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looking to add power steering to my 54 3100. my question is, does anyone know if an ELECTRIC POWER STEERING unit will work. I have a double pulley harmonic balancer, but also want to run an AC unit. looking to run a IFS front suspension, so if I can use EPS then I could get a manual IFS. thanks in advance.

Yes, electric power steering can be used and another option is to use an electro/hydraulic pump. Toyota MR2 is one source as is some models of Kia. It plumbs in with hoses just like a belt driven one.

There has been a lot of discussion on the interweb about this. One is here

Google is your friend here:

http://americanpowertrain.com/i-8580036-ez-electric-power-steering-for-street-rod-and-customs.html

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/transmission-drivetrain/1201sr-electronic-power-steering/

thanks for the responses, I did see those pages when I did a search. what I haven't seen is where someone has installed either the unisteer or the vue box on an AD truck. you can get the vue box and controller on ebay for around 200, i'm sure the unisteer is going to be high dollar. thanks again

You're talking about something very custom so there's little chance you find someone who has done exactly what you want to do. Might have to blaze the trail here.

I've just completed the exact modification that you are referring for the same reasons on my '52. I used 2001 Saturn Vue parts I obtained on Ebay and it works great. I used the EPS to drive the stock steering box but if you are going to go with IFS the install would actually be easier. Be prepared to do a litte fabricating and spending a little time behind the lathe and mill. Send me your email address and I can send pics.

thanks davealden, getting up there in age and need some modern comforts in my beloved 54 AD, she will be a cadilac 261, air con, IFS suspension, 55.1 rear end with 3.36 gears, 2 link rear suspension and power windows and will keep it stock looking. the only thing where i'm second guessing myself is the s10 t-5 over a auomatic trans. thanks again for the pix

Just did the same electric steering install in my 50 3100 .. Used from a 2004 Saturn Vue and a controller from e bay Probably less than 200 to complete .. I am very impressed with the results and only took a couple days in my garage.. good luck with it Fred

thanks bro, got some pics from davealden, real nice setup. picked one up on ebay and also got the controller. my email is in my profile,sure like to see your setup.

Do you have some pics to share on your installation Fast Freddy and davealden?

This is tempting me to abondon my plan of the Toyota push-pull PS box, due to having to sort out the pitman arm issues.

Looks promising, as long as the junkyard stuff is used. Looked up some universal kits at over a grand!

Larry W.

wrench fetcher.... sent you some pictures .. hope you got them Fred

davealden and Fast Fredy,
What did you use to couple the splined shafts to your steering shaft? I've found some steering U-joints on the internet but none of them seem to match the diameters of the shaft on the equinox eps. I measured .720 dia with spline count of around 36 on one end and .650 dia with a spline count of around 24 on the other end. The spline counts may be off, I didn't bother to do a careful count since I couldn't find U-joints of the matching diameters. Maybe I just need to buy 3/4" D-D joints and make them fit (and weld them). Any suggestions? Thanks.

My Vue set up came with a splined U joint on the output shaft that was 3/4 inch same as the original steering shaft .. I just found / made a suitable length of thick wall tubing that would slip over each end and drilled and thru bolted it my email is [email protected] ... send me an email if you would like some photos .. Fred

The key is getting the mating splined outer sleeves when you purchase your EPS. I used, or modified, almost every part of the EPS I purchased including the firewall seal. You can certainly modify the splined shaft to accept a double D joint but you wouldn't want a u-joint on the input side (steering wheel side) of the EPS, you just want to "hard-connect" it to your existing steering shaft unless you are going to configure some sort of tilt wheel arrangement. On the output side of the EPS you do want a u-joint and where and how you attach it will depend on if you are going to connect it to the existing steering box, like I did, or if you'll be connecting it to an IFS rack and pinion.
I don't think the EPS units are designed for a lot of load pushing and pulling thru their length, the splines are there for crash protection (collapsible columns)and for assembly so you may want to take that into consideration if you aren't planning on using the splines. Send me your e-mail address and I'll send you pics of how I went about it.

Dave