at syncrospares for that) but i have a feeling that this might be a fairly popular mod if the RHD posse can get racks. If there is sufficient interest i could probably come up with a guide with pics on how the whole thing is done. Only problem is that i'm currently still at sea and won't get back til late August so it would have to wait til then....

Dave

PS: It's worth mentioning that if you fit PS you'll need a new rod from the transfer box to the steering rack. It's different on the non-PS and PS systems.

[Ye Olde Syncrospares]

ive got pumps and brackets and pipes here but no racks but i do know where 2 are cheers cj.

[boilerman63]

hi cj phoned u a few days ago u never mentioned the racks u can source
if u can be of help in aquiring a rack i wuold be most chuffed i have a pump and can fit new pipe work i would grateful i u can let me know which
other parts i would need to fit to do the change over
many thanks
ps have dealt with u before

[Spannerrack]

Hi
I fitted ps to my 2ltr ac used pump & relay from saxso as said you need to change the rod from to idler to rack nothing else needs changed
rember to take the power wire from a point that's only live when engine is running
I had mine in for 5years & never had any trouble
hope this helps if you need any advice just ask

Cheers George

[vanjam]

most fascinating, I feel a project coming on, never realised or thought about an electric pump, makes the whole thing much more viable, thanks for that-doen't it deserve wikiing?

jim