Like my friend said when I questioned his choice of carrying a .32 Automatic as a self-defense firearm, "Anything beats a scream!" Any power assist at all is going to be better than nothing, and if it's rugged enough for a Malibu, it's not likely to be overstressed in your application. The only other power assist I can think of that might work in your situation would be the hydraulic cylinder that is attached between the drag link and the frame, and senses input from the Pitman arm to select the boost direction. Ford Granada in the 1970's and the corresponding mid-size Mercury cars ran that system. We ran a very large version of that type of steering on White Freightliners back in the mid-1970's.
Jerry
