Car less than 10 years old, conventional hydraulic PSP(Power Steering Pump). I do not think it is variable PS.
I'm a twitchy driver, and would like to reduce the amount of PS assist, hence increasing the amount of steering effort I need to exert before inadvertently veering into an adjacent lane and wrecking one or more drivers in addition to myself.
Smaller capacity would just be a pump with it's psi limit set lower. Instead of having the max psi being 1100 psi it might be 700 psi. All that would happen is that when you are parking you don't get very much power assist with the reduced psi. But at speed you hardly need any psi anyway so that lower psi pump will still provide the same amount of power boost. If you did something to reduce the actual amount of oil that could flow out of the pump you would probably find that it still didn't change the amount of boost for normal driving but that if you needed to turn the wheel FAST to avoid an accident that your steering would be hydraulically bound up due to the flow being limited and you could not turn the wheel fast enough to steer around the car stopped in front of you. The guys at the steering repair place I use adjust what you want adjusted by putting in different springs and things inside the steering box so that it takes more force to turn the steering wheel before the box lets the high pressure fluid start to flow to provide assist.
What you conceivably could do that's cheap, and this depends on what car you have and whether you can even install what I'm thinking of.. is to install a steering linkage "shock absorber". Back in the day of straight front axle 4x4 blazers and jeeps people installed those all the time to help stop the front end from jerking around. It's like a horizontal shock absorber with one end anchored to the frame and the other end clamped to the center link.
Ashton Crusher wrote: "Smaller capacity would just be a pump with it's psi limit set lower. Instead of having the max psi being 1100 psi it might be 700 psi. All that would happen is that when you are parking you don't get very much power assist with the reduced psi. But at speed you hardly need any psi anyway so that lower psi pump will still provide the same amount of power boost. If you did something to reduce the actual amount of oil that could flow out of the pump you would probably find that it still didn't change the amount of boost for normal driving but that if you needed to turn the wheel FAST to avoid an accident that your steering would be hydraulically bound up due to the flow being limited "
Thanks for taking the time to lay all that out! :)
Guess my perception of power steering in general is *simplistic* at best. Stronger PS overrides the car's own geometry ability to return the front wheels from a turn, is what I always thought. Guess it's more complicated than that.
Yes, the springs and things inside the box can make it so "boosted" that you can literally turn the wheel with your pinky or it can be set so that it takes a firm grip with both hands. I used to have cop cars and they set the steering box for "firm" and it was actually rather hard to steer them with one hand in some situations. It was supposed to give more "road feel" but it just made it hard to turn the steering wheel.
Plus many modern vehicles now use sensors on the system to provide feedback to the ECM. Or they remove the pump and use battery voltage to drive an assist motor.
Steve W. wrote: "- show quoted text - Plus many modern vehicles now use sensors on the system to provide feedback to the ECM. Or they remove the pump and use battery voltage to drive an assist motor.
- show quoted text - Yes, the springs and things inside the box can make it so "boosted" that you can literally turn the wheel with your pinky or it can be set so that it takes a firm grip with both hands. I used to have cop cars and they set the steering box for "firm" and it was actually rather hard to steer them with one hand in some situations. It was supposed to give more "road feel" but it just made it hard to turn the steering wheel. "
So even modifying the springs in the steering box won't accomplish what I want to achieve - strong centered steering that will resist my naturally twitchy-drifty driving style?
Guess I'd better save for a 10 year old 3-Series or Mazda
There are two issues - steering effort, and the tendency of the vehicle to stay in a straight line. If your problem is related to centering, you can completely disconnect the power assist, and still have a problem.
Wheel centering is controlled by caster, camber, and kingpin inclination. I'm not certain of the negative vs. positive settings, but either adding negative camber, or positive caster, will help to center the wheels. (I'm not sure that going in the opposite direction helps, or helps as much.) I've also found that caster has more effect on RWD, and camber more on FWD. So if you can change the caster/camber enough, you might get the results you want that way.
One other thing: if the toe is off, and on some cars it doesn't take much, that can make the car wander badly, and you will find yourself constantly correcting while you drive. So in other words, carefully check your alignment - there might be things you can change, and that might be all you need to do.
It could. Also, cars with no road feel, like most everything with electric steering these days, have that tendency. I have found that when I look away from the road for even a very short time, when I look back, the car is not where I expect it to be. I'm not the only one that feels that way.
Yes, I think it would potentially help for what you are describing. The problem you'll have is finding someone who knows how to change the settings for it. In my limited experience I've only seen the old type steering gear redone for more effort. I've never seen them working on any rack and pinion setups for anyone. If you really wanted to do this and had to pay all the parts and labor I think you would be looking at $500 and up for the RR of the rack and it's modification.
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